Staff Attorney 1

materials please e-mail [email protected].

DEADLINE: Open until filled.

Position Opening: 3

SALARY RANGE (Depending on Experience): $60,063 - $84,516 annually

Location: Intake/Outreach: Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Ontario, Fresno or Sacramento

Civil Rights: Oakland or Sacramento

Disability Rights California (DRC) is a statewide, non-profit legal organization dedicated to advancing the rights of Californians with disabilities. DRC works to achieve fairness and justice for people with disabilities through individual and impact litigation, state and federal policy and regulatory advocacy, and community education and training.

Focused on serving all Californians with disabilities, the Intake and Outreach (I/O) Practice Group consists of committed advocates and attorneys, who work together to empower people to self-advocate and help them resolve their legal issues. We provide trainings and self-advocacy workshops, advice and assistance on the intake hotline, coordinating and implementing community based legal clinics, providing short term advocacy on limited legal issues, and organizing community members for future systemic litigation by Disability Rights California. Our staff are as diverse as the communities we seek to serve. We reach many people with cultural, language, and disability differences. We are committed to reaching and empowering under represented and underserved communities.

We are a diverse, statewide team of passionate attorneys developing impactful cases to stop discrimination against people with disabilities. While we use a variety of advocacy tools, we are a litigation-focused group. New attorneys on our team help work up direct services cases that will inform systems practice, engage in factual development, participate in advocacy projects including litigation, and have increasing opportunities commensurate with professional growth and opportunity.

Our current goals include:

· confronting the criminalization of people experiencing homelessness;

· protecting and increasing affordable, accessible housing;

· challenging discrimination in private and public programs;

· ensuring access to transportation and sidewalks;

· increasing access to courts; and

· addressing the intersectional needs of people with disabilities.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The Staff Attorney 1 provides support and short-term assistance to clients with disabilities on disability related legal matters with a special emphasis on housing and homelessness prevention. Note: The intake/outreach staff attorney position is not a litigation-oriented position.

- Conduct intakes disability related issues with a special emphasis on housing related issues, including unlawful detainers, housing discrimination complaints, and other housing legal issues that may lead to homelessness.

- Create self-help and self-advocacy tools for a variety of legal matters with an emphasis on housing related matters, including sample answers, demand letters, and other materials that a potential client can use to help maintain their housing.

- Work directly with advocates handling short term assistance in a variety of legal matters, including housing related cases.

- Provide short term advocacy to clients with disabilities, which can including drafting ghost letters, complaints, and assisting clients with filing and serving complaints.

- Engage in community organizing for clients with disabilities, particularly clients experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.

- Organizing and participate in community based legal clinics. This can include working with various community based organizations to develop and schedule clinics, working within Disability Rights California to staff the clinics, attending legal clinics, and providing clients with information and advice at in-person legal clinics.

- Develop and build relationships with community leaders with a focus on working in underserved communities (which includes language or ethnically distinct communities, rural communities, LGBTQI+ communities, individuals who live in facilities, and people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.

- Provide legal assistance which may include litigation in judicial and administrative proceedings, mediations, and/or negotiations.

- Participate in litigation.

- Conduct client interviews and discovery.

- Gather and review evidence.

- Conduct legal research and draft legal memoranda.

- Help develop strategies and arguments for presentation of cases.

- Engage in community-based advocacy and community leadership, representing the agency as the voice of our clients.

- Participate in outreach, and training to disability communities and organizations.

- Participate in public policy activities.

- Assist with organizational development planning.

- Perform other duties as assigned.

This position has no supervision responsibilities

Occasional travel required: Ability to travel occasionally for activities such as out-of-town meetings, training, or outreach activities up to 25% of the time.

- Juris Doctor degree (JD).

- Must be a member of the California State Bar or be able to practice under the Registered Legal Services Attorney Program. A person working under the Registered Legal Services Attorney Program will be expected to be admitted as a member of the California State Bar within 5 years of hire.

- Familiarity with laws affecting, rights of, and services for people with disabilities.

- Familiarty with various housing discrimination and other housing related laws, including evictions.

- Experience in community organizing or development.

- Ability to communicate fluently in Spanish, an Asian language, or American Sign Language.

- Experience working with and/or sensitivity to persons with disabilities and/or experience working with and/or sensitivity to persons from multi-ethnic communities.

- Life experience as a person with a disability OR direct experience as a caregiver of a family member with a disability.

No additional language is required.

The competencies below represent the knowledge, skills, behaviors and/or abilities required to be successful at DRC, with or without disability related reasonable accommodations.

Ability to participate in stakeholder meeting with government officials/offices. Ability to provide legal advice and represent individuals in litigation. Ability to lead individual litigation. Ability to influence public policy.

Embraces an environment of learning about, valuing, encouraging, and supporting differences. Seeks opportunities for inclusion in a variety of settings. Promotes and sustains a community that acknowledges and celebrates differences.

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret complex legal documents/terminology, laws, financial reports, medical records, or technical journals. Ability to respond and present write advice, information and documents for clients, meetings, hearings, regulatory or government agencies. Ability to make complex ideas, laws, facts, and/or policies understandable to diverse audiences, governmental entities, facility leadership, public groups/officials, and/or boards of directors.

Understands that few things are black and white. Ability to explore factors in any situation for the purpose of determining the array of best possible solutions. Incorporates facts, impact on others, and communication strategy into problem solving methodology.

Ability to take proactive steps to reach out to clients, community partners, facilities and/or community agencies in more direct, relevant, and personal ways. Addresses issues in an open, constructive, professional manner, and persuades others to approach issues in the same manner. Seeks to resolve confrontations and disagreements constructively. Focuses on the situation, issues, or behaviors, rather than the people. Supports the good ideas of others.

The following describes general working conditions and requirements of the job, which can be performed with or without disability related reasonable accommodations. Duties are performed between an office environment and the field in a wide range of settings, including health care facilities; in client, group, or family homes; community agencies; or in community-based outpatient settings. Work areas are often noisy. Duties frequently require sitting, talking and/or hearing and occasional periods of standing, stooping, kneeling, and crouching. Weights to be lifted and/or moved up to 10 pounds are frequently encountered. Must be able to transport oneself to work-related meeting, centers, etc.

- Online Disability Rights California Application Form

- Your resume

- Detailed cover letter.

- Sample of legal writing (i.e., a legal argument, letter or analysis) consisting of no more than 10 pages of text.

- List of significant litigation