Tenant Affirmative Litigation Supervisor

About the Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP) & CED Law

Our Mission

We partner with low-income and working people to build economic and racial equity. We do this by confronting economic abuse and investing in community wealth. We use an ever-evolving set of legal, economic and advocacy tools to challenge and dismantle unjust systems, building quickly towards a world where all people have what they need to live and thrive.

Our Organization

The Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP) is a Colorado-based nonprofit. Launched in 2020 as the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, our organization was formed to keep our neighbors housed during the pandemic. Working with clients, we built a deeply integrative approach to eviction, foreclosure, and homelessness prevention that centers the legal and financial needs of housing-insecure families and uses a variety of tools to keep them housed.

Our team now serves more than 1,000 people per month, bringing together housing lawyers, economists, data analysts, policy-experts, organizers, and technologists to serve our clients. We have served more than 50,000 low-income Coloradans across 45 counties, distributing over $200 million in emergency assistance. We have also contributed to the passage of major legislation to prevent eviction, stop economic abuse, and make credit and life-saving medication cheaper. CEDP?s model has been cited as a best practice by White House,
HUD, the
Urban Institute, and in the media.

Building on our work to stop evictions, CEDP has further expanded its integrated services model to include disaster response, predatory towing, debt collection, benefit access & navigation, long-term rental assistance, and homelessness response. Similar to CEDP?s work on rental housing, these efforts offer a continuum of care that includes navigation and advisory services, targeted payments, legal support, and the ability to participate in advocacy.

More about the Tenant Affirmative Litigation Supervisor Role:

As our law firm evolves, we are seeking an Tenant Affirmative Litigation Supervisor to lead in the creation, development, and growth of an Impact Litigation program focused on tackling the most pernicious issues facing low-income renters. The supervisor will collaborate with organizational and firm leadership in developing a strategic vision for the program. They will oversee a team of 2-3 attorneys and 1-2 paralegals/legal staff to support our strategic litigation efforts, including eviction defense appeals and affirmative impact litigation. The supervisor will be responsible for reviewing and selecting appropriate affirmative cases with the aim of supporting organization-wide goals and moving the firm towards a self-sustaining source of funding. They will carry their own case load, supported by 1-2 attorneys and a paralegal, as well as supervise our Appellate Program Supervisor who works on eviction defense appeals. The supervisor will support their team in reaching firmwide goals based on client and organizational needs, contract demands, and other requirements through weekly/biweekly check-ins, leading and coordinating litigation tasks including drafting, motions practice, discovery, negotiations, trial preparation and courtroom litigation, and professional and skills development. The supervisor will play a critical role in helping CED Law develop resilient and creative legal professionals through case work and training. They will also coordinate with the Homeowner Legal Services Affirmative Litigation Supervisor on strategic and sustainable-funding efforts. The role reports directly to the Director of Tenant Legal Services.

In this you will:

• Build a high-impact affirmative litigation practice from the ground up, including development of a strategic vision, identifying appropriate cases, crafting and implementing team policies and procedures, and supporting team members in all aspects of their casework.
• Be primarily responsible for self-management of a high-impact affirmative caseload set by organizational and contract requirements and goals.
• Attend courthouse clinics and other community events to provide limited representation, information and advice to tenants in the community.
• Be responsible for completing case goals.
• Coordinate across CEDP to ensure holistic service of legal clients when appropriate and consented to by the client.
• Complete required documentation for both case tracking and also personal management.
• Supervise 3-5 staff made up of attorneys and paralegals/other legal support staff.
• Be responsible for staff training and onboarding, substantive skills development, and professional development and growth with support from the Director of Tenant Legal Services.
• Hold weekly/biweekly check-ins with team members to discuss cases, workload, and professional development.
• Lead on complex cases with the support of the team while also building skills to create independent and resilient attorneys and legal professionals.
• Hold team members accountable for their personal caseloads and case goals.

Position Requirements:

• Colorado bar admission and JD or the ability to waive into Colorado.
• Admission or ability to gain admission to the US District Court for the District of Colorado.
• 3+ years' experience as an attorney, ideally in affirmative or strategic litigation.
• Civil rights, personal injury, and/or class action experience is a plus.
• Business skills and/or experience is a plus.
• Leadership experience.
• Experience supervising people or the desire to utilize and further build leadership skills.
• Demonstrated passion for social and racial justice.
• A supportive, client-focused attitude.
• Strong desire to center client and community needs.
• Ability to work collaboratively with other attorneys, paralegals, legal support staff, and supervisors in a rapid-change environment centered on social justice and equity.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills.
• A creative, self-driven attitude.
• Ability to travel within the Denver Metro area and surrounding suburbs under a hybrid schedule where in-person work is required 1 - 3 times per week at our downtown Denver office, courthouses around the Denver metro area, and/or community events.
• Strong organizational abilities.
• Knowledge of MS Office suite, CLIO, Google Suite, Adobe Acrobat desired.
• Spanish language fluency is not required but is a strong plus and is eligible for an additional stipend.

Additional Details:

• Candidates must reside in Colorado or be willing to move, ideally within the greater Denver Metro area. The position includes competitive pay, flexible time off, benefits package (including medical, dental, vision), and 401k.
• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis but must be received by July 18, 2025
• The estimated time to complete the recruitment process will be by August 1, 2025
• A competitive annual salary grade of $97,500 + a $1,000 hybrid stipend.
• Employees who utilize two languages or more at work are eligible for a $2,000 salary differential per year added to the salary grade listed above. Language assessment will be conducted by the organization as a requirement to receive the differential.
• All employees receive a technology stipend of $720 per year or may opt to receive a work phone in lieu of the stipend.
• As in-person work is sometimes required, all employees at CEDP & CED Law are expected to maintain current vaccination status in keeping with CDC recommendations.
• CEDP is an equal opportunity employer, with a demonstrated commitment to challenging systems of inequity.

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Work Location: In person