BROOKLYN LEGAL SERVICES - STAFF ATTORNEY

LGBTQ & HIV ADVOCACY PROJECT 

Brooklyn Legal Services seeks a full-time staff attorney for our LGBTQ+ & HIV Advocacy Project. 

About Us

Brooklyn Legal Services (BLS), part of Legal Services NYC’s Brooklyn Programs, provides high quality, innovative representation to address the pressing legal needs of Brooklyn’s diverse low-income population. BLS focuses on the problems that have the greatest impact on our clients — preserving affordable and decent housing, maintaining income support, redressing abusive lending and consumer practices, promoting family stability and mitigating the effects of domestic violence, and advocating for other vulnerable and marginalized populations including low-income immigrants, older adults, veterans, and people with disabilities.  As a community-centered, social justice organization, BLS is committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace where staff and clients feel welcome. Through our various affinity groups and committees, we actively work to foster collegial relationships among staff and allow staff to explore, grow in our understanding of and challenge barriers to opportunity within our organization and through our legal work. All employees are expected to learn about and seek to understand, identify and overcome barriers to justice, from individual preconceptions to structural obstacles, and work to realize our organizational goals and mission.

Project Description

The LGBTQ+ & HIV Advocacy Project is a general practice unit designed to provide comprehensive legal services in a single location for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and the LGBTQ community.  The Project provides representation in a broad range of civil legal issues including discrimination in housing, healthcare, employment, education, and other public accommodations; appealing wrongful denials in public assistance, social security, health insurance, and other benefits; eviction prevention; obtaining legal name and gender marker changes; and advance directives (wills, living wills, powers of attorney, etc.).  The Project also files affirmative litigation challenging discrimination and other systemic abuses faced by the LGBTQ and HIV communities.

Roles and Responsibilities

The staff attorney will be responsible for litigation, advocacy, community outreach, and education throughout Brooklyn and sometimes in other boroughs when collaborating with our community partners.  There is a significant community outreach component to the work, including doing client intake at regular outreach clinics, sometimes after-hours; establishing relationships with community-based organizations and governmental entities that serve PLWHA and LGBTQ populations, including attending community-centered meetings and events after-hours and on weekends. The attorney will represent clients in several courts and administrative fora, primarily in Brooklyn housing court, New York State Supreme Court, federal courts, and before the New York State Division of Human Rights and the New York City Commission on Human Rights.  Project staff attorneys regularly make home and hospital visits to meet with clients.

Required Qualifications and Skills:

•    License to practice law in New York with a minimum of four (4) years of legal experience;
•    Substantial knowledge regarding HASA benefits; 
•    Experience litigating cases under the New York City Human Rights Law;
•    Substantial civil litigation experience as lead or sole counsel, including conducting and managing discovery;
•    Excellent legal research, analysis, writing, and public speaking skills;
•    Experience working respectfully and effectively with BIPOC transgender, queer, and nonbinary people, people living with HIV/AIDS or other disabilities, and low-income communities;
•    Experience providing direct legal services through a trauma-informed, client-centered approach 
•    The ability to think creatively and strategically to advance clients' interests by balancing litigation goals with individual needs, using litigation, advocacy, and alternative dispute resolution as appropriate;
•    Possession of a growth mindset, humility, a keen understanding of power and privilege, and a willingness to accept input and feedback, especially from clients;
•    The ability to work in a fast-paced environment, juggle multiple deadlines, keep clear records, communicate proactively, and remain accountable to your commitments; and
•    Applicants must be willing and able to conduct outreach and education events in low-income neighborhoods.

Preferred Qualifications and Skills:

•    Experience litigating in federal court 
•    Significant litigation experience litigating New York State Human Rights Laws and federal discrimination laws including but not limited to the American with Disabilities Act; 
•    Fluency or proficiency in one or more language(s) commonly spoken by our client communities;
•    Proficiency with case management software.

LSNYC acknowledges that applicants from groups that have been historically marginalized are less likely to apply for positions unless they feel that they meet 100% of a job description’s qualifications.  We understand that the ideal candidate might not completely meet the criteria listed above or be equally proficient in each area; we especially encourage applicants who are impacted by LSNYC’s work to submit their application anyway.

How to Apply 

Applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and two writing samples.  

Salary and benefits are determined by the LSNYC Collective Bargaining Agreement.