Supervisory Attorney - Immigrants & Workers Rights (Immigration)

Legal Aid Chicago encourages applicants with relevant volunteer and work experience, who have experiences with our client communities or individuals who identify as a person of color, LGBTQIA+, immigrant, or otherwise having backgrounds and experiences that are underrepresented in the legal profession to apply.

For over 50 years, Legal Aid Chicago has provided free civil legal assistance to people living in poverty in metropolitan Chicago. Each year our attorneys, volunteers, and staff help resolve civil legal problems, including domestic violence, consumer fraud, and unfair evictions. Legal Aid Chicago was founded on the philosophy that all individuals are entitled to quality civil legal representation, regardless of their income. We work to ensure that poverty is not an impediment to justice by dismantling the legal barriers that perpetuate inequality. Legal Aid Chicago staff live our mission through our core values of equity, excellence, inclusion, kindness, and respect.

Legal Aid Chicago offers a hybrid work environment. Our office, located in downtown Chicago at 120 S. LaSalle Street, is ADA accessible and has convenient access to public transportation and local expressways. This position may require travel to court or other outreach events.

Position:

Legal Aid Chicago’s Immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group (IWR) includes the areas of employment, immigration, migrant farmworker, and human trafficking law. IWR’s four teams work both independently and in an interdisciplinary manner when these areas of law intersect.

IWR’s Immigration Project has an opening for a full-time Supervisory Attorney whose primary work is to coordinate and supervise a team of attorneys and paralegals providing direct services to newly-arrived immigrants in, or subject to, removal proceedings. This will include work at the Chicago Immigration Court and with the Court’s leadership to further develop an existing pro se assistance program, which includes providing information, advice, and pro se legal assistance to asylum seekers. The supervisor will also provide legal assistance to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and work collaboratively with the Immigration Project’s current supervisory team of three, to supervise additional Immigration Project staff.

Responsibilities:

• Supervise attorneys and paralegals who handle a full caseload in the above areas of law, including editing written work, providing guidance on case strategy, co-counseling complex cases, conducting regular case reviews, providing training in substantive areas of law, and completing performance evaluations
• Maintain a reasonable individual caseload involving humanitarian visas, including U and T visas, VAWA self-petitions, conditional residency waivers, and limited representation in removal proceedings
• Work collaboratively with the Immigration Project’s Supervisory team
• Address systemic issues in immigration or removal proceedings
• Work with other IWR disciplines when legal work intersects, and with additional staff in other Legal Aid Chicago Practice Groups where multi-issue representation arises, e.g., public benefits or family law
• Maintain accurate time records and ensure supervised staff do as well
• Assist in reporting and administering applicable grants
• Train external service providers on pro se assistance to immigrants in removal proceedings
• Participate in other activities related to poverty law including publication, permissible legislative and administrative advocacy, media relations, and fundraising
• Participate in Legal Aid Chicago program activities
• Represent Legal Aid Chicago on relevant community task forces, committees, or other government or non-profit bodies connected with our work
• Collaborate on projects that could involve outreach to community groups, developing new strategies for serving our clients, or addressing systemic issues through litigation, negotiation or advocacy and
• Other duties as assigned by the Director.

Requirements

Applicants must have a valid law license in any state. The ideal candidate will have six years immigration law experience, including representation in removal proceedings, training of internal and external individuals and organizations, filing of U, T, and VAWA applications, and other related applications in immigration law, including DALE, SIJS, and parole applications. Must have excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills and desire to work in a highly collegial team environment with multiple individuals. Experience working with individuals or communities experiencing poverty strongly preferred. The applicant’s personal background, experience, or professional background should reflect an ability to work effectively in cross-cultural situations with clients, co-workers and the community we serve. Spanish language proficiency is required.