Position Announcement: (FEBRUARY 2020)
Staff Attorney, Program Wide Consumer Law
Unit (Rochester, NY)
Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY) has an
immediate opening for a Staff Attorney in the Program Wide Consumer Law Unit. Legal
Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY) is a
not-for-profit law firm providing free legal services to eligible clients in
civil cases through seven field offices covering a fourteen county area in
Western New York. Our Program Wide Consumer Law Unit was created in 2017 to
increase LawNY's capacity for representing clients with consumer protection
problems. The staff attorney will assist the Program Wide Consumer Law Unit in
expanding our consumer protection work by staffing our Consumer Hotline and
taking high-impact litigation cases to stop the cycle of predatory and abusive
practices that trap our clients in financial insecurity.
Duties:
The attorney will focus on a wide variety of consumer
protection issues, including predatory debt collection, credit reporting
disputes, student loans, bankruptcy, and deceptive consumer practices. The
attorney will be expected to:
- Staff
LawNY's regional Consumer Hotline, providing information and
resources to callers with consumer problems;
- Conduct
initial client screenings and triage incoming consumer cases;
- Maintain
a caseload of consumer law cases, with a focus on impact litigation;
- Assist
staff on presentations and outreach to the community;
- Identify
emerging trends in consumer law practice at the State and Federal level,
by participating in relevant workgroups and conferences;
- Work
with other LawNY staff members and the community to develop
strategies to address systemic consumer problems that adversely impact the
low-income communities we serve.
Position Location:
The attorney position can be housed in any one of our seven
offices located in Rochester, Geneva, Ithaca, Bath, Elmira, Olean, or
Jamestown, based on the selected candidate's preference. Any internal candidate
selected for the position will not be asked to change locations. The position
may require occasional travel to our other six office locations throughout the
Western New York area.
Salary:
Salary is competitive and dependent on years of relevant
experience. The entry-level annual salary for a newly admitted attorney with no
practice experience is $50,000 and increases to $57,500 for an attorney with
five years of experience. LawNY provides an excellent benefits
package including health, dental and vision insurance, generous leave
provisions, retirement plan, paid parental leave, disability coverage, a
flexible and accommodating work schedule, and numerous opportunities for
professional development and other benefits.
Procedure:
Applicants
should submit the following: 1) a cover letter describing qualifications; 2)
resume; and 3) the name and contact information of three references to be
contacted if an offer is extended; and 4) an optional legal writing sample.
Applications should be sent to the attention of Deputy Director, Kate Woods,
via email to: lawnyapplications@lawny.org.
Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY)
is an equal opportunity employer. LawNY encourages applications
from diverse candidates. LawNY welcomes applications regardless of
race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy,
national origin, age, disability, genetic information or any other
consideration protected by law. This position is considered exempt under the
FLSA.
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