Overview
The organization is seeking a Staff or Senior Staff Attorney (depending on years of experience) for the Wage Protection Program. This role involves significant responsibility in impact and enforcement litigation and related advocacy efforts on behalf of low-wage workers.
The Wage Protection Program works to support a just economy where workers are empowered to win fair wages and access dignified workplaces through legal representation and advocacy. The role focuses on litigation with the potential to improve industry practices, including targeting large employers and/or common practices used to evade wage-and-hour liability.
Responsibilities
The attorney will work within and across teams to advance the program’s goals, with a particular emphasis on litigation of class actions, Private Attorney General Act lawsuits, and other multi-plaintiff cases. Responsibilities include:
- Investigating, developing, initiating, and litigating enforcement and impact cases
- Assisting with direct services work, including representing clients in limited-scope matters and providing full legal representation in administrative hearings
- Assisting the Program Director and other team members with developing program strategy
- Engaging in federal, state, and local policy advocacy, often in coalition with other organizations
- Conducting community outreach and education in conjunction with community partners
- Coaching and mentoring law student clerks, fellows, and junior attorneys
Requirements
- Active membership in the California State Bar, or willingness to take the next California Bar Examination if currently a member of another state bar
- Willingness to reside anywhere in the state of California
- Ability to work primarily from home, contingent on business needs and professional responsibilities
- Demonstrated commitment to social justice and civil rights work, including a passion for seeking justice for low-wage workers
- Experience working with low-wage worker and/or immigrant communities
- 5 to 10 years of litigation experience
- Experience with investigation, case development, and litigation, including discovery, motion practice, hearings, trials and/or appeals in California and/or federal courts
- Ability to work collaboratively on a small team of attorneys and paralegals
- Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously and prioritizing competing deadlines
- Willingness to develop projects on their own initiative
- Strong legal research, writing, and analytical skills
- Ability to think creatively about the law as a tool of social change and identify opportunities for law reform
- Ability to think strategically about the role of a legal nonprofit in supporting worker organizing efforts and improving the overall legal ecosystem for wage-and-hour enforcement and workers’ rights
- Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; ability to hold and foster difficult and necessary conversations about sex, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and other protected categories
- Commitment to racial equity work and incorporating racial equity principles into legal advocacy
- Ability to use tact and diplomacy when dealing with sensitive issues and to maintain confidentiality
- Strong interpersonal skills, initiative, leadership, and organizational abilities
- Willingness to coach and mentor law students, fellows, and junior attorneys
- Willingness to travel as necessary within California and to other parts of the country for litigation, speaking events, meetings, and conferences
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of California and federal wage and hour law, employment law, and court and/or administrative procedures
- Fluency in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or other languages commonly spoken by low-wage workers in California
Compensation & Benefits
- Competitive salary within the public interest law community
- Benefits include health plans, long and short-term disability and life insurance, 403(b) retirement plan, and generous paid vacation and holidays
- Unionized position included in the bargaining unit represented by ESC Local 20
- Salary placement at hire and salary advancement will be in accordance with the negotiated salary scale for this position
- Current salary scale: $97,344 to $187,063, depending on years out of law school
- Language bonus: $75 per pay period for qualified candidates
Location
- California (residency required anywhere in the state of California)
- Primarily work-from-home, contingent on business needs and professional responsibilities
Eligibility
- Applicants must have valid work authorization to work in the United States.
Equal Opportunity
- The organization is committed to a diverse, multicultural work environment and is an equal opportunity and fair chance employer.
- Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered.
Application
Applicants should submit:
- Resume
- Cover letter detailing interest in the position
- Legal writing sample (no more than 10 pages)
- Three references