Staff Attorney

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW:

Justice at Work is a Boston-based legal nonprofit founded in 2011 to support workers in low-wage jobs in exercising collective power. Justice at Work envisions all people realizing their voice and power on the job to ensure fair pay, safety, and dignity. To work toward that vision, we strengthen organizing by providing labor and employment legal services, training, and strategic guidance to workers’ organizations. 

POSITION OVERVIEW:

Justice at Work is seeking a dynamic candidate to partner with our current team to provide our legal services, training, and strategic guidance, including both labor/employment and immigration law.  The successful candidate will:

1. Have experience with or direct knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing workers in low-paying and precarious jobs, especially immigrants and workers of color, including Black and Indigenous workers;
2. Share a commitment to social, racial, and economic justice and to Justice at Work’s mission;
3. Fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese, Mayan K’iche, Cape Verdean Creole, and/or Haitian Creole;
4. Have a background in, or a deep commitment to learn, employment and labor law, especially in relation to workers in low-paying jobs, and immigration law, especially in relation to labor-based immigration relief;
5. Have experience with and understanding of worker centers and community organizations.
6. Able to work collaboratively with colleagues, take initiative, and work independently to meet multiple deadlines;
7. Adept at facilitating meetings and training, both internally and with ally organizations, often with a variety of stakeholders, interests, languages, cultures, etc.;
8. Comfortable and effective at creating new connections with immigrant workers, organizers, legal advocates, and other allies;
9. Skilled in communicating, specifically in articulating the intersection between workers’ rights and immigration;
10. Be committed to regularly work weekday evenings and Saturdays and travel across Eastern MA, RI, and Eastern CT region. (Access to a vehicle is preferred–all mileage reimbursed.)
11. Be licensed to practice law, preferably in Massachusetts. (Or have a willingness to take the next Massachusetts bar.)

Responsibilities will include:

1. Performing legal intakes, in person and over the phone, of worker grievances specific to workplace-related abuses, and providing advice, referral and/or representation for those workers; 
2. Drafting, filing and litigating complaints with government agencies and in court;
3. Counseling groups of workers and their organizations engaged in actions to improve conditions at specific workplaces or across industries;
4. Working closely with Justice at Work’s staff to execute a work plan that includes our use of labor-based immigration relief in support of our mission;
5. Coordinating with Justice at Work staff to train worker center members and staff on workplace-related laws, with a focus on immigration enforcement at the workplace and including identifying and using opportunities to seek labor-based immigration relief;
6. Researching and staying abreast of developments in both employment/labor and immigration law;
7. Strategizing development of and helping to maintain a network of government, private and legal aid legal resources to support worker centers, including: a) private attorneys, who are willing to provide their services contingency-based and/or at a rate that workers in low-paying jobs can afford; b) pro bono attorneys; c) legal aid attorneys; and d) law school clinics;
8. Visit ICE detainees in situations where workers were arrested on the job and/or they already have legal status based on labor-based immigration relief in order to understand the circumstances of their arrest, determine potential for deportation defense, and/or support them in finding an immigration attorney. (Depending on workload and candidate’s experience, some detention representation of worker organization leaders may be included.)
9. Attending meetings with worker centers, legal allies, and/or relevant regional and national coalitions as necessary, including attending Zoom calls and conferences; 
10. Performing policy advocacy on behalf of worker centers with government agencies and legislative bodies;
11. Supporting the recruitment and supervision of student interns and fellows;
12. Performing all programmatic work with a commitment to Justice at Work’s fundraising and reporting needs, including:
13. recording data on all programmatic work; 
14. capturing feedback and testimonials from stakeholders; 
15. attending meetings with supporters (foundations, individual donors, law firms, etc.); 
16. supporting development staff’s drafting of reports and applications to funders;
17. assisting with Justice at Work fundraising events.

Position will generally report to the Executive Director and, for workers’ rights training and litigation, also work under the supervision of our current Senior Staff Attorney. 

COMPENSATION and BENEFITS:

The base salary range for this position is $65,000 to $95,000, commensurate with experience. Justice at Work also offers a generous benefits package that includes:

• a 401K retirement plan (up to 4% employer match); 
• health insurance (80% employer paid) effective upon hiring; 
• dental, vision, and life insurance (100% employer-paid); 
• flexible spending accounts for health-related, child care, commuter, and parking costs;
• paid vacation, wellness, personal time, comp time, and parental leave; 
• hybrid scheduling (expectation of two days per week in the office); 
• ten paid holidays and an end-of-the-year one-week shutdown;
• cell phone stipend;
• $1,500 per year for professional development;
• paid 12-week sabbatical after seven years of service. 

TO APPLY: 

Interested individuals should submit a resume and letter of interest, highlighting relevant experience, via email to jobs@jatwork.org, Attention: Thomas Smith. This position will remain open until filled.

*Justice at Work is an equal opportunity employer and actively seeks a diverse staff reflective of the communities it serves in order to better accomplish our mission. Research suggests that qualified women, Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage individuals who believe they have the skills necessary to thrive to apply for this role.*