Assistant Managing Attorney, Criminal Appeals Bureau (CAB) - New York, NY

The Criminal Appeals Bureau (CAB) of The Legal Aid Society is the largest post-conviction public defender in New York City, annually providing holistic, client-centered representation to over 1,000 people with misdemeanor, felony, and homicide convictions.

CAB has an opening for an Assistant Managing Attorney to help in the management of the Bureau. The Managing Attorney's Office (MAO) is responsible for handling the procedural aspects of the appellate practice. This includes receiving case assignments from the courts, obtaining the record on appeal, distributing cases to the staff attorneys, and generally helping to ensuring the smooth administration of CAB. MAO also oversees CAB support staff and supports all CAB clients before they are assigned to a staff attorney.

The Assistant Managing Attorney will help oversee the daily operations of MAO, supervising MAO staff, liaising with court personnel, ensuring our cases progress efficiently, and troubleshooting issues. The Assistant Managing Attorney exercises significant discretion and judgment in resolving non-routine matters. The position involves a constant balancing of competing needs to ensure that our clients' rights are protected.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

General Responsibilities

• Trains and supervises MAO paralegal, including assigning and managing work, resolving problems as needed, and providing feedback
• Reviews paralegal work, including reviewing and revising motions and correspondence and helping address issues from clients and other people caught up in the criminal legal system
• Oversees the process of receiving case assignments from the courts and obtaining the record on appeal
• Liaises with court personnel about case assignments, court records and minutes, filing commitments and deadlines, and how best to resolve issues that arise
• Assists CAB attorneys with procedural problems, including interceding with court personnel to resolve issues
• Handles telephone inquiries from clients and their families as well as from other individuals who have questions about the process and assist paralegals with more complicated inquiries
• Uses discretion and sound judgment to help troubleshoot problems and resolve non-routine matters
• Engages in strategic planning to help CAB handle cases efficiently and effectively, including monitoring case assignments and filing numbers, helping to report monthly and quarterly statistics to funders, and preparing reports analyzing CAB's caseload and work distribution
• Responsibilities may also include:
  • Reviewing correspondence handled by the MAO staff and personally responding to more complicated letters
  • Overseeing filing, including supervising filing paralegals and liaising with courts and our adversaries to troubleshoot issues

Professional Development and other duties as assigned

• Participate in continuous professional development
• Continuously learn about forms of bias in the workplace and demonstrate affirmative behaviors that support an inclusive work environment
• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

• Admitted to practice in New York State or ability to waive in from another jurisdiction
• At least five years' experience practicing law preferred
• Knowledge of criminal law and New York State appellate procedure preferred
• Excellent administrative and organizational abilities
• Excellent communication skills, including ability to communicate with clients, judges, court administration, and legal practitioners
• Excellent writing skills
• An aptitude for motivating, training, and managing non-attorney staff

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

Organizational Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Commitment to Legal Aid Society's mission to secure equal justice before the law for all New Yorkers
• Interpersonal and communication skills that enable healthy and productive working relationships
• Ability to perform duties with the highest regard for confidentiality, integrity, and respect
• Commitment to Legal Aid Society's mission and values

Physical, environment, travel, and other duties required:

• Mostly sedentary, significant time using a computer and monitor; communicating and meeting using video

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range: $130,000 - $135,200

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Click here to read more about benefits.

Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF:

• Cover Letter
• Resume

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email jobpostquestions@legal-aid.org.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one's internal deeply-held sense of one's gender which may be the same or different from one's sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one's name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.