Staff Attorney- Lead Fellowship Trainer
San Francisco, CA the San Joaquin Valley, CA, or Los Angeles, CA

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is seeking an experienced attorney to work out of our San Francisco headquarters or in the San Joaquin Valley of California to serve as the lead training coordinator for the inaugural cohort of California Immigration Legal Fellows, a capacity building project for new attorneys in the Central Valley and Central Coast of California that is funded by the State of California. The Staff Attorney will work with other ILRC attorneys and partner organizations to train and mentor a cohort of legal fellows who will in turn provide legal services, with a focus on removal defense, in underserved regions of California. Additionally, the Staff Attorney will work on several other ILRC projects.

The ILRC is a national nonprofit legal support center headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Austin, TX; Houston, TX; San Antonio, TX; the San Joaquin Valley of California, and Washington, DC. Our mission is to work with, educate, and enhance the capacity of immigrants, community organizations, and the legal sector, in order to build a democratic society that values diversity, dignity, and the rights of all people. Founded in 1979, the ILRC is regarded as one of the foremost experts on engaging immigrants and developing their leadership, providing expertise on complex issues of immigration law, procedure, and policy, and engaging in advocacy and educational initiatives on policies that affect immigrants. We are a team-based organization that makes decisions in a collaborative fashion that allows for significant staff input.

This is a full-time, exempt position that reports to an ILRC Supervising Attorney and focuses on providing training and technical assistance to the California Immigration Legal Fellowship project while also supporting other ILRC initiatives. The ILRC is a team-based organization that makes most of its decisions in a collaborative fashion that allows for significant staff input. The ILRC currently has a hybrid work model that permits remote work, though eventually plans to require three in-office days per week for those working out of our San Francisco office.

Job Responsibilities: The Staff Attorney will serve as lead trainer for the fellowship project as well as support other ILRC activities. Duties may include:

• Developing curriculum and materials for an intensive legal training for legal fellows and coordinating learning opportunities with the legal service organizations hosting them.
• Conducting in-person and/or webinar trainings on immigration law and practice for law fellows and other legal advocates and practitioners who serve the immigrant community.
• Facilitating regular case rounds sessions with legal fellows and other advocates to provide technical assistance, develop case strategies, and identify best practices as well as providing other guidance and mentorship.
• Providing case-specific technical assistance to fellows, nonprofit agency staff, private practice attorneys, and pro bono attorneys who work with low-income immigrants on a range of immigration law issues.
• Participating in and leading collaboratives and task forces to represent the ILRC and providing relevant information on immigrant rights, immigration law, and policy updates.
• Writing and updating manuals, practice advisories, online resources, and training and educational materials for fellows, attorneys, paralegals, community organizers, members of the immigrant community, and others.
• Conducting research and writing assignments on a variety of immigration law issues.
• Traveling for trainings, meetings, and other events throughout California, and, at times, throughout the United States.

Qualifications: The successful applicant is required to have:

• Minimum of seven years of immigration law practice experience, including representing clients in complex matters before USCIS, in removal defense cases before EOIR, and on appeal before the BIA and in federal court.
• Expertise in removal defense practice including the grounds of inadmissibility and deportability, the intersection of criminal and immigration law, and asylum.
• Significant experience representing detained clients in bond and merits hearings as well as engaging in other advocacy on behalf of detained immigrants.
• Excellent writing, editing, legal research and analysis, and oral presentation skills.
• Exceptional time management skills and the ability to meet deadlines.
• Training, teaching, or other public speaking experience.
• A strong work ethic, including the following qualities: organized, flexible, reliable, dependable, and patient.
• The ability to be an independent worker and to handle several projects simultaneously while thriving in a team-based collaborative decision-making environment.
• A strong commitment to immigrant rights.
• Ability to work well and communicate effectively with legal practitioners, immigrant advocates, and community members and to coordinate collaborative efforts.
• A willingness to travel throughout California and the United States.
• A current bar membership in good standing for any state in the United States or the District of Columbia, although California is preferred.

It is a plus if the applicant has additional relevant experience or knowledge in the following:

• Experience supervising legal interns, law fellows, or more junior staff.
• Bilingual in Spanish or another language widely spoken in California with proficiency in the range of conversational to fluent.
• Technical writing whether for immigration or other purposes.
• Working in, leading, or forming coalitions.
• Collaborating with immigrant communities.
• Ties to or experience providing legal services in underserved, rural areas.

Salary/Benefits: 
Pay is extremely competitive for the field and commensurate with experience according to the ILRC salary scale for Attorneys. The starting pay for this position is from $101,018 (for those seven years out of law school). An attorney hired for this position who has been out of law school for more than seven years will have a higher salary based on their law school graduation year. The ILRC offers excellent benefits, medical/dental/vision insurance, a flexible spending account for medical and dependent care, vacation, and sick leave. The ILRC also sponsors a retirement plan option upon fulfillment of eligibility.

Applications:
The position will remain open until filled and is currently available. We will consider applications on an ongoing basis beginning immediately. To ensure consideration of your application, please submit a cover letter explaining your qualifications for the position and a current resume. Candidates who are selected for an interview will be asked to submit writing samples.

Online applications are preferred. As an alternative, you can mail your application to:
Staff Attorney- Lead Fellowship Trainer Hiring Committee
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
1458 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

No phone calls, please.

As a condition of employment at the ILRC, you will be required to submit proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

The ILRC is an equal opportunity employer and does not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious beliefs, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability age, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state or federal laws. 

 Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and other similar state laws and local ordinances, ILRC will also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records.