About Root & Rebound: Root & Rebound (R&R) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, based in Oakland, CA, that works to restore and protect the rights, dignity, and opportunities of formerly incarcerated people and people impacted by the criminal justice system.
With offices statewide and launching nationally, our mission is to transfer power and information from the policy and legal communities to the people most impacted by the criminal justice system--through public education, direct legal services, and policy advocacy--so that the law serves, rather than harms, low-income communities and communities of color in the United States. R&R has a holistic approach to dismantle the two-tiered system of injustice in this country, working in rural and urban communities, and across all areas of life, including housing, employment and occupational licensing, family reunification, parole and probation advocacy, court debt, record expungement, and more. Learn more at www.rootandrebound.org.
Commitment: Full-time position, starting September 2019.
Location: Based in Oakland, CA, with travel across the Bay Area region.
About the Senior Staff Attorney Position: R&R seeks a Senior Staff Attorney to deepen and broaden our Bay Area regional legal programs--expanding our direct legal services, growing partnerships and increasing impact. As part of a team that utilizes a variety of community lawyering strategies including legal clinics, hotline, public education, community workshops, impact litigation and policy advocacy, the Senior Attorney will dig in with clients on court representation where R&R can have a greater impact on clients’ lives and on the system at large.
Under the supervision of R&R’s CA Legal Director and after intensive training and on-boarding, the Senior Staff Attorney will drive forward stronger impact in the Bay Area. With the support of the Legal Director, continuing education, a network of peer R&R attorneys engaged in a holistic practice, as well as legal experts and advisors across the state, the Senior Staff Attorney will support clients across 11 key areas of law and life in a holistic practice designed to be responsive to the needs of people and families impacted by the War on Drugs and mass incarceration, taking on court representation in areas where R&R has identified major gaps and needs and where court representation is identified to have the strongest impact. The Senior Attorney will have the opportunity to shape strategy and practice in the years to come, and push forward stronger programs and impact.
Responsibilities & Duties:
The Senior Staff Attorney’s responsibilities & duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
Direct Legal Services:
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Bay Area Legal Clinics: Oversee, coordinate and lead Bay Area legal clinics for community members with arrest and conviction histories. Work with Bay Area Partners that serve justice-impacted people to bring R&R’s holistic reentry legal clinics to their sites and clients. Identify cases that would be a strong fit for in-depth legal support and court representation, and take on that representation. Oversee Bay Area partnerships and provide site-based legal services for people with records served by partnering CBOs that contract with R&R.
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Court Representation and Litigation: Further develop and hone R&R’s direct legal services and litigation approaches in the Bay Area, supporting clients to overcome barriers due to their criminal records. This will include court representation of clients coming out of our hotline, clinics, and site-based legal services on a variety of legal matters, as well as advancing litigation strategies on a variety of reentry legal barriers, including parole and probation advocacy, family law, occupational licensing and employment, housing, educational equity, discrimination cases, and more.
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Hotline: Serve as support on R&R’s weekly Reentry Legal Hotline (alongside the entire Oakland legal team) to conduct intakes, identify Northern California and Bay Area cases that would be a strong fit for in-depth legal support and court representation, and take on that representation.
Public Education, Resource Development, and Partner-based Trainings:
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Grow existing Bay Area partnerships: Expand local partnerships and provide resources and training/education to those partners (including directly impacted people, their families, service providers, employers, community supervision officers, attorneys, and other agencies supporting people with records) to have the tools and know-how to navigate reentry legal barriers.
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Fair Chance Hiring: Lead the Bay Area Blue Ribbon Commission -- a Bay Area coalition of employers, workforce development agencies and other partners on Fair Chance Hiring. Identify partnership opportunities with local employers, workforce, and government agencies on the benefits of Fair Chance Hiring to unlock barriers to employment and economic mobility for clients.
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Broader Education: Assist in creating and updating R&R’s legal resources, such as “know-your-rights” toolkits, fact sheets, trainings, educational videos, etc.
Management and Hiring:
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Manage, recruit, and support members of the Bay Area legal team.
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Recruitment: Assist with proactively recruiting and managing a diverse, robust group of R&R volunteers, including pro bono attorneys, law students, undergraduate, and non-legal volunteers, in support of all of our Bay Area legal programs.
Data Tracking and Administration:
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Maintain organized files, systems, and databases for all of R&R’s legal programs.
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Track client and programmatic data and outcomes.
Qualifications:
The ideal candidate has the following qualifications:
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7+ years of law practice experience, with strong courtroom and litigation experience.
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Experience staffing or running legal clinics is a plus.
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Demonstrated commitment to social, racial, and criminal justice.
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Positive, professional, and humble attitude.
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Strong work ethic, resilience, and determination.
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Proactive communicator and team builder.
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Able to prioritize work effectively and excellent time-management.
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Ability to communicate clearly to a broad range of audiences, verbally and in writing.
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Ability to and excitement about regular travel across the Bay Area, with some travel to other parts of the state as needed.
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Preference for Spanish-speaking attorneys. Bi-lingual or multi-lingual is a plus.
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Driver’s license required.
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Licensed attorney, and in good standing, in California.
Compensation & Benefits: This position will begin as a full-time position with a competitive salary scale commensurate with experience (the R&R scale starts at $76,000 for someone with listed minimum 7 years of experience). R&R provides employment benefits that include medical, vision, and dental care, as well as the payment of state bar fees, professional and management training, and some CLE courses, plus 3 weeks (15 days) of PTO, and an additional 2 weeks of PTO for holiday closures.
To apply for this position, please send a resume, cover letter, at least two short writing samples where you were the primary author (one legal and one non-legal), and at least three references with contact information in an email directed to K.C. Taylor at [email protected]. Resumes without a cover letter, writing samples, and references will not be reviewed. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. No phone calls, please.
Root & Rebound is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from all qualified individuals including formerly incarcerated and/or system-involved individuals, people of color, persons with disabilities, ethnic and religious minorities, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender variant individuals. We depend on a diverse team to accomplish our mission!