Job Description

The Legal Aid Society's Civil Practice has an opening for a Citywide Director of the Employment Law Unit (ELU). This is an opportunity to lead a multifaceted employment law practice that combines individual representation with systemic advocacy on behalf of low-wage and unemployed workers. The Director oversees a team of Staff Attorneys, Paralegals, and a Supervising Attorney whose work spans direct legal services, impact and class litigation, legislative and policy advocacy, and community-based partnerships aimed at achieving broad and lasting improvements in workers' rights.

Most of ELU’s cases involve violations of wage-and-hour laws, workplace discrimination, family and medical leave, labor trafficking, whistleblowing, and claims for unemployment insurance. In its discrimination cases, ELU assists the most vulnerable New Yorkers who are sexually harassed, discriminated against based on race, national origin, immigration status, pregnancy, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a domestic violence victim, or criminal background, or who are denied reasonable accommodations needed due to pregnancy or disabilities. Our clients are overwhelmingly people of color living paycheck to paycheck.

ELU’s docket includes complex individual, group, and class actions in federal and state courts and administrative forums, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New York State Department of Labor. The Unit partners closely with leading law firms who serve as pro bono co-counsel. ELU's cases not only secure justice for individual workers but also create more equitable conditions for workers and communities in New York City. Most recently, ELU obtained a $162 million settlement on behalf of approximately 200,000 personal assistants who had been improperly compensated.

ELU engages in extensive policy and legislative advocacy, helping secure reforms that strengthen workplace protections and expand economic opportunity for low-income New Yorkers. The Unit also partners closely with community organizations, providing workers' rights trainings, legal advice and assistance, and support in addressing emerging workplace issues affecting vulnerable communities.

Legal Aid's size and breadth make it uniquely positioned to provide holistic representation. ELU regularly collaborates with attorneys across the Civil Practice and Criminal Defense Practice to address the interconnected legal challenges facing clients. For example, ELU works closely with the Immigration Law Unit to secure immigration protections for workers, including U and T visas. These collaborations are particularly important because undocumented workers are often vulnerable to exploitation and other workplace abuses and may require coordinated legal advocacy across multiple areas of law.

The Director leads all aspects of ELU’s citywide practice, providing strategic direction and oversight of direct services, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community engagement. The Director supervises and mentors attorneys, paralegals, and managers; oversees grant-funded initiatives; helps set the Unit's legal and advocacy priorities; and ensures the delivery of high-quality representation to workers across New York City. The Director also serves as a key ambassador for the Unit, building and maintaining relationships with community partners, government stakeholders, and the media through policy advocacy, public education, and strategic communications. The Director participates in practice-wide management, planning, and decision-making in close collaboration with the Attorney-in-Charge of the Civil Citywide Units.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Litigation and Management

• Supervise the Unit’s direct legal work, including impact and affirmative litigation, policy advocacy, and community outreach, in close collaboration with the supervising attorney
• Analyze legal issues, develop legal strategies, and supervise the implementation of legal strategies
• Develop impact and affirmative litigation
• Coordinate intake processes to ensure efficient handling of cases
• Supervise, train, and mentor the Supervising Attorneys, Staff Attorneys, and Paralegals
• Monitor and maintain a high standard of representation and client service
• Provide oversight of pro bono initiatives
• Analyze legal issues, develop legal strategy, and supervise the implementation of legal strategies
• Respond to client, community, and staff concerns, ensuring that issues are addressed promptly
• Evaluate the unit’s needs and identify necessary resources to address the needs
• Coordinate database management for the unit
• Support the development, funding, implementation and reporting of programs
• Prepare and submit necessary grant-reporting paperwork, and work with the Grants and Contracts department to identity funding opportunities
• Foster and encourage teamwork and communication
• Reinforce and maintain staff accountability
• Assist with planning and conducting citywide and statewide coalition meetings and task forces
• Develop and maintain community support and relationships with community-based organizations, advocates, government agencies, elected officials, and the courts
• Conduct community education, training, and outreach, and promote the work of the office, the Employment unit, the Civil Practice, and Legal Aid in the community
• Conduct off-site intake, including during evening or weekend hours as needed

Community Engagement and Advocacy

• Develop and maintain community support and relationships with community-based organizations, advocates, government agencies, elected officials, and the courts
• Conduct community education, training, and outreach, promoting the work of the office, the Employment Law Unit, and the Civil Practice
• Represent the Employment Law Unit, the Civil Practice, and Legal Aid in the community, participating in policy work, community education, and press engagements
• Assist with planning and conducting citywide and statewide coalition meetings and task forces
• Support the development of strategic offerings/initiatives, related policies, and procedures, ensuring they align with the mission of the Unit and the broader goals of the organization

Team Development and Supervision

• Assign work, approve time off, manage staffing changes, and remote work schedule requests following the guidance of Legal Aid’s policy and procedures
• Attend management meetings, participate in management trainings, and utilize current employment policies, practices and guidance as provided by management and Human Resources
• Conduct management and supervision practices that affirmatively support equity and inclusion
• Supervise direct reports in setting performance standards, provide routine feedback as well as coaching/counseling, and issue disciplinary action as needed
• Identify and provide training and development opportunities and ensure mandatory trainings are completed
• Identify, delegate, and document work responsibilities, roles, and procedures to meet the mission of the department
• Identify and implement department/unit management and accountability practices to improve performance
• Resolve employee conflict, complaints, and address union concerns, with guidance from Human Resources
• Lead organizational and culture change for the unit

Professional Development and Other Duties as Assigned

• Participate in continuous professional development
• Continuously learn about forms of bias in the workplace and demonstrate affirmative behaviors that support an inclusive work environment
• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

• Admission to the New York State Bar
• Minimum of ten years of legal practice including experience litigating employment law matters
• Supervisory and management experience
• Experience litigating in various forums, including state and federal courts
• Excellent litigation and advocacy skills
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, oral, written, and organizational skills
• Ability to clearly identify roles, responsibilities, delegate tasks and hold people accountable.
• Ability to provide meaningful performance feedback for professional development including having difficult conversations and resolving sensitive employee issues.
• Ability to work in a collaborative team model
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, written, organizational and multitasking abilities
• Commitment to Legal Aid’s mission to secure equal justice before the law for all New Yorkers 
• Interpersonal and communication skills that enable healthy and productive working relationships.
• Commitment to Legal Aid Society’s mission and values
• Ability to perform duties with the highest regard for confidentiality, integrity, and respect.
• May or will require travel within NYC, across the five-borough region

Preferred qualifications:

• Pro bono, government or public service experience
• Demonstrated commitment to and experience in policy advocacy and reform
• Demonstrated leadership ability
• Grant-writing and fundraising experience
• Knowledge in various practice areas within civil legal services practice
• Proficiency in languages other than English is desirable, but not required

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range: $166,000 - $171,000

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Click here to read more about benefits.

Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF:

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Writing Sample

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email TalentAcquisition@legal-aid.org

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.