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NLS is seeking a staff attorney for the Family Law Unit. The staff attorney will advocate for individuals in need of representation in the Supreme and Family Courts of Erie County and the surrounding counties in connection with matrimonial, child custody and support, domestic violence, and related family law matters.

The staff attorney will be responsible for caseload management, legal research and writing, client contact, court appearances, trials and hearings, community outreach, and daily engagement with prospective clients and the community partners of NLS.

Essential Responsibilities / Functions:

• Develop a substantive knowledge of the areas of family law.

• Provide a spectrum of legal assistance to those applicants affectedby domestic violence and experiencing poverty, from advice and counsel by telephone, brief service assistance, and full representation through trial.

• Identify and address systemic problems that affect the rights of persons within the family law realm and attempt to develop plans to address these challenges through affirmative advocacy, impact litigation, and policy work.

• Collaborate and coordinate with NLS staff and community partners to ensure effective referrals and holistic service delivery.

• Conduct community outreach, education, and training

• Develop relationships and engage in collaborations with a range of public and private community partners, including governmental agencies, courts, and community-based organizations, to ensure integrative services and to address systemic barriers facing our client community.

• Demonstrate cultural competency to work with low-income clients across the spectrum of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, immigrant status, religious identity, and physical and mental disabilities.

• Meet regularly and communicate effectively with support staff, supervisors, and members of other NLS units to maintain and review efficient case management.

Core Competencies

• Strong personal work ethic and ability to organize time, manage diverse activities, and meet critical deadlines with minimal supervision.

• Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills, with the ability to be detail oriented.

• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work collaboratively with a dynamic and multi-sector team.

• Cultural humility in working with low-income clients across the spectrum of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, immigrant status, religious identity, physical and mental disabilities, and limited English proficiency; and

• Familiarity with diversecommunities is a plus.

Qualifications

• J.D. and New York State Bar Membership (may be pending)

• Previous experience working with low-income and/or underserved communities preferred

• Second language fluency preferred

• Legal services background, or knowledge of general civil legal work preferred.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements:

• Work in a shared office environment, including working at the workstation and attending meetings

• Traveling to meetings and hearings off-site.

• Use of computers and other office machines such as fax, photocopiers, and telephones.

Salary and Benefits

$67,222-$118,250 per year salary, dependent upon experience and in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (law graduates pending admission are welcome to apply). Full-time position with a 35-hour work week and shorter summer hours.

The organization offers a comprehensive benefits package to its employees. This includes health, dental, and vision insurance, 3 weeks of vacation time, 12 paid holidays, and a paid week off between Christmas and New Year’s. Additionally, employees have access to sick and personal leave, as well as eligibility for public student loan forgiveness. The company also provides $50,000 life insurance, a pension plan, HRA and Flexible Spending Accounts, and paid memberships.

NLS is seeking a dynamic staff attorney for the Disability Advocacy Project in its Buffalo office. The staff attorney will help clients with disabilities obtain and/or maintain Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income benefits. The staff attorney will learn the law and advocate for individuals in need of disability benefits and address overpayment notices and other client needs Advocacy will include representation of individual clients and will involve caseload management, legal research and writing, and representation at administrative hearings and federal courts.

Essential Responsibilities/Functions:

• Develop a substantive knowledge of the areas of law that impact the lives of persons with disabilities.
• Provide a spectrum of legal assistance from advice and counsel to representation at administrative hearings and federal court.
• Conduct community outreach, education, and training.
• Develop relationships and engage in collaborations with a range of public and private community partners, including governmental agencies, courts, and community-based organizations to ensure integrative services and to address systemic barriers facing our client community.

Core Competencies:

• Strong personal work ethic and ability to organize time, manage diverse activities, and meet critical deadlines.
• Excellent writing, editing, and proof‐reading skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work collaboratively with a dynamic team.
• Curious and self‐directed with an ability to anticipate client needs
• Demonstrated cultural competency in working with low-income clients across the spectrum of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, immigrant status, religious identity, physical and mental disabilities, and those with limited English proficiency.

Compensation & Benefits:

• Salary range is $67,222-$118,250 per year, is dependent on experience and in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (law graduates pending admission are welcome to apply).
• Full-time position with a 35-hour work week and shorter summer hours.
• Excellent benefits including health, dental and vision insurance, three (3) weeks of vacation, 12 paid holidays plus paid week off between Christmas and New Year’s, sick and personal leave, eligibility for public student loan forgiveness, paid $50,000 life insurance, pension plan, HRA and Flexible Spending Accounts, and paid professional legal memberships.

Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc, (“NLS”) the largest provider of free civil legal services in Western New York, is seeking to hire attorneys to join our Medical-Legal Partnership (“MLP”) program, a cutting-edge model of legal service delivery spanning all of NLS’ substantive practice areas through a lens of individual and public health. NLS, a trauma-informed workplace, has partnered with multiple local community healthcare providers to deliver wraparound civil legal services to underserved communities. Our MLP work aims to improve health outcomes for low-income members of our community by providing legal solutions to health harming legal needs. Your clients will include people living with low incomes, disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people experiencing homelessness. The attorney selected for this position will have the unique opportunity to gain experience and provide representation across multiple practice areas. As an MLP Neighborhood Legal Services attorney you will have the opportunity to do the following:

• Direct legal services work: Provide a spectrum of legal assistance from advice & counsel to full
  representation for our clients in a wide-range of civil legal matters, including areas such as
  housing, family, public benefits, health insurance, Social Security, basic estate/life planning work,
  and advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community;
• Establish and maintain partner referral networks: Establish and/or maintain NLS’ onsite
  presence with one of our partner providers, coordinate with our provider partners to assure
  effective referrals and holistic service delivery and to identify systemic problems that affect our
  clients’ rights and address these challenges;
• Training: Conduct community outreach, education and training for and with our provider
  partners; and
• Develop relationships: engage in collaborations with a range of public and private community
  partners, including governmental agencies, courts, and community-based organizations, to
  ensure integrative services and address systemic barriers facing our client community.

Core Competencies:

• Strong personal work ethic and ability to organize time, manage diverse activities, and meet
  critical deadlines with minimal supervision;
• Willingness to handle a case load involving varying areas of practice, to address the legal needs
  of low-income people, and to find the health-harming barriers to optimal health-outcomes our
  clients face;
• Excellent writing, editing, and proof‐reading skills;
• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work collaboratively with a dynamic and multi‐sector
  team;
• Curious and self‐directed with an ability to anticipate client and healthcare partner needs;
• Cultural humility in working with low‐income clients across the spectrum of diversity, including
  race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio‐economic status, immigrant status,
  religious identity, physical and mental disabilities, and limited English proficiency; and
• Familiarity with diverse communities

Salary and Benefits:

• $67,222-$118,250 per year salary, dependent upon experience and in accordance with the
  Collective Bargaining Agreement (law graduates pending admission are welcome to apply).
• Full-time position with a 35-hour work week and shorter summer hours.
• Excellent benefits including health, dental and vision insurance, 3 weeks of vacation, 12 paid
  holidays plus paid week off between Christmas and New Year’s, sick and personal leave,
  eligibility for public student loan forgiveness, paid $50,000 life insurance, pension plan, HSA and
  Flexible Spending Accounts, and paid memberships.

Qualifications:

• Graduation from an accredited law school, membership in New York State Bar or pending
  admission.
• Applicants are expected to have knowledge of legal principles of civil practice.
• Strong personal work ethic, interpersonal skills, ability to work collaboratively with a dynamic
  team;
• Ability to organize and meet deadlines with minimal supervision, effective communication; and
• Cultural competency to work with clients challenged by poverty across the spectrum of diversity

NLS is seeking a staff attorney for the Family Law Unit. The staff attorney will advocate for individuals in need of representation in the Supreme and Family Courts of Erie County and the surrounding counties in connection with matrimonial, child custody and support, domestic violence, and related family law matters.

The staff attorney will be responsible for caseload management, legal research and writing, client contact, court appearances, trials and hearings, community outreach, and daily engagement with prospective clients and the community partners of NLS.

Essential Responsibilities / Functions:

• Develop a substantive knowledge of the areas of family law.

• Provide a spectrum of legal assistance to those applicants affectedby domestic violence and experiencing poverty, from advice and counsel by telephone, brief service assistance, and full representation through trial.

• Identify and address systemic problems that affect the rights of persons within the family law realm and attempt to develop plans to address these challenges through affirmative advocacy, impact litigation, and policy work.

• Collaborate and coordinate with NLS staff and community partners to ensure effective referrals and holistic service delivery.

• Conduct community outreach, education, and training

• Develop relationships and engage in collaborations with a range of public and private community partners, including governmental agencies, courts, and community-based organizations, to ensure integrative services and to address systemic barriers facing our client community.

• Demonstrate cultural competency to work with low-income clients across the spectrum of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, immigrant status, religious identity, and physical and mental disabilities.

• Meet regularly and communicate effectively with support staff, supervisors, and members of other NLS units to maintain and review efficient case management.

Core Competencies

• Strong personal work ethic and ability to organize time, manage diverse activities, and meet critical deadlines with minimal supervision.

• Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills, with the ability to be detail oriented.

• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work collaboratively with a dynamic and multi-sector team.

• Cultural humility in working with low-income clients across the spectrum of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, immigrant status, religious identity, physical and mental disabilities, and limited English proficiency; and

• Familiarity with diversecommunities is a plus.

Qualifications

• J.D. and New York State Bar Membership (may be pending)

• Previous experience working with low-income and/or underserved communities preferred

• Second language fluency preferred

• Legal services background, or knowledge of general civil legal work preferred.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements:

• Work in a shared office environment, including working at the workstation and attending meetings

• Traveling to meetings and hearings off-site.

• Use of computers and other office machines such as fax, photocopiers, and telephones.

Salary and Benefits

$67,222-$118,250 per year salary, dependent upon experience and in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (law graduates pending admission are welcome to apply). Full-time position with a 35-hour work week and shorter summer hours.

The organization offers a comprehensive benefits package to its employees. This includes health, dental, and vision insurance, 3 weeks of vacation time, 12 paid holidays, and a paid week off between Christmas and New Year’s. Additionally, employees have access to sick and personal leave, as well as eligibility for public student loan forgiveness. The company also provides $50,000 life insurance, a pension plan, HRA and Flexible Spending Accounts, and paid memberships.

NLS VOLUNTEER ATTORNEY PROGRAM (VAP) offers attorneys a chance to volunteer their time and expertise.  No experience in the particular field is necessary and we will train you in the area you volunteer.

You can volunteer to assist with individual clients on an as-needed basis or with one of our Attorney of the Morning Programs (AMP). NLS staffs AMPs at Buffalo City Court (Tuesday and Thursday mornings) and Niagara Falls City Court (dates vary) to assist low-income tenants facing eviction.

Volunteers must be attorneys licensed to practice law in New York State, and in good standing with the Office of Court Administration (OCA).   Volunteers must immediately notify NLS of any changes in their status. Attorneys who register with NLS and are in good standing with OCA are covered under the NLS malpractice insurance policy for the NLS cases they accept.

In order to participate with NLS, you agree to:

• Represent clients referred by NLS and in accordance with the New York State Rules of Professional Conduct;
• Respond to periodic requests for updates by NLS;
• Complete all required NLS forms;
• Notify NLS upon completion of a matter, including the amount of time spent and the tasks completed;
• Notify NLS of any changes to the attorney’s contact information or areas of interest.

If interested, please contact [email protected]

NLS accepts student volunteers throughout the year in our various offices and areas of practice.  Undergraduate students and law students are encouraged to apply.  NLS also participates in externship programs and pro bono scholarship programs (such as the Buffalo Public Interest Law Program at UB Law School).

REQUIREMENTS  NLS requires students to treat their internship/externship/volunteer opportunity like a job.  Students must be punctual, professionally dressed and reliable.  Students must act in a professional manner with staff, clients and court personnel.

STUDENT PRACTICE ORDERS  NLS generally applies for student practice orders for law students who have completed at least two (2) semesters of law school and are volunteering for a semester or the summer.  The student practice order allows the students to appear in court under the supervision of an NLS attorney.

50 HOUR PRO BONO REQUIREMENT  NLS accepts law student volunteers who wish to complete their fifty (50) hour pro bono requirement to be admitted in New York State.

If interested, please email [email protected]