Staff Attorney, Asian Domestic Violence Law Collaborative (Queens)
Job Overview
Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) fights poverty and seeks racial, social and economic justice for low-income New Yorkers. For over 50 years, we have challenged systemic injustices that trap people in poverty and provided legal services that help our clients meet basic needs for housing, income and economic security, family and immigration stability, education, and health care. LSNYC is the largest civil legal services provider in the country; our staff of more than 600 people in neighborhood-based offices and outreach sites across all five boroughs helps hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers annually. We partner with scores of community-based and client-run organizations, elected officials, public agencies, pro bono lawyers, and the courts to maximize our effectiveness. Our work fights discrimination and helps to achieve equity for all low-income New Yorkers.
LSNYC employees have numerous opportunities for growth and professional development, including access to our internal Justice Learning Center, which provides opportunities to earn free CLEs and gain experience as a trainer.
Queens Legal Services (QLS) seeks a fulltime staff attorney to work with our Asian Domestic Violence Law Collaborative within our Domestic Violence Family Law Advocacy Project (DVFLAP). The position is available immediately.
About Us
Founded in 1967, QLS seeks equal access to justice for all low-income residents of Queens through a range of legal advocacy, education and community partnerships. We provide free legal counseling, representation and referrals in civil matters involving the essentials of life including housing, public and disability benefits, domestic violence prevention, consumer and homeowner protections, access to education and employment rights to eligible low-income individuals and families. We are part of a network of local programs that make up Legal Services NYC (LSNYC), the largest free civil legal services provider in the United States.
DVFLAP is an interdisciplinary team of attorneys, paralegals, and social workers whose mission is to provide holistic and culturally competent services to enable victims of intimate partner violence to live free of abuse and violence. Our attorneys provide direct legal representation to domestic violence survivors in all types of family and matrimonial law matters and some immigration matters. DVFLAP staff conducts borough-wide outreach and community education workshops related to domestic violence and are actively involved in community task forces and working groups. We advocate on systemic and macro levels for policy changes to advance economic, racial, and gender justice for survivors of intimate partner violence.
Responsibilities
The attorney will be primarily responsible for advancing the work of the QLS Asian Domestic Violence Law Collaborative, a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)-funded initiative within our DVFLAP, through which QLS advocates partner with shelter and counseling programs serving Asian immigrant domestic violence survivors. Our partners include Sakhi for South Asian Women, Turning Point for Muslim Women and Families, Garden of Hope and Korean American Family Services Center. The attorney will represent survivors of domestic violence in Family Court, Supreme Court and the Integrated Domestic Violence Part of Criminal Court in a range of family law matters including family offense, child custody and visitation cases, child and spousal support matters, and divorce proceedings.
Additional responsibilities include off-site legal clinics, community outreach and education with our community partners. The attorney will work closely with QLS social workers and with community agency advocates to provide comprehensive, culturally sensitive representation. They will also handle appeals and policy advocacy projects and will sometimes participate in advocacy on immigration, housing, benefits and other related matters.
Experience and Qualifications
We seek an attorney admitted to the New York State Bar with:
- A demonstrated passion for social justice and commitment to working with diverse, low-income communities and communities of color to advance equity;
- Experience working as part of an interdisciplinary team strongly preferred;
- Litigation, advocacy, and trauma-informed experience in family and matrimonial law and with issues concerning domestic violence;
- Excellent analytical, research, and writing skills;
- Strong interpersonal, communication, time management and oral presentation skills;
- Enthusiasm for partnering with community-based advocates and organizations;
- A facility working with software technology and basic knowledge of current technology in a law practice;
- Experience with LegalServer or other case management systems (preferred); and
- Fluency or strong working ability in Mandarin, Korean, Hindi or Bengali strongly preferred.
Dependent on work history and experience.
All employees are strongly encouraged to continue to receive and maintain up-to-date COVID vaccinations unless they are unable to for medical or religious reasons.
Legal Services NYC is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, people with disabilities, people over 40, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are strongly encouraged to apply.