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<p>Brooklyn Defender Services is seeking applicants for a Staff Attorney position in the Family Defense Practice’s Law and Appeals Unit.</p>
<p> Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) is a public defense office representing low-income New Yorkers in criminal, family, immigration, and civil legal matters. Our work with clients is focused on the intersection of the legal systems that disproportionately impact people in Brooklyn who are primarily Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color (BIPOC) living below the poverty level.</p>
<p> BDS represents thousands of people each year who have diverse, complex, and multi-faceted legal needs. In addition to a zealous legal defense, our interdisciplinary teams of attorneys, social workers and advocates provide a wide range of legal and advocacy services, including on matters involving housing, public benefits, education, and employment issues. BDS is a public defense office where staff work collaboratively and across disciplines to deliver high-quality legal services that serve the people we represent, their families and communities in Brooklyn.</p>
<p> The Family Defense Practice (FDP) at Brooklyn Defenders has been representing parents and other caregivers in Family Court since 2007. Today, we are the primary provider of legal representation to parents facing the removal of their children to the foster system in Kings County Family Court. Our clients face the possibility of separation due to a wide range of circumstances, often stemming from poverty, lack of stable housing or child care, mental health or health diagnoses or intellectual disabilities. FDP attorneys and social workers defend parents being prosecuted by ACS to help them prevent removal of their children, avoid or limit unnecessary and harmful surveillance of their families, and reunify their families as soon as possible when separation occurs.</p>
<p> The BDS FDP Law and Appeals Unit (“Law and Appeals”) handles appeals and other complex litigation on behalf of FDP clients. In collaboration with FDP staff attorneys and supervisors, Law and Appeals attorneys brief and argue appeals in the Appellate Division, Second Department, on behalf of FDP clients, maintain an extensive database of motions, briefs and reference materials for use by FDP attorneys, consult with attorneys on complex legal issues that arise on their cases, draft or edit motions on complex legal issues arising in family court, and train FDP staff on legal issues relevant to family defense.</p>
<p> The Law and Appeals staff attorney will report to the Director of Law and Appeals and will work in close collaboration with family defense attorneys and other FDP staff.</p>
<p><b> Responsibilities</b></p>
<ul>
<li> Litigating appeals of Family Court Act Article 10 and Termination of Parental Rights proceedings, including drafting briefs and presenting oral argument at the Appellate Division.</li>
<li> Collaborating with other FDP attorneys on appeals, including jointly writing briefs and mooting other attorneys for oral argument.</li>
<li> Collaborating with <i>pro bono</i> attorneys on appeals and other research and writing projects, including discussing legal research, editing legal writing, and mooting <i>pro bono</i> attorneys for oral arguments.</li>
<li> Drafting emergency stay applications and response papers.</li>
<li> Drafting motions addressing complex legal issues on behalf of FDP clients in consultation with the staff attorneys handling the family court matter.</li>
<li> Drafting model motions addressing legal issues that arise frequently in FDP clients’ family court cases.</li>
<li> Drafting and updating practice guides and caselaw memos for use by staff attorneys in their cases.</li>
<li> Planning and presenting training for FDP staff on legal issues that arise frequently in FDP clients’ family court cases.</li>
<li> Answering staff attorneys’ questions regarding legal issues and meeting with staff attorneys to discuss strategy on cases involving complex legal issues.</li>
</ul>
<p><b> Qualifications</b></p>
<ul>
<li> Experience in family defense or a related field</li>
<li> Excellent legal research and writing skills</li>
<li> Experience litigating appeals preferred</li>
<li> Ability to understand and analyze complex legal issues and develop litigation strategy</li>
<li> Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and able to adapt to urgent situations as they arise.</li>
<li> Strong at collaborating and engaging with colleagues both in and out of the Family Defense Practice.</li>
<li> Demonstrated commitment to social justice, civil rights, and racial equity.</li>
</ul>
<p><b> Position Information</b></p>
<p> This is a full-time, exempt, salaried position. The normal schedule is Monday to Friday 9am-5pm. The position is based at BDS’s offices, and various courts located in Downtown Brooklyn. This is a hybrid position that allows the employee to work from home after meeting case and in-person obligations.</p>
<p> BDS determines salary on a pay scale based on education and experience. For this position there is a salary range starting at $74,000 for a 2023 law school graduate -$157,040 for a 1992 law school graduate. BDS offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance and a 403(b) retirement plan. To support work/life balance and family-friendly policies, BDS has generous vacation, sick, holiday, family, and medical leave policies.</p>
<p><b> Application Instructions</b></p>
<p> Click “Apply” to submit a cover letter and resume. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. BDS recommends submitting your application by October 20, 2023.</p>
<p><i> Brooklyn Defender Services is a proud equal opportunity employer committed to celebrating diversity and maintaining an equitable and inclusive work environment. We strongly encourage candidates of all identities, expressions, orientations, disabilities, and experiences to apply. If you require an accommodation due to a disability or another reason, please contact the Managing Director of Human Resources, Christina Wallace, at </i><i>cwallace@bds.org</i></p>
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