What are the responsibilities and job description for the Homeowner Affirmative Litigation Supervisor position at Community Economic Defense Project?
About the Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP) & CED Law
Our mission
We partner with low-income and working people to build economic and racial equity. We do this by confronting economic abuse and investing in community wealth. We use an ever-evolving set of legal, economic and advocacy tools to challenge and dismantle unjust systems, building quickly towards a world where all people have what they need to live and thrive.
Our Organization
Working with clients, we built a deeply integrated approach to eviction, foreclosure, and homelessness prevention that centers the legal and financial needs of housing-insecure families and uses a variety of tools to keep them housed.
Our team now serves more than 1,000 people per month, bringing together housing lawyers, economists, data analysts, policy-experts, organizers, and technologists to serve our clients. We have served more than 50,000 low-income Coloradans across 45 counties, distributing over $200 million in emergency assistance. We have also contributed to the passage of major legislation to prevent eviction, stop economic abuse, and make credit and life-saving medication cheaper. CEDP’s model has been cited as a best practice by White House, HUD, the Urban Institute, and in the media.
Building on our work to stop evictions, CEDP has further expanded its integrated services model to include disaster response, predatory towing, debt collection, benefit access & navigation, long-term rental assistance, and homelessness response. Similar to CEDP’s work on rental housing, these efforts offer a continuum of care that includes navigation and advisory services, targeted payments, legal support, and the ability to participate in advocacy.
More about the Homeowner Affirmative Litigation Supervisor Role:
CED Law, the legal arm of CEDP, currently consists of an Eviction Defense team and a Foreclosure Defense team, and is continuing to expand the services offered to tenants and homeowners in Colorado. We have grown into an important pillar in the housing community by establishing reputation and trust with those we serve. At the same time, foreclosures in Colorado continue to skyrocket across Colorado each month and we see an ever more pressing need to take the offensive on behalf of our clients.
To meet this need, we are seeking an experienced litigator to help us build an affirmative practice from the ground up. Depending on the applicant’s skillset, we will hire a Homeowner Affirmative Litigation Level 1 Supervisor or a Homeowner Affirmative Litigation Level 2 Supervisor with more managerial duties.
In this role you will:
- Develop an affirmative litigation program with the Director of Foreclosure Defense and Chief Legal Services Officer that aligns with organizational mission and values, meaningfully contributes to the accomplishment of firm contract obligations in the short run, and grows into a successful, self-sustaining model in the long run.
- Lead litigation focused on abusive and illegal mortgage servicing errors, predatory mortgage and mobile home lending, sale of defective mobile homes, and other actions affecting the housing stability of homeowners and mobile homeowners.
- Design and implement affirmative litigation program operations, including intake, drafting representation agreements, case management, discovery, client relations, hearing and trial preparation work, and all associated policies and procedures with support from the Director of Foreclosure Defense and Chief Legal Services Officer.
- Lead all aspects of affirmative litigation on behalf of homeowners and mobile homeowners at CED Law, including case selection, litigation strategy, drafting, and court appearances.
- Supervise affirmative litigation program paralegal(s)/intake specialist(s) (for Level 1 Supervisor position) and other support staff, as needed, and, possibly, affirmative litigation attorney(s) (for Level 2 Supervisor position).
- Set and complete case goals identified by supervisors and/or in partnership with supervisors.
- Coordinate across CEDP to ensure timely tracking and reporting of case completions.
- Maintain a regular schedule of hearings, court appearances, and conferences based on case requirements.
- Interact with and present to partners across the organization to serve clients efficiently and effectively.
Complete required documentation for both case tracking and also personal management.
Position Requirements:
- Admission or eligible for admission to the US District Court for the District of Colorado
- Admission to or eligible for admission to the Colorado State Bar, with current admission being preferred
- 3 years of experience in Plaintiff’s side civil litigation, with strong preference given to candidates who have experience in mortgage servicing and/or predatory lending litigation
- 4 years of experience in housing law, real estate, bankruptcy, lending, litigation or related law and litigation experience
- 1 years experience managing, leading, or mentoring individuals and/or teams
- Demonstrated passion for social and racial justice
- Robust research and drafting capabilities
- Strong desire to center client and community needs
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills
- Strong organizational abilities
- Knowledge of MS Office suite, CLIO, Google Suite desired
- Other language skills not required but are a strong plus and eligible for additional stipend
Additional Details:
- Candidates must reside in Colorado, ideally within the greater Denver Metro area. The position includes competitive pay, flexible time off, benefits package (including medical, dental, vision), and 401k
- A competitive salary grade of $92,500 per year for a Homeowner Affirmative Litigation Level 1 Supervisor and $97,500 for a Homeowner Affirmative Litigation Level 2 Supervisor
- Employees who utilize two languages or more at work are eligible for a $2,000 salary differential per year added to the salary grade listed above. Language assessment will be conducted by the organization as a requirement to receive the differential
- All employees receive a technology stipend of $720 per year
- Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis but must be received by January 10th, 2025
- The estimated time to complete the recruitment process will be by January 31st, 2025
- As in-person work is sometimes required, all employees at CEDP & CED Law are expected to maintain current vaccination status in keeping with CDC recommendations.
- CEDP is an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.
Salary : $720 - $92,500