Requisition ID: req46146

Job Title: Staff Attorney for Children’s Legal Services

Sector: Legal

Employment Category: Regular

Employment Type: Full-Time

Compensation: USD 65,000.00 – 81,430.00 Annually

Location: Atlanta, GA USA

Work Arrangement: Hybrid

Job Description

Job Overview: IRC seeks a Staff Attorney to join its Atlanta immigration team to provide legal services to unaccompanied children in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and released in the community. The attorney will conduct legal relief eligibility determinations, meet with, and advise child clients, and provide direct legal representation to children. Relief will include filing for special immigrant juvenile status, asylum, T Visas and U Visas, requiring the attorney to appear in Georgia family court, immigration court, and before the Asylum office.

The Staff Attorney will bring a passion for this area of work and some experience with immigration legal services. Working closely with IRC Atlanta leadership and immigration staff, as well as IRCs HQ Legal Services Technical Unit and a host of external partners, the Staff Attorney will assist with developing this new program area for IRC in Atlanta. This position will report to the Supervising Attorney and may supervise a Legal Assistant and/or interns.

Major Responsibilities:

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Conduct intakes with child clients, identify relief, and provide direct representation for unaccompanied children released to sponsors in the Atlanta area.
• Handle moderate to heavy caseload of childrens cases before the immigration court and USCIS.
• Initiate state court proceedings for children who are eligible for special immigrant juvenile status.
• Coordinate closely within IRCs multidisciplinary teams to identify needs and facilitate referrals to services offered in-house and through partnerships with external providers.
• Ensure client and program data is collected consistently, managed appropriately, and reported accurately in accordance with program reporting requirements set by IRC.
• Position may supervise legal assistants and/or interns.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge and expertise of changing asylum and immigration policies as they relate to children through regular training and peer-to-peer consultation.
• Serve as a strong advocate for humanitarian immigrants.
• Support accurate and timely completion of all program reports as required by funding sources, headquarters, and other partners.
• Track monthly and quarterly performance using Lolly Law and ensure all client work is documented in Lolly Law.
• Represent IRC at immigration-related meetings and events in the community; including by giving presentations.
• Assist with outreach strategy as necessary.
• Other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements:

Education: Law degree (JD or LLM) from an ABA-accredited U.S. institution and member in good standing of Georgia bar.

Work Experience:

• Ideally at least one year experience providing direct representation in immigration court and/or before USCIS to asylum applicants and other immigrants seeking humanitarian relief; law school graduates with clinical legal experience may be considered
• Experience providing legal services to children and/or working with children preferred.

Demonstrated Skills & Competencies:

• Demonstrated ability to promote an organizational culture that reflects IRCs core values of service, accountability, integrity, and equality. Ability to lead in a way that recognizes that IRCs work is best accomplished through the true collaboration of individuals from many cultures with a great variety of skills and perspectives.
• Excellent legal research, writing, analytical, and organizational skills.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally in a courtroom setting and in writing.
• Deep commitment to immigrant rights and working with humanitarian immigrants.
• Trauma-informed and sensitive listening and communication skills.
• Evidence of capacity to be a strong team member in a highly collaborative and fast-paced multidisciplinary environment.
• Must be able and willing to travel frequently in and around the service area to attend hearings and interviews and engage with clients and community partners.
• Must be willing to submit to an extensive background check, including FBI, state child welfare and sex offender registry checks.
• Fluent in English, both spoken and written; proficiency in Spanish is desired.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook); ability to use the internet and other digital tools for data entry, research, and problem-solving purposes.
• Valid drivers license and access to a personal, insured vehicle.

Working Environment:

• A combination of standard office environment, remote work, and field time within the service delivery area to perform the above outlined responsibilities.
• Occasional domestic travel required.
• May require occasional weekend and/or evening work.

Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget.  Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity: IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal. 

Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances. 

Professional Standards: The IRC and IRC staff must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way Global Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti-Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles. 

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