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About the Role

Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) seeks an attorney to join its Civil Justice Practice as a Housing and Benefits attorney. This role involves providing legal representation for individuals facing concurrent criminal legal, family court, and immigration matters, focusing on the intersections of these legal systems that disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities living in poverty.

Responsibilities

• Engage in direct representation of individuals and groups in housing and benefits matters in multiple civil and administrative forums.
• Provide advice and counsel to criminal, family, and immigration defense colleagues and clients during ongoing proceedings.
• Investigate and research potential policy and litigation avenues.
• Research and write internal memoranda and train staff and outside organizations.
• Consult with clients and community members and develop Know Your Rights resources.
• Additional responsibilities as assigned.

Requirements

• Admission to the New York bar or eligibility to become admitted.
• Prior experience providing direct legal services representation in eviction defense, public benefits advocacy or similar field.
• Interest in strategizing issues for clients who face multiple interrelated issues.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including an ability to work across practices with colleagues concurrently representing clients.
• Efficient, organized work style and an ability to prioritize quickly and manage multiple deadlines and emergencies.
• A willingness to learn multiple practice areas and a strong desire to develop a multi-disciplinary practice.

Skills

• Proficiency in a second language is a plus.

Location

• Downtown Brooklyn
• NYC courts and administrative forums

Work Type

• Full-time
• Exempt
• Salaried

Experience Level

• Recent law graduate
• Attorney with 30 years of experience

Salary/Compensations

• $97,000 for recent law graduate
• $184,000 for an attorney with 30 years of experience

Benefits

• Health insurance
• 403(b)-retirement plan
• Generous vacation, sick, holiday, family, and medical leave policies

About the Company

• BDS is a public defense office representing low-income New Yorkers in criminal, family, immigration, and civil legal matters.
• For nearly 30 years, BDS has worked, in and out of court, to protect and uphold the rights of individuals and to change laws and systems that perpetuate injustice and inequality.
• Our legal expertise work with clients is focused on the intersections of these legal systems that disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities living in poverty.
• BDS represents thousands of people each year who have diverse, complex, and multi-faceted legal needs.
• In addition to a zealous legal defense, our interdisciplinary teams of attorneys, social workers and advocates provide a wide range of legal and advocacy services, including for housing, public benefits, education, and employment.
• BDS staff work collaboratively and across disciplines to deliver high-quality legal services that serve the people we represent, their families and communities.

Equal Opportunity

• Brooklyn Defender Services is a proud equal opportunity employer committed to celebrating diversity and maintaining an equitable and inclusive work environment.
• We strongly encourage candidates of all identities, expressions, orientations, disabilities, and experiences to apply.
• If you require an accommodation due to a disability or another reason, please contact the Managing Director, H.R., Christina Wallace, at cwallace @ bds.org