Halc Staff Attorney

Ready to Make a Difference?

The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, a nonprofit civil legal services program, is seeking a Staff Attorney for the Albany office. Legal Aid's mission is to fight for fairness, dignity, and justice for those living in poverty and for a society that is inclusive and equitable for all. We transform lives, build communities, and empower people by using the law to address individual and systemic wrongs and inequities. Our service area spans sixteen counties, in upstate New York, encompassing six regional offices. This position is based out of the Albany office. For more information about our work, staff, and clients, visit www.lasnny.org.

About the Role

HIV/AIDS Law Consortium (HALC): The HALC Staff Attorney will provide legal representation and assistance to people living with HIV in a wide range of civil matters, including housing, public benefits, Social Security disability, Medicare/Medicaid, consumer rights, and advance planning. The attorney will also coordinate referrals between community partners and participate in outreach and community legal education events. In collaboration with a client services coordinator, the attorney is responsible for maintaining grant compliance data and assisting with monthly reporting through the New York State AIDS Institute Reporting System (AIRS). The Consortium serves 15 counties and the Saint-Regis Mohawk Reservation.

We are a unionized program with excellent benefits, offering generous time off, excellent health insurance coverage with premiums primarily paid by LASNNY, health and long-term disability insurance, retirement contributions, tuition reimbursement, qualifying moving expenses, and flexible hybrid-remote and alternative work schedules.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Responsibilities include legal advice and brief services to clients with opportunities for representation in a broad variety of court and administrative proceedings.
• Outreach, referral coordination, community legal education, and in-service training to human service providers on legal issues.
• Case reporting, grant compliance data and outcome reporting to grant funders.
• Possesses curiosity about the law and is interested in or possesses substantive law knowledge of many areas of law.
• Competent in and enjoys researching new legal issues.
• Must be able to communicate effectively with clients, staff, and Consortium partners and work independently and efficiently.
• Ability to handle and advise on a wide variety and high volume of civil legal matters.
• Demonstrated understanding of the needs of the clients we serve, and excellent listening, communication and organization skills.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills and Education Requirements

• Must be licensed to practice law in NYS or be eligible for admission. Law Graduates will be considered if they have passed the bar exam.
• Applicants must demonstrate a strong commitment to helping low-income and disadvantaged people overcome institutional barriers to employment, safety, housing, and income support and the provision of assertive, compassionate and sensitive trauma-informed services.
• Must be able to communicate effectively with clients and staff, work independently and efficiently, and be able to solve problems and work collaboratively with community partner agency staff.
• Training or experience in community lawyering or community organizing demonstrated strong listening and relationship-building skills, experience, creativity, and willingness to use varied legal and non-legal advocacy tools to advance community-identified initiatives preferred.
• Must be willing to travel throughout our service area; a car and a clean valid New York driver's license are required.
• Strong computer, administrative, reporting, and data entry skills required.
• The ability to speak Spanish or Chinese is a plus.

Work Environment

This position operates in a professional law office environment and occasionally may require the carrying of regular office supplies. This role requires using standard office equipment and software and remote videoconferencing platforms. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

At LASNNY we value a diverse, inclusive workforce and we provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to an individual's race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local laws. We strongly encourage applications from women, BIPOC, LGBTQI+ persons, protected veterans, applicants and recipients of public assistance, older adults, and people with disabilities.

If you are unable to submit your application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at LASNNY and we will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities to the extent required by applicable law.