Senior Immigrant Rights Attorney

About the Legal Aid Justice Center:
 

The Legal Aid Justice Center is a nationally recognized, non-profit organization that partners with low-income clients and communities of color in Virginia to fight for racial, social, and economic justice. We understand that the harms our clients endure are inextricably linked to overarching systems of injustice. Together we are dismantling those systems through a combination of community organizing, litigation, policy advocacy, public relations, and individual legal services.  

Founded in 1967, LAJC has offices in Charlottesville, Richmond, Petersburg, and Falls Church and provides services under six key program areas: Civil Rights & Racial Justice (focuses on the criminal legal system), Housing & Consumer Justice, Youth Justice, Health Justice & Public Benefits, Immigrant Justice, and Worker Justice. As examples of LAJC’s recent work, our lawsuit and organizing against the state forced reform of Virginia’s unemployment insurance system, including advocacy that resulted in the distribution of over $1 billion in illegally withheld payments to over 160,000 Virginians. During the pandemic, we demanded and secured a statewide eviction moratorium and emergency pandemic protections that helped hundreds of families avoid eviction. We reduced incarceration across the state, including reducing the population of a local immigration detention center down to historically low levels through a coordinated effort of organizing paired with impact and individual litigation.  Our staff are on the front lines of some of the most important anti-poverty fights happening today.  

With a staff of over 90, the past few years have been a time of exciting growth and opportunity for the organization. In addition to the growth of programmatic efforts including increased organizing capacity, LAJC has expanded its operations and administrative capacity, created new opportunities for professional growth and leadership among staff, engaged in ongoing race equity work, and explored changes to organizational structure to deepen its efforts to create long-term, sustainable, community-driven change. 
    


About the Position:

The Legal Aid Justice Center seeks to hire a Senior Immigration Attorney for our new Norfolk office. The attorney will be responsible for helping develop and implement strategies to end mass detention and deportation of immigrants across Virginia, break the ties between immigration enforcement and local and state government and law enforcement, ensure that immigrant communities remain intact and protected in Virginia, fight the separation of immigrant families and the exclusion of immigrant youth from state benefits like in-state tuition, and protect young immigrants across the Commonwealth whether they are in federal custody or in their communities. This attorney will also establish LAJC's immigration resources in the Hampton Roads area. 

This position involves the unique opportunity to help build LAJC's footprint and join our new office in the Hampton Roads region. LAJC currently has physical offices in Falls Church, Richmond, Charlottesville, and Petersburg, as well as staff who live and work on Virginia's Eastern Shore, and in Southwest Virginia. Across six different programs, LAJC's standing advocacy has had profound positive impacts on low-income communities throughout the Commonwealth, including but not limited to Hampton Roads. In the past and currently, LAJC litigates cases in the area, works alongside communities on campaigns, and otherwise does statewide advocacy that benefits Hampton Roads residents. This will be the first time, however, that LAJC is opening up a permanent physical office in Norfolk. As part of our strategic plan, LAJC is excited to work alongside community members to achieve deeply felt needs across the region. 

Initially, this attorney will play a key initial role in establishing LAJC's presence in the region and building out the infrastructure of the office itself in collaboration with the Office Manager - Paralegal and other team members. The attorney will also take an active role in collaborating with existing community groups, coalitions, and organizations to build trust and assess community needs. 

Over time and working alongside the Worker Justice Program (already present in the Hampton Roads region), the attorney will build a portfolio of legal advocacy to advance, defend, and protect the rights of immigrant workers and families in the region. For example, the attorney may work on a cross programmatic team to help develop and implement strategies to end mass detention and deportation of immigrants in Virginia, break the ties between immigration enforcement and local and state government and law enforcement, ensure that immigrant communities remain intact and protected in Virginia, fight the separation of immigrant families and the exclusion of immigrants from state benefits like in-state tuition, and protect immigrants across the Commonwealth whether they are in federal custody or in their communities. 

Applying the principles of community lawyering and working on interdisciplinary team, the attorney will work closely with Organizers, families, community members, local, state, and national-level partners, and other LAJC advocates to advance systemic change in immigrants' rights in Viriginia through a combination of individual representation, impact litigation, community outreach, and policy advocacy. This position does not include supervisory responsibilities. 

Job Duties:

• Through supervision and coordination with the Legal Director of the Immigrant Justice Program, help monitor and advance the Central Virginia docket of individual cases to ensure community needs are met. This includes handling direct representation cases and community immigration consultations.
• Take a leadership role in various impact campaigns (including federal litigation, state and local advocacy, and grassroots community lawyering) affecting immigrant communities in and around Hampton Roads and statewide. 
• Racial Equity: Promote racial equity across all dimensions, including with LAJC, by doing the following: 
  • Helping to recruit, retina, and support both staff and leadership that reflect the racial composition of our community;
  • Cultivating respect for the work of and expanding resources for non-attorney staff that are disproportionately people of color;
  • Creating spaces for staff to discuss issues of racial, gender, and all other issues of marginalization; and 
  • Pushing for institutional and cultural changes by management, the board, and staff to further promote racial equity. 

Required Qualifications:

• Strong commitment to social, economic, and racial justice.
• At least three (3) years of practice as an Attorney with significant experience handling immigration cases, including removal defense. 
• Strong commitment to immigrants' rights.
• Experience (formal or lived) working directly with immigrant community members.
• A sufficient level of Spanish fluency to interview and counsel clients in Spanish without assistance of an interpreter. 
• Membership in the bar of Virginia (or willingness to take the Virgina bar), and ability to practice before immigration court and USCIS.
• An ability to balance and manage a variety of responsibilities.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Three to five years of experience practicing immigration law, preferably including removal defense. 
• Supervision experience, whether in a formal or informal capacity. 
• Membership in the Virginia State Bar, or eligibility and willingness to become a member of the VSB promptly – either by passing the bar exam, or meeting requirements to “waive” into bar membership without taking the bar exam. (Note: this position may be eligible for the newly enacted Virginia Supreme Court rule allowing for any attorney working exclusively for a legal aid organization to practice without examination as long as they are in good standing in another state). 
• Experience working for a public interest law firm, legal services organization, or other nonprofit as an attorney or in a pro bono capacity. 

Location: This role will be based in our Hampton Roads office. Occasional travel between offices will be required. Although a regular presence in the office is required, LAJC offers a remote work policy to support employees in co-creating schedules and arrangements that allow us all to do our best work.

A Note to Potential Candidates: Studies have shown that women, trans, non-binary folks, and BIPOC are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every single one of the qualifications as described in a job description. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization, and strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don't believe you meet every one of the qualifications described.

Application Review Date: We'll start reviewing applications after Friday, February 6. While our review process can take some time, this doesn't mean you're not being considered—please be patient as we carefully evaluate each candidate. We'll continue to accept and review applications until the position is filled. 

Application Instructions: Complete the online application. This position requires a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and contact information for three references. Please address the cover letter to the hiring manager, Rohmah Javed, but submit all materials through the online application system. We will not contact references without advance consent from candidates.

Salary: The salary scale for this position is $76,521.70 - $102,462.56 based on the LAJC salary scale. To allow for salary growth within the position over time, the anticipated hiring range for this position is between $76,521.70 - $89,492.13. 
 

Benefits: Our mission is compelling, and our team members are passionate about their work, and so we recognize the need to provide generous benefits and encourage rest and a healthy work environment. For example, we provide: 
 

• Generous paid time off every year, including 3 to 6 weeks of vacation, 12 days of health leave, 16 weeks parental leave, and 14 holidays (not including bonus holidays/rest days allocated as needed) 
• 100% employer paid health, dental, and vision insurance, plus excellent family insurance with annual max of $2,400 premium contribution to LAJC-sponsored health plan 
• 403(b) retirement plan with 4% employer contribution (no required match) 
• Strong commitment to professional development 
• Student loan repayment assistance program
• Relocation package 

The Legal Aid Justice Center is an equal opportunity employer, committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff. We strongly encourage candidates of all identities, experiences, and communities to apply. The Legal Aid Justice Center is committed to strengthening the voices of our low-income clients, working in collaboration with community partners, and rooting out the inequities that keep people in poverty. We strive to take on the issues that have broad impact on our client communities and to be responsive to client input. Recognizing the particular impact of racism on our clients and staff, we devote special attention to dismantling racial injustice. All applicants must be dedicated to working in and sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe. In reviewing applications, we look for evidence that applicants have experience and/or thoughtfulness in working with traditionally marginalized populations.