Job Details
Job Location: Salinas Office - Salinas, CA
Position Type: Full Time
Salary Range: $117,000.00 - $146,000.00
Job Category: Legal
WHO WE ARE: Founded in 1966, CRLA has a rich history of community-led advocacy impacting farmworkers, indigenous populations, individuals with disabilities, immigrant populations, LGBTQ+ communities, women, children, and low-income families in rural areas. Through a network of regional offices and cross-cutting programs, CRLA provides legal services to tens of thousands of low-income people annually. The Community Equity Initiative (CEI) addresses environmental justice issues in some of California’s most underinvested communities. CRLA seeks individuals who embody our values of being committed to justice, compassionate, radical, and community-led to join the front lines across rural California in our mission to dismantle unjust systems through community lawyering.
Position: Legal Director - Community Equity Initiative
Experience: 5+ years
Application Deadline: Open until filled
Location: Modesto, Fresno, Salinas, Tulare (hybrid)
Term of Employment: Regular, Full-Time
Other: FLSA Exempt, Non-Union Position
Position Description
Reporting to the Deputy Director, the CEI Legal Director will lead a dynamic team based in four CRLA offices to implement creative advocacy strategies to address community-identified environmental justice issues. The CEI Legal Director will be responsible for setting the vision of the program, supervising program staff, strategic advocacy, and collaborating on grant acquisition and management.
CEI utilizes a community lawyering model to address environmental justice issues in disadvantaged communities. The model calls for creative, innovative advocacy that uses a multipronged approach to address the issues and their systemic roots. Approaches such as community leadership development and advocacy around policies are as important to the work as traditional legal advocacy.
The CEI program covers a wide array of legal areas ranging from access to services such as water and broadband to the inequitable distribution of resources and siting of hazardous land uses. CEI’s client communities are Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities (DUCs) that suffer the consequences of historic underinvestment and discriminatory policies. They bear the burden of unjust and inequitable conditions and decisions.
Essential Responsibilities
Supervision of Program Staff and Advocacy
- Oversight and supervision of Community Equity Initiative staff and advocacy.
- Supervise and guide staff’s advocacy work, including assessing legal needs and reviewing and editing litigation-related documents. The Legal Director ensures that case handling complies with CRLA policies, Legal Services Corporation regulations, the ABA Standards for the Provision of Civil Legal Services, and ethical obligations.
- Conduct periodic case review meetings with staff to monitor for quality legal services and compliance with all applicable policies and regulations.
- Supervise and guide staff development, including evaluating staff and developing and implementing professional development plans.
Strategic Advocacy
- Litigate impact cases as lead or co-counsel and/or work on systemic advocacy.
- Raise awareness of Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities and CRLA’s work through media, participation in conferences, and collaboration with other organizations, agencies, and issue- and community-based coalitions.
Program Management
- Develop and implement the annual CEI work plan. The work plan serves as a blueprint for systemic advocacy and sets out a results-oriented program that blends various advocacy approaches to impact change locally, nationally, and statewide.
- Work with the Development and Finance teams to evaluate and apply for grant opportunities. Understand, monitor, and ensure fulfillment of grant deliverables and necessary outcomes, including timekeeping and other LSC requirements.
- In collaboration with the CRLA Leadership Team, coordinate the general administration of CEI, including developing and overseeing the CEI budget.
Organizational Responsibilities
- Collaborate with other CRLA Legal Directors to improve CRLA’s organizational effectiveness and capacity.
- Support the establishment of policies and programs that promote a desirable organizational culture and vision.
- Model appropriate leadership behaviors and take swift action to mitigate behaviors that compromise CRLA values. In collaboration with Human Resources, ensure a culture of knowledge sharing and continued learning.
Required Qualifications:
- Minimum of five (5) years of experience practicing law, preferably with an environmental justice focus in the areas of local planning, infrastructure and municipal services, exposure to environmental harms, or civil rights.
- Minimum of two (2) years of supervisory experience and/or proven ability to organize and supervise the casework and advocacy of team members.
- Knowledge and commitment to community lawyering principles.
- Demonstrated ability to interact constructively and maintain positive relations with diverse populations and team members.
- Demonstrated commitment to working with low-income, marginalized, and diverse populations.
- Admitted to the California Bar, or any other State Bar and willingness to take the next California Bar Exam.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in a non-profit legal services environment.
- Experience in obtaining grants and managing them through to completion.
Compensation & Benefits:
CRLA offers a diverse, family-friendly environment and compensation based on competitive public interest salaries; the expected pay range for this position is $117,000 to $146,000 per annum. CRLA provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what is reasonably expected to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, the program’s budget availability, internal equity, and external market pay for comparable jobs. Generous benefits package includes 100% employer-covered Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, and Short & Long-Term Disability Insurance for employees and up to 50% for dependents coverage; and a 401K Retirement plan with CRLA contribution matching effective immediately. Generous paid leave policy includes 15 days of sick leave, 15 holidays each year, and 15 vacation days (accrue 15 days for the first year of service and 20 days after one year of service at CRLA). Some professional dues are paid by CRLA (Bar Fees) and, if qualified, up to $8,000 annually for the law school Loan Reimbursement Assistance Program (LRAP) through CRLA.
Vaccination Requirement: CRLA requires that all employees be Fully Vaccinated, defined as a CDC-approved COVID vaccination and one booster shot. This offer is contingent on meeting this requirement. The complete vaccination policy, including the process for reasonable allowable accommodations, is available for your review upon request.
CRLA invites all applicants to include in their cover letter a statement about how your unique background and/or experiences might contribute to the diversity, cultural vitality, and perspective of our staff and legal services practice.
California Rural Legal Assistance thrives on our diversity and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a culturally diverse workplace and strongly encourage women, persons of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, veterans, persons with disabilities, and persons from other underrepresented groups to apply.
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