About NYLAG:
Founded in 1990, NYLAG is a leading civil legal services organization combatting economic, racial, and social injustice by advocating for people experiencing poverty or in crisis. Our services include comprehensive, free civil legal services, financial empowerment, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community partnerships. NYLAG exists because wealth should not determine who has access to justice. We aim to disrupt systemic racism by serving individuals and families whose legal and financial crises are often rooted in racial inequality. NYLAG goes to where the need is, providing services in more than 150 community sites (e.g. courts, hospitals, libraries) and on our Mobile Legal Help Center. During COVID-19, most of our services are virtual to keep our community safe. NYLAG’s staff of 350 impacted the lives of nearly 129,000 people last year.
Job description
NYLAG seeks a highly motivated full‐time, Staff Attorney to join its staff as part of a coordinated citywide initiative, NY Citizenship. The program reaches immigrant communities across New York City to connect individuals to free immigration legal consultations, document preparation, and naturalization application assistance. The Staff Attorney will provide Citizenship services in a team-based model with a NYCitizenship paralegal, under the supervision of a NYLAG Immigrant Protection Unit Supervising Attorney and with full access to NYLAG’s resources. The Staff Attorney will handle a caseload of Citizenship applications, including disability waivers and will assist in referring eligible applicants to NYLAG’s pro bono clinic program; screen clients for eligibility; and work with the NYCitizenship paralegal to complete filings.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Staff Attorney’s responsibilities will include:
- Conduct weekly screenings with individuals referred by partner organizations and provide advice and assessment of eligibility for naturalization;
- Assist clients to obtain the documents necessary to apply for naturalization, fill out appropriate forms, and follow up with clients via phone, mail and email;
- Provide oversight to the project paralegal and make referrals to other legal service providers for complex cases that are beyond the scope of the NYCitizenship program;
- Complete and file naturalization applications and ancillary applications such as FOIAs, criminal record searches, I-90 replacement permanent residency cards, N-600 derivative citizenship applications, and N-565 replacement certificate of citizenship;
- Represent clients at USCIS naturalization interviews;
- Provide referrals for financial empowerment and other wraparound services;
- Create and maintain physical and electronic files, including managing correspondence with clients and documenting correspondence with immigration and other agencies;
- Manage data entry in internal and external data management systems and assist with generating reports;
- Maintaining regular contact with NYCitizenship program and relevant site staff; and
- Other duties and tasks as assigned.
Qualifications
- Juris Doctorate from an accredited school.
- Admission to the New York State bar.
- Fluency in Spanish is highly preferred but not required.
- Minimum 1 year of experience working with immigrants is required.
- Substantive experience in working with affirmative USCIS filings is preferred
- Excellent writing, speaking and organizational skills.
- Ability to communicate effectively with clients, community organizations, attorneys, judiciary and the public.
- Ability to work in a collaborative setting with other professionals.
- Demonstrated commitment to immigrant rights, criminal justice, and/or social justice issues.
- Experience working with survivors of trauma and immigration law.
- Ability to work independently and under pressure while managing multiple competing deadlines.
- Ability to thoroughly investigate and research complex immigration and criminal history and make eligibility assessments regarding relief
- Ability to set expectations for clients who may not be eligible for relief.
Salary Range: NYLAG is a unionized workplace, and salaries are set pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. The current salary range for this position is between $79,683-85,892.
Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k, life insurance, long term disability, commuter benefits, flexible spending accounts (FSA) for Medical and Dependent care.
Application Instructions: Please save resume and cover letter on one pdf.
NYLAG’s Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
NYLAG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, veterans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and those with lived experiences in the communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply.
Employment type:
☒ Full-time
Professional Level:
☒ Professional |