Bilingual (Spanish-English) Workers’ Rights Attorney

Description

The Legal Aid Justice Center is a nationally recognized nonprofit organization that partners with communities and clients to achieve justice by dismantling the systems that create and perpetuate poverty. Justice means racial justice, economic justice, and social justice. From its offices in Charlottesville, Richmond, Petersburg, and Falls Church, LAJC is a fierce advocate for low-income clients and communities in Virginia. Just in the past year, we permanently repealed Virginia’s driver’s license suspension for court debt scheme, secured an injunction slashing the number of immigrants detained by ICE at the largest detention center in the Mid-Atlantic and passed a law giving Virginia oversight authority, won the nation’s first COVID-specific, statewide, and enforceable workplace safety standards, and decriminalized school-based disorderly conduct, which was a leading contributor to the school-to-prison pipeline, especially for Black girls.

Founded in 1967, LAJC provides services under four key program areas: Civil Rights & Racial Justice, Economic Justice, Youth Justice, and Immigrant Advocacy. LAJC boldly tackles issues of systemic injustice and aims to raise public and policymaker awareness of some of the most pressing challenges facing low-income Virginia residents. For more information, visit www.justice4all.org.

LAJC’s Immigrant Advocacy Program (IAP) supports low-income immigrants in their efforts to find justice and fair treatment. In addition to representing clients with individual legal issues, we promote systemic reforms to reduce the abuse and exploitation of immigrants, and advocate for state and local policies that promote integration and protect immigrants from aggressive immigration enforcement. Within IAP, the Virginia Justice Project for Farm and Immigrant Workers provides legal services, resources, and community legal education to low-income workers, including farmworkers and seafood workers, poultry and meatpacking workers, and other immigrant and migrant workers.

The Workers’ Rights Attorney will be a key member of our statewide workers’ rights project, which is designed to improve the lives and working conditions of workers across Virginia via impact litigation, individual legal representation, advocacy, and direct organizing. The team consists of organizers, attorneys, students, and volunteers.

LAJC seeks a Workers’ Rights Attorney to provide direct representation in litigation and other forms of advocacy for low-income workers, especially immigrant workers, in Northern Virginia and throughout the Commonwealth to fight exploitation and injustice, and to build worker power. The attorney will also work on LAJC’s impact campaigns as we advocate for improved administrative and legislative policies regarding worker rights reform.

Job Duties

• Litigate workers’ rights cases in federal and state courts, including but not limited to cases brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Virginia wage laws, the Migrant and Seasonal Workers Protection Act, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act
• Collaborate with team members on multidisciplinary impact advocacy campaigns, with corresponding duties that will include but are not limited to legal research, drafting reports, reviewing legislation and regulations, and providing recommendations regarding changes to the same, and assisting in development of our strategic campaigns
• Build relationships and develop partnerships with individuals and organizations to advance positive responses and interventions to community needs
• Assist organizers in developing grassroots organizing strategies to close the justice gap in low-wealth communities

Skills Required

• Spanish-language ability sufficient to represent monolingual Spanish-speaking workers without the assistance of an interpreter
• Strong commitment to social, economic, and racial justice, and workers’ rights
• Virginia Bar membership, or ability to waive in, or willingness to sit for the bar exam within 6 months of hire
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team
• Access to reliable transportation and willingness to travel statewide occasionally, including occasional overnight travel to migrant farmworker camps in Virginia
• Strong oral advocacy, research, and writing skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Mission-aligned experience (work or lived) advocating for economic and racial justice
• Prior experience working with, alongside, or on behalf of farmworkers or other immigrant workers

Work Schedule

This role will be based in our Falls Church, VA office. Occasional travel between offices will be required. From time to time, the attorney will be encouraged to travel in the immediate Northern Virginia area, as well as throughout the Commonwealth, to assist community organizers in building trust with workers and community-based organizations.

Additional Info

Email a cover letter, a relevant writing sample, and resume to Jason Yarashes at hiring@justice4all.org. Please include “Workers’ Rights Attorney” in the email subject.

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis, and candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.  Questions about the role?  Contact Jason Yarashes or hiring@justice4all.org.

The Legal Aid Justice Center is an equal opportunity employer, committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff. We strongly encourage candidates of all identities, experiences, and communities to apply. The Legal Aid Justice Center is committed to strengthening the voices of our low-income clients, working in collaboration with community partners, and rooting out the inequities that keep people in poverty. We strive to take on the issues that have broad impact on our client communities and to be responsive to client input. Recognizing the particular impact of racism on our clients and staff, we devote special attention to dismantling racial injustice. All applicants must be dedicated to working in and sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe. In reviewing applications, we look for evidence that applicants have experience and/or thoughtfulness in working with traditionally marginalized populations.