Staff Attorney

About NYLAG:
Founded in 1990, NYLAG is a leading civil legal services organization combatting economic, racial, and social injustice by advocating for people experiencing poverty or in crisis. Our services include comprehensive, free civil legal services, financial empowerment, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community partnerships. NYLAG exists because wealth should not determine who has access to justice. We aim to disrupt systemic racism by serving individuals and families whose legal and financial crises are often rooted in racial inequality. NYLAG goes to where the need is, providing services in more than 150 community sites (e.g., courts, hospitals, libraries) and on our Mobile Legal Help Center. NYLAG’s staff of over 400 impacted the lives of nearly 129,000 people last year.

Job description
NYLAG has an immediate opening for a staff attorney to be a part of the dynamic Consumer Protection Unit (CPU) team. CPU represents clients in a wide and exciting range of consumer rights matters by helping low-income individuals fight devastating fraud, predatory lending, and illegal debt collection practices as well as assist those in need of crucial loan modifications and foreclosure defense.

This position presents the unique opportunity to be a part of the Taxi Advocacy Project (TAP) which assists NYC’s yellow taxi medallion owners in various types of financial transactions and litigation cases. The hire will work with lenders to resolve or reduce clients’ grueling medallion loan debts. This is a unique chance to work with a dedicated population in desperate need of help, with NYLAG being one of the few agencies addressing medallion loan debt specifically. They will focus on providing crucial screening, and legal advocacy for clients; preparing and presenting materials with resources and information on our services and client options; maintaining a significant client caseload of his/her/their own and performing important legal intakes with clients and potential clients from a range of referral sources. The staff attorney will also conduct outreach and community workshops on a variety of project-relevant legal topics and issues. This role will also require participation in other projects within CPU, as needed, on a wide range of relevant and necessary tasks for CPU, including conducting legal research; court observation or volunteering, investigating new areas of relevant law; and many other tasks which may arise within and outside the Taxi Advocacy Project.

Attorneys on this project must be prepared to work out of the TLC center located in Long Island City, and/or other off-site clinic/outreach events up to 4 days a week, as needed. Some examples of possible sites are the Taxi Clubhouse in Manhattan and JFK airport. For the remainder of the days, the Attorney will be located in our main offices in the financial district, as well as go to court, clinics, work remotely or staff and other locations as needed.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Desire to work directly with clients
• Represent clients in the restructuring of their taxi medallion loans
• Represent clients in the sale or transfers of their taxi medallion
• Handle various business transactions for medallion owners
• Handle real estate transactions from contract through closing
• Represent clients in Chapter 7 bankruptcies
• Represent clients in Surrogate Court matters
• Represent clients in consumer debt litigation
• Court Appearances/Administrative Court Appearances
• Conduct thorough legal intakes with clients in need
• Represent diverse clients in various and dynamic legal areas including consumer law, consumer debt, bankruptcy, foreclosure prevention, and other financial related areas of law
• Litigate and conduct trials when necessary
• Investigate facts through interviews and document collection
• Advocate zealously on behalf of clients opposite various plaintiffs, lenders, organizations, and government agencies
• Prepare a variety of legal documents for own cases as well as to assist other attorneys
• Provide oral and written translations for attorneys who represent non-English-speaking clients in various scenarios, including court appearances if necessary
• Perform legal research
• Draft and distribute various outreach materials
• Conduct relevant legal workshops to client communities
• Data entry in client database and other outlets
• Draft and present training materials to funders, clients and/or internally
• Manage and assign tasks to volunteers as needed
• Manage administrative work as needed for caseload and as needed for reporting
• Report to supervising attorneys on cases, legal strategies, scheduling, and other matters in a prepared manner
• Work closely and collaborate with NYLAG’s team of experienced attorneys, supervisors, and case handlers, and receive both hands-on and formal training.
• Other responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications

• Admission to New York State Bar Required
• Federal Court Admission preferred
• Fluency in any of the following languages is preferred: Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, Haitian-Creole, Russian
• Experience with New York City legal firms, social services organizations, or experience with consumer law preferred
• A commitment to, and passion for, serving vulnerable New Yorkers and immigrant populations of diverse backgrounds
• Ability to handle a diverse caseload
• Able to work independently and as part of a team
• A desire to learn the relevant advocacy strategies and law
• Strong commitment to, and passion for public service
• Excellent communication, research, and writing skills
• Excellent oral, written, and analytic abilities
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work well with and enjoy collaborating with others

NYLAG’s Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
NYLAG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, veterans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and those with lived experiences in the communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply.

Employment type:

• Full-time

Professional Level:

• Professional

Salary Range: NYLAG is a unionized workplace, and salaries are set pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. The current salary range for this position is between $90,262 - $96,436.

Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k, life insurance, long term disability, commuter benefits, flexible spending accounts (FSA) for Medical and Dependent care.

Application Instructions: Please save resume and cover letter on one pdf. Applicants without a cover letter, or who are not admitted to the New York State Bar will not be considered.

NYLAG is committed to a hybrid work policy for staff whose work does not require their full-time presence in the office. NYLAG’s current policy is that most staff are required to work in NYLAG’s offices or do other in-person work at least two days each week. This policy is subject to change.

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