Legal Action of Wisconsin is hiring a full-time staff attorney to provide direct service to clients, as well as technical training and support to volunteer lawyers for Madison’s Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) Barriers to Employment clinics. The position is available immediately. The clinics help low-income community members solve civil legal problems that affect their educational and employment paths including concerns such as: criminal record eligibility, driver’s license suspension or revocation, child support arrears, and consumer debt. Currently, these clinics include, but are not limited to:
Urban League Expungement Clinic
In partnership with the Urban League of Greater Madison, pro bono lawyers in this project help community members clean up their arrest and criminal records.
Student Legal Aid Project for Technical College Students
In this Madison College-based project, pro bono attorneys assist low-income technical college students with their civil legal problems in order to help them make the most of their education opportunities at technical college and increase the probability students will successfully graduate.
Legal Interventions for Transforming Dane (LIFT Dane)
LIFT Dane offers a web-based application that will use existing public data to help residents in need of legal services to identify their legal problems and auto-populate legal forms for filing with various state and government agencies including, but not limited to, the DOT/DMV, DOJ, and both municipal and circuit courts. This staff attorney position will manage the recruitment and training of pro bono attorneys in conjunction with the attorney’s work for Legal Action and will provide pro bono attorneys to assist at pop-up legal clinics and for continued legal representation as needed. Areas of law will include suspended driver’s licenses, consumer debt, child support arrears, and criminal records.
OFFICE LOCATION
The attorney will be based at Legal Action’s Madison Office (744 Williamson Street, Suite 200, Madison, WI, 53703) but will spend a substantial amount of time at clinic sites.
Due to COVID-19, Legal Action is limiting in-office and on-site work as much as possible; prioritizing staff and client safety by offering telecommuting options, flexible work hours, and remote access to job responsibilities.
The position is represented for collective bargaining and new employees may voluntarily join the United Legal Workers (ULW) union, a unit of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW 2320. While this position is based in the Madison office, the attorney will spend a substantial amount of time at the Madison College campuses and at various community sites in Madison and Dane County.
Equal justice under law can only be achieved through the collaboration of a diverse staff. When we utilize our differences, we effect positive change for the communities we serve. We are committed to equitable inclusion across gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, sex, religion, economic circumstances, ethnicity, national origin, and culture. We are striving to be an anti-racist law firm. We encourage staff to bring their whole selves to work each day and pledge to celebrate every aspect of who they are.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
This attorney will work closely with Barriers to Employment staff, Madison’s VLP Coordinator, community partners, and other VLP staff based in Milwaukee to:
● Develop and maintain an expertise in the laws and practices relevant to the Barriers to Employment work.
● Oversee the day-to-day operations of the Student Legal Aid clinic at Madison College. This project will use pro bono attorneys, law students, and paralegal students to provide legal aid for low-income students who need record or conviction expungement or driver’s license recovery so that their pathway at Madison College is clear and the student can graduate with a useful degree.
● Oversee the day-to-day operations of the mobile legal clinics at area job sites, community health centers, food pantries, and service agencies to offer Legal Tune-ups, education, and legal services using LIFT’S online application.
● Oversee the day-to-day operations of the Urban League’s expungement clinic.
● Assist in the creation of training materials for pro bono attorneys, including on-demand video trainings and other digital materials.
● Develop and maintain a “Forms Bank” for volunteers to use.
● Train and oversee project volunteers.
● Provide legal advice, representation, and case management to clinic clients.
● Conduct outreach with partnering organizations and clients to ensure that the clinics’ services are accessible, utilized, and effective.
● Collaborate with clinic stakeholders and VLP Coordinator to develop and expand programming.
QUALIFICATIONS
● J.D. Required, licensed in Wisconsin upon hire;
● Minimum of two years legal practice experience preferred;
● Strong communication skills to engage key stakeholders, clients, and pro bono attorneys;
● Ability to manage a high volume, fast-paced project;
● Ability to prioritize and organize resources while maintaining quality and attention to detail;
● Ability to work harmoniously with others;
● Enthusiasm for civil legal aid and equal justice for and service to our clients;
● Familiarity with courtroom procedure (state and municipal) preferred;
● Experience creating training materials and leading trainings or a willingness to learn;
● Superior skills in case analysis, research, and writing;
● Demonstrated ability to speak and write clearly and persuasively;
● Enthusiasm for arguing motions and representing at trial;
● Self-motivated, diligent, and able to meet strict deadlines while under pressure;
● Possess a valid driver’s license and maintain it throughout employment;
● Commitment to inclusion of all, including our clients’ and our staffs’ race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and socio-economic circumstances;
● Fluency in a language other than English and cultural affinity for the client community that speaks that language is highly desired;
● Willingness and enthusiasm for staffing and providing clinics during weekends and evenings.
We value a diverse staff and work environment. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA, people with disabilities, and people with life experiences or education that add to our diversity and our capacity to provide high-quality legal aid to our clients. We encourage applicants to include a statement about the ways that their unique background and personal, professional, and life experiences contribute to the diversity, cultural vitality, and perspective of our staff and our law firm’s mission along with their other application materials.
TRAVEL
Daily travel within Madison will be required. Out-of-state, overnight travel (approximately 4 times/year) may also be required. All work-related travel is reimbursed per Legal Action’s travel policies.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT
This position involves sedentary work, sitting at a desk on a computer for an extended period. Exerting up to 10 pounds of force on a regular basis to lift, carry, push, or otherwise move objects. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and/or laptop keyboard and use a telephone. Specific vision abilities required for this job include close vision requirements due to computer work. Drives a motor vehicle while seated for periods of time for a duration of less than 1 hour to a maximum of 3 hours. Occasional reaching, bending, kneeling, and stooping involved to retrieve various items and materials. This position works in an environmentally controlled office environment with moderate noise from phones, printers, and light office traffic. On-campus work environment will involve frequent interruptions when communicating and responding to student inquiries.
SUPERVISION
The position will be supervised by the Madison office Managing Attorney.
SALARY
Starting salary depends upon experience and qualifications, with a minimum starting salary of $45,727; $52,347 for a candidate with five years of legal experience; $58, 967 for a candidate with ten years of legal experience for a 100% full-time position. Salaries are not negotiable and will follow this scale. The position is subject to a probationary period of up to one year. The position is governed by the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreement between Legal Action and ULW. Legal Action’s personnel policies will govern where no provision is covered by the collective bargaining agreement, and the personnel policies are subject to unilateral change by the Legal Action Board of Directors.
FRINGE BENEFITS
Legal Action provides a generous fringe benefits package including employer-paid health and dental insurance for employees and eligible dependents. (Some employees are required to contribute to the health insurance premium for their spouse, if the spouse has group health insurance provided by their employer.) Legal Action also provides life and long-term disability insurance, a profit-sharing retirement plan, salary deferral options for retirement planning, low-cost employee-paid vision coverage, four weeks of vacation leave per year, four days of personal leave, and generous sick leave. Legal Action also offers flexible schedules including telecommuting for experienced staff. We also provide four weeks of paid parental leave to eligible employees.
HOW TO APPLY
Interested applicants will apply online by visiting the following link:
Barriers of Employment Staff Attorney Job Posting
The following documents must be provided during the application process:
1. Cover letter, summarizing interest in the position and qualifications
2. Resumé
3. Recent writing sample(s)
4. Law school transcript (only required for applicants who graduated 2015 or later)
5. Optional, but highly encouraged: Statement about the ways that your unique background and personal, professional, and life experiences contribute to the diversity, cultural vitality, and perspective of our staff and our law firm’s mission.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. To assure early consideration, please submit application materials as soon as possible.
Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer
