Supervising Attorney, Immigration Law Unit - Immigrant Youth Project

The Immigration Law Unit (ILU) in The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Practice is a recognized leader in providing high-quality representation to non-citizens in all five boroughs of New York City and surrounding counties. Our staff of almost 100 attorneys, social workers, and paralegals across seven different projects and initiatives work collaboratively to provide client-centered, interdisciplinary, and comprehensive legal services. ILU provides low-income New Yorkers with free comprehensive immigration services ranging from deportation defense to adjustment of status to legal permanent residence and citizenship applications. We specialize in the intersection between immigration and criminal law and work collaboratively with all practice areas to serve the Society’s diverse immigrant clients through a comprehensive service model. ILU staff represent immigrants before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), immigration judges in removal proceedings, and the Board of Immigration Appeals, as well as in federal court on habeas corpus petitions, petitions for review, administrative and judicial appeals, and other matters.  

The ILU is seeking a Supervising Attorney for its Immigrant Youth Project.  The Immigrant Youth Project focuses on representing undocumented youth and unaccompanied immigrant children with free comprehensive immigration services ranging from removal defense to asylum applications and affirmative applications before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), and in family court proceedings on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) motions. The Legal Aid Society is also a member of the ICARE Coalition, a consortium of legal service providers in New York City whose mission is to ensure that every immigrant youth in New York City is connected with free legal representation.

The Supervising Attorney will assist in coordinating and supervising the Unit’s Immigrant Youth Project, which handles both affirmative and defensive immigration matters. The Supervising Attorney will be involved in day-to-day operations and will work closely with the Attorney- in-Charge, the Deputy Attorney-in-Charge, and other Supervising Attorneys to train, supervise, and mentor staff. The Supervising Attorney will participate in Practice-wide management discussions and decision-making.

• →Assist in the direct supervision and mentoring of staff attorneys, paralegals, and volunteers who work predominantly with undocumented youth and unaccompanied immigrant children in removal proceedings, affirmative immigration benefits applications before USCIS, and family court proceedings on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) motions
• →Assist in monitoring and maintaining a high standard of representation and client services
• →Maintain a reasonable caseload
• →Analyze legal issues, develop legal strategy, and supervise implementation of legal strategies
• →Foster and encourage teamwork and communication
• →Train and mentor staff members
• →Assist with the development, funding, implementation, and reporting of programs
• →Respond to client, community and staff concerns
• →Other duties as assigned

• Schedule employee hours, assign work, approve time off and remote work schedule requests following the guidance of LAS policy and procedures 
• Attend management meetings, participate in management trainings, and utilize current employment policies, practices and guidance as provided by management and Human Resources
• Conduct management and supervision practices that affirmatively support equity and inclusion in the workplace
• Supervise direct reports in setting performance standards, provide routine feedback as well as coaching/counseling, and issue disciplinary action as needed
• Identify and provide training and development opportunities and ensure mandatory trainings are completed

• Participate in continuous professional development
• Continuously learn about forms of bias in the workplace and demonstrate affirmative behaviors that support an inclusive work environment
• Other duties as assigned

• Admission to New York State Bar
• Minimum of three years of legal practice

• Minimum of five years of immigration legal practice preferred, specifically removal defense 
• Minimum of five years of family court legal practice preferred
• Proficiency in languages other than English is desirable, but not required
• Willingness to immediately seek admission to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits and U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

• Excellent research, writing, analytical, organizational and communication skills
• Comprehensive knowledge of immigration law (including but not limited to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, asylum law, and criminal immigration law and)
• Extensive experience litigating cases in immigration court and before the BIA
• Extensive experience doing asylum interviews at the Asylum Office and/or interviews before USCIS
• Demonstrated commitment to and experience in public interest law and civil legal services
• Experience supervising and mentoring others
• Excellent oral and written advocacy skills
• Experience working in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to manage relationships and effectively communicate with ILU management team, staff, and other Civil Practice administrative staff
• Highly self-motivated and able to work independently

• Ability to schedule, assign, and manage work and resolve problems as needed
• Ability to manage the work, including: assessment of work process and outcomes, gathering relevant information about the work, recommending alternatives, or elevate issues as needed   
• Ability to clearly identify roles, responsibilities, delegate tasks and hold people accountable
• Ability to create and implement effective communication plans
• Ability to provide meaningful performance feedback for professional development including having difficult conversations and resolving sensitive employee issues
• Pursue continuous learning on forms of systemic oppression of marginalized identities and establish team norms and management practices using an equity mindset and informed by inclusive practices

• Commitment to Legal Aid Society’s mission to secure equal justice before the law for all New Yorkers
• Interpersonal and communication skills that enable healthy and productive working relationships
• Ability to perform duties with the highest regard for confidentiality, integrity, and respect
• Commitment to Legal Aid Society’s mission and values

• Mostly sedentary, significant time using a computer and monitor; communicating and meeting using video
• May or will require travel within NYC, across the five-borough region, or the Asylum Offices in New York or New Jersey  

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF:

• Cover Letter
• Resume 
• Writing Sample 

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email TalentAcquisition@legal-aid.org.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law. 

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.