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<p>The Center for Family Representation Inc. (CFR) is an award-winning, innovative law and policy organization that serves primarily Black and Brown families and youth in Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx with an interdisciplinary legal defense model that serves more than 2400 clients every year. CFR was originally founded in 2002 to dramatically change the trajectory of indigent parents being prosecuted by the City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). Our goal is to defend and protect our clients’ rights, reduce the harm of family separation and prevent or minimize the time any child spends in the foster system. CFR provides interdisciplinary family defense with a model that was unique at our founding and that is now being replicated nationally: we assign every client an attorney and a social work staff member, and teams have the support of parent advocates, who are parents with direct personal experience of being investigated and prosecuted by ACS. CFR was the first agency in the country to integrate parents with lived experience into legal teams and now has 6 parent advocates working in all three of our family defense locations. CFR’s Community Advocacy Project represents parents during a child protective investigation (to avoid court involvement where possible) and assists parents in clearing their names from state maltreatment records.</p>
<p> As an agency committed to securing justice for families, we built the Youth Defense practice (YDP) to defend youth at risk of family separation through incarceration. YDP uses the same interdisciplinary model to represent youth being prosecuted in Queens and Manhattan in Supreme Court Youth Parts, during Probation Adjustment and in Delinquency proceedings in Family Court. CFR’s Home for Good program provides legal and social work services to clients in immigration, civil legal services and criminal defense matters, to afford clients an efficient and well-coordinated one-stop solution to a range of issues that threaten family stability.</p>
<p> Recognized as experts in our fields, we annually train over 500 practitioners in the city, state and around the country on strategies to promote family preservation and interdisciplinary representation, and we provide community based “Know Your Rights” presentations to parents, youth and service providers. We advocate at the city, state and national level for policies that reduce the harm of family separation, and promote parent engagement and justice for youth and families.</p>
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<p><br> Under the supervision and guidance of the Litigation and Appeals Supervisor, the Senior Appellate Attorney will collaborate with family defense teams in Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx to pursue and defend interim and final appeals in family defense cases.</p>
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<p><br> Responsibilities will include:</p>
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<li><p><br> Represent CFR clients in appeals from family court orders.</p></li>
<li><p> Participate in consultations with family defense teams and reviews of potential appeals to determine whether CFR will represent a client on an appeal.</p></li>
<li><p> Review the appellate record to identify issues to be raised on appeal.</p></li>
<li><p> Prepare briefs and orally argue appeals in the Appellate Divisions of the First and Second Departments.</p></li>
<li><p> Prepare written work that is clear, concise, well-organized, accurate in citation, creative and persuasive.</p></li>
<li><p> Communicate with clients and their family defense teams about the status of appeals and the impact of events in the family court case on appeals.</p></li>
<li><p> Pursue writs (habeas and mandamus) and seek stays where appropriate.</p></li>
<li><p> Stay abreast of appellate division rules and practices.</p></li>
<li><p> Promptly maintain data in our case management system and client legal notes.</p></li>
<li><p> Provide consultation with trial teams on novel issues of law.</p></li>
<li><p> Provide occasional litigation and supervisory support and coverage at the trial court level.</p></li>
<li><p> Participate in recruiting and planning for legal interns.</p></li>
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<p> Candidates must be admitted to practice law in the State of New York and should have at least 3-5 years of relevant legal experience, including experience in family court abuse and neglect proceedings and appeals. The ideal candidate will have excellent written and oral advocacy skills, a proven ability to prioritize requests and meet deadlines, an ability to work collaboratively in teams, and excellent communication and interpersonal skills.</p>
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