Job Posting Center  
Find a job :  
Job Listing Post new job     About  
Posted by: Sara Effron - 4/24/2019
Job Expires: 5/30/2019
Immigration Project Director
Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) Seeks Immigration Project Director

Job Title:  Immigration Project Director

VOLS seeks a passionate immigrant rights advocate to lead and foster a small but mighty team dedicated to identifying the unmet legal needs of immigrant New Yorkers, and increasing access to legal assistance in under-resourced communities by creating opportunities for pro bono lawyers to partner with individuals to achieve their goals when seeking various forms of immigration relief.

VOLS' Immigration Project collaborates with New York City schools, community-based organizations and health care centers to identify youth who need legal assistance to obtain, or retain, lawful immigration status, the lack of which often threatens to disrupt a young person's education or limit her career opportunities.

VOLS' staff works with the community to address the growing need for immigration services by providing direct representation, training and mentoring volunteer lawyers, creating informational materials, and conducting workshops on emerging issues.

Organization: Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS)

We leverage the good will, resources, and talents of New York City's leading law firms to provide pro bono legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers.

Through our projects, VOLS' staff and volunteer attorneys help all kinds of New Yorkers solve difficult legal problems that have significant consequences for them and for their families. We help mothers in prison maintain visitation with their children. We provide senior citizens with advance health care directives and other essential life-planning documents. We help immigrant high school students resolve immigration issues so that they can work legally and/or attend college. We help children with asthma by forcing landlords to eradicate mold and to repair crumbling plaster.

We strive to provide pro bono legal assistance when and where it will be most accessible to our clients, in settings familiar to them, instead of requiring people in desperate need to come to us. We do this by working closely with hospitals, schools, senior centers, and other community organizations, and integrating pro bono legal assistance into the array of services these organizations already provide.

Founded in 1984 by leaders of the New York City Bar in response to the crisis caused by Reagan-era budget cuts to legal services, VOLS has been recruiting and training lawyers from leading firms to volunteer for low-income New Yorkers for thirty-five years.

We have played a vital role in providing access to justice, now through the commitment of 13 staff, which includes 9 attorneys, and the help of law school interns, pro bono scholars, 2 AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers, and our corps of dedicated volunteers.

Responsibilities:

Primary:
  • Oversee the Immigration Project's daily activities and develop new initiatives
  • Supervise project staff and oversee professional development for the project team
  • Recruit, train and mentor volunteer lawyers and law students
  • Cultivate pro bono opportunities with partner law firms and corporations
  • Identify and establish relationships with community partners
  • Review data reports and manage case-management system protocols for data collections
Secondary:
  • Support organizational and project fundraising campaigns to support both ongoing work and fund new programs
  • Collaborate with local, regional and national immigrant rights groups and legal service providers on immigration policies affecting clients
  • Serve on bar association committees and promote pro bono best practices
  • Conduct trainings for community partners and speak on legal panels
  • Contribute to communications efforts by writing legal advisories for email lists or the immigration blog and interviewing with journalists for print, television and social media forums
  • Participate in management team meetings and participate in projects to enhance infrastructure and cross-collaboration for the organization as a whole
Qualifications:

Minimum:  Juris Doctor, Admission in good standing to the New York Bar, Supervisory and project management experience. Expertise in a range of substantive immigration law topics. Experience supervising lawyers and managing pro bono projects.

Desired: 5+ years' experience directly representing immigrant clients in affirmative and defensive immigration law matters before USCIS, EOIR, and the New York Family Courts.  Familiarity working with pro bono counsel. Public speaking experience. Admission to federal practice. Demonstrated commitment to social justice and incorporating the principles of cultural humility into legal practice.

Compensation:

$90,000 - $100,000 DOE.

VOLS offers an excellent benefits package, including health, life and disability insurance, a retirement plant to which VOLS contributes and the option to contribute to a 403(b) plan.  We provide 25 days of paid vacation and 12 days of paid sick leave annually.  

HOW TO APPLY:

Please email a cover letter and resume to apply@volsprobono.org with the subject line "Immigration Project Director Application."

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. No phone or email inquiries, please.

VOLS is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, creed, age, disability, sexual orientation, biological sex, gender identity/expression, family status, or any other basis prohibited by law. We strive to build and maintain a diverse staff, and we encourage candidates of all backgrounds/identities to apply for this position.

  
Homepage    Job Listing
Copyright © 2001-2024 WNYLC