Bilingual Brief Service Staff Attorney

Program Description    

The Brief Service team will primarily handle intakes and communicate with potential clients that are referred for legal services through Children’s Law Center’s Healthy Together and Pro Bono programs.  

Healthy Together is a medical-legal partnership for DC’s children. Children’s Law Center partners with Children’s National Hospital, Mary’s Center, and Unity Health Care to provide legal services to children and families who have health-harming legal needs.  Through the partnership, Children’s Law Center advocates for landlords to adhere to the law and fix housing conditions that harm a child’s health, ensures school systems provide appropriate, quality educational programs to students with disabilities, and holds government agencies and health insurance providers accountable for providing medical necessary services to children.  By focusing on critical social determinants of health and working side-by-side with the community, Healthy Together reduces the health inequities and racial disparities that many of our client families face.    

The Pro Bono Program at Children’s Law Center consists of our in-house family law practice as well as our volunteer attorney program that places family law, housing conditions and special education cases with volunteers.  Children’s Law Center’s family law attorneys provide direct representation in DC family law matters, which includes representing the best interests of children in contested custody cases and representing third-party caregivers in custody, adoption and guardianship cases.  Through our pro bono volunteer program, we work with more than 100 law firms and other pro bono partners on family, housing and education matters, extending our reach in the community to serve more DC families and increase access to justice. 

Job Summary  

The Bilingual Brief Service Staff Attorney (English/Spanish) is responsible for providing high-quality legal assistance to parents and caregivers with limited financial resources in a compassionate, culturally appropriate and trauma-informed manner.  The Brief Service Attorney will often be the first point of contact for many of the families seeking legal assistance from Children’s Law Center. The primary function of this attorney is to conduct legal intakes with potential clients to determine how Children’s Law Center can help them. The Brief Service Attorney may provide advice, brief service and/or referral information or may recommend that Children’s Law Center provide full representation to parents and caregivers in need of legal assistance in the areas of family law, education/special education, health care access, housing conditions, public benefits and other poverty law areas as needed. The Brief Service Staff Attorney is part of the intake team and will handle intakes for Children’s Law Center’s Healthy Together (medical-legal partnership) team and Pro Bono program, which provides legal assistance in family law matters from our community intake line and referrals from other community stakeholders such as legal services partners, DC Superior Court and other community organizations. The Brief Service Staff Attorney is also responsible for recommending cases for extended representation to be handled in-house or by pro bono attorneys. 

Supervisory Responsibilities  

•  Occasional supervision of law clerks or interns. 
•  Occasional supervision of intake specialists. 

Role Responsibilities  

Handle Children’s Law Center Referrals for Healthy Together and Pro Bono Programs 

• Serve as a point of contact for community members and receive referrals from the Healthy Together and Pro Bono Program Directors, attorneys, health care and other community partners.   
• Conduct preliminary and subsequent intake interviews with potential clients to determine legal issues, and whether Children’s Law Center can assist the potential client and family.   
• Enter intake information into our case management database and conduct intakes within Children’s Law Center guidelines.   

• Independently assess whether potential clients need full representation, brief service, advice, referral or information.   
• Conduct legal research and/or identify other community resources for intakes.  
• Collaborate with intake specialists around screenings and scheduling of intakes.   

Referrals, Advice and Brief Service to Parents and Caregivers 

• Provide brief advice and referral information to parents and caregivers in need of legal assistance to address health-harming legal needs of their children.   
• Provide brief service to parents and caregivers in need of legal assistance in the areas of family law, education/special education, health care access, housing conditions, public benefits and other poverty law areas. Examples of brief advice include but are not limited to: providing advice about jurisdiction of custody case; providing information about or assisting to complete court forms for family law cases; advising about school enrollment by caregivers; providing advice on standing in a family law case; providing troubleshooting assistance through phone calls or emails to agency personnel to try to resolve a legal problem.   
• Collaborate with intake specialists to provide referrals, brief advice, and brief services to community members.  
• Revise and/or prepare outreach and education materials such as tip-sheets, referral sheets, know your rights flyers, etc. to improve the efficacy and timeliness of legal service delivery to parents and caregivers.     
• Help to ensure materials are available in Spanish and other languages.  
• Recommend cases for extended representation.  

Engage in Evaluation and Data Management Activities 

• Provide input and feedback on Children’s Law Center’s intake process and guidelines.  
• Ensure timely and accurate input of case and intake information into case management system and adhere to applicable policies and protocols, including but not limited to case planning, intake and case-handling timelines and case notes/timekeeping policies.   
• Maintain accurate, timely data entry in Children’s Law Center’s intake/case management system.  
• Provide information for grants and reporting as needed.  

Participate in and Contribute to Learning, Systemic Advocacy and Coalition-Building Opportunities 

• Attend and participate in program staff meetings, CLC attorney and staff meetings and other internal committees and working groups as requested by the Program Director/supervisor.    

• Train other attorneys in intake and brief service handling.  
• Collaborate with team to update and revise intakes and intake process as needed. 
• Provide support to Children’s Law Center Policy Team in areas of expertise to address the systemic needs of the Children’s Law Center client community.   
• Participate in community partner coalitions or external committees as needed and requested by the Program Directors/supervisor.   

Qualifications 

• Exceptional interpersonal, communication and relationship-building skills.  
• Strong legal analysis and research, writing and oral advocacy skills.  
• Demonstrated by law school clinic experience, judicial clerkships, research positions, and/or law school awards for moot court or oral advocacy.  
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.   
• Demonstrated capacity to work independently and collaboratively.   
• Strong independent judgment and decision-making skills.  
• Experience conducting intake or similar interviews preferred.  
• Experience working with children and families with limited financial resources preferred.    
• Familiarity with DC and community resources preferred.   

Required Skills and Experience 

• JD degree.   
• DC Bar membership or eligibility for DC Bar membership based the transfer of a Uniform Bar Examination score attained in another jurisdiction or membership in good standing in the Bar of another jurisdiction for at least 3 years immediately prior to the application for admission.   
• Experience in legal services or other community lawyering.  Experience that will be considered includes job experience, law school clinics, clerkships, and internships.    
• Commitment to equity, inclusion, and humility when working with clients and colleagues at the intersection of multiple identities, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, immigration status, religion, physical and mental disability, and/or limited English proficiency.   
• Fluent in English and Spanish with the ability to conduct intakes and provide legal services, including written materials, to clients.  

Organizational Competencies 

• Cultural Humility – an openness to self-reflection and to understanding and respecting other cultural experiences and points of view and viewing individuals as experts in their own culture and experiences. 
• Giving and Receiving Feedback – the ability to be self-reflective, give and receive appreciative, coaching, constructive, interpersonal and evaluative feedback. 
• Conflict Management – a process which is designed to guide individuals and groups from the moment of conflict to the implementation of an identified solution.  This process incorporates skills and techniques, including recognizing points of conflict, identifying the facts and feelings involved to get to the root of the issue, investigating equitable solutions, implementing and evaluating solutions, and supporting and guiding others throughout the process. 

Salary and Benefits

The salary for this position ranges from $60,000 to $72,284 annually based on relevant experience.  We also offer a sign on bonus for candidates who successfully complete a Spanish language assessment. Children’s Law Center offers a generous benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, and short- and long-term disability insurance; employer-provided retirement contributions; flexible spending plans; and vacation, sick, holiday, family and medical leave. Children’s Law Center is a 501(c)(3) organization. Employees with federal student loan debt can apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. For more information, go to https://myfedloan.org/borrowers/special-programs/pslf.

Application Instructions

To apply, please submit a resume via CLC's careers page (https://childrenslawcenter.org/get-involved/careers/). Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S.  Children’s Law Center is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time. 

Children’s Law Center is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment. If you believe that you need accommodation to search for, or apply for, one of our positions please send an email to Jobs@ChildrensLawCenter.org. In your email, please include the accommodation you are requesting and the job title you are applying for. It may take up to three business days to receive a response to your request.

Hybrid Working Conditions

Children’s Law Center is currently operating on a hybrid work schedule.  Employees are required to work in-person from Children’s Law Center’s office a minimum of two days per week.  At least one of these days must be either Tuesday or Wednesday.  The hybrid work schedule is subject to change based on organizational needs and/or best practices for health and safety.  Hybrid work expectations may vary depending upon role responsibilities.

Background Checks

Candidates who receive a conditional offer of employment will be subject to a background check.

EEO

Children’s Law Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunities for all applicants and existing employees. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to ancestry, age, color, disability, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.  We invite you to visit our website to learn more about our company and our career opportunities (https://childrenslawcenter.org/get-involved/careers/).

DEI Statement

Children’s Law Center is dedicated to building a world that is inclusive in approach and has equal opportunities and equitable outcomes for all. Our organization is committed to developing and supporting a robustly diverse, equitable, inclusive and anti-racist community, where all members can create and feel a sense of belonging. Through our collective deliberate efforts, we work toward racial and social justice for children and families in DC.