Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A

Organization Overview: 

Since 1968, Brooklyn A has provided free legal services for low income residents of Brooklyn, pursuing neighborhood-based mission of justice, empowerment and community development. We work in collaboration with an extraordinary coalition of neighborhood organizations throughout Brooklyn and their tenant and community organizers in order to preserve and expand affordable housing for lower income residents. The work also involves representing low-income tenant associations confronting landlords harassing low-income residents and seeking to vacate buildings; individuals and families facing eviction; low-income tenant co-ops seeking to reinforce and sustain themselves; community institutions facing closures or adverse actions due to extraordinary market pressures and neighborhood displacement; low-income tenants in fair housing litigation; as well as community groups involved in struggles against pervasive housing discrimination, neighborhood segregation, and other issues critically affecting the future of their communities. 

The Opportunity:

Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A (Brooklyn A) seeks a Deputy Director/Attorney to join its Preserving Affordable Housing Program who will represent low-income tenants in Brooklyn facing eviction in court and before administrative agencies and bringing affirmative litigation. They will handle a full caseload of representation non-payment, holdover, HP, 7A, and harassment proceedings in Housing Court in addition to managing grant reporting and ensuring deliverables are met amongst other tasks.  The Deputy Director may supervise law fellows/externs and student interns as well as staff attorneys. They will participate in case review meetings pro-bono collaborations and community outreach events.

To be successful in this role, you must have Admission to the bar of the State of New York with a minimum of seven years’ experience representing clients in the public sector, low income tenant groups and community organizations. In addition you must have supervised staff attorneys and paralegals and a passion for social justice and helping and representing clients individually and in low-income tenant groups. As a valued team member, you will have a client-based focus and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

The most important competencies for the role are: 

• Experience supervising a team of attorneys, paralegals and administrative staff;
• Experience working with clients in the public sector, low-income tenant groups, community organizations and/or coalitions;
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with client/tenants of different races, ethnicities, ages, and sexual orientations in a multicultural environment;
• An understanding of the City’s housing market and/or experience in housing law practice; 
• Ability to work independently with strong motivation, to manage a high case load, to meet deadlines, and to be flexible;
• Have excellent legal writing, litigation and advocacy skills;
• Experience writing narrative reports for grant and contracts and to generate and monitor case metrics for quantitative contract reporting; 
• Computer proficiency sufficient to independently review and generate materials relevant to the position as well as track client information in our database, prepare reports for grantors, attend meetings, and perform administrative tasks related to the work, such as timekeeping and case notes;
• Demonstrated ability to publish articles effectively advocating on behalf of clients and Brooklyn A
• Language proficiency relevant to our clients, especially Spanish; and 
• Willingness, desire, and ability to attend evening meetings.