Job o’ the Day: Staff Attorney with Human Rights First in New York City (Deadline Tomorrow!)
Human Rights First (HRF) is a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York and Washington DC. HRF builds respect for human rights and the rule of law to help ensure the dignity to which everyone is entitled and to stem intolerance, tyranny, and violence. They advance the rights of refugees and U.S. leadership to protect refugees and other vulnerable migrants from a range of human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, violence, and lack of access to protection, by advocating for access to asylum, fair immigration court procedures, and for U.S. compliance with international refugee and human rights law.
HRF is currently seeking applicants for a staff attorney position in the New York-New Jersey area. Here’s a portion of the job description:
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Ensure that the refugees represented by Human Rights First’s pro bono program receive high-quality legal representation, by providing training, guidance, advice, and legal updates to volunteer attorneys on asylum and immigration law;
- Ensure that volunteer attorneys receive prompt and complete legal and procedural support on our pro bono asylum cases, including conducting trainings, strategizing on individual cases, reviewing draft submissions, and preparing memoranda informing volunteers of significant legal developments;
- Participate in HRF efforts to assist asylum seekers detained at area detention facilities;
- Assist in the identification of cases appropriate for pro bono representation, including through the conduct of individual interviews;
- Build and maintain strong relationships with local law firms and volunteer attorneys;
- Help review and supervise case management and quality control systems for pro bono program cases;
- Provide legal oversight to legal assistants and assist in supervision of interns;
- Develop training materials for volunteer attorneys, including manuals, memoranda, , seminars, and symposia, and update probono.net, an online resource hosted by HRF;
- Spot, analyze, and respond to legal or procedural changes that affect asylum seekers, including statutory changes, proposed regulations, and decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals or federal courts;
- Assist in efforts to secure and maintain funding for program activities, and to promote interest in our pro bono work including through identifying and drafting profiles of refugees or lawyer client stories to illustrate the importance of legal representation;
- Assist in the conduct of advocacy on behalf of asylum seekers by meeting with local officials at the Department of Homeland Security, and its various bureaus, and the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
The application deadline is TOMORROW, MAY 31, 2013. For more information on qualifications and application instructions, view the full job listing at PSJD.org (log-in required).