SUPERVISING ATTORNEY OR ACCREDITED REPRESENTATIVE

THE ORGANIZATION

Al Otro Lado is a binational legal services and immigrant rights organization serving immigrants, asylum seekers and deported persons in Southern California, Tijuana, México, and beyond. We approach cases using a multidisciplinary, client-centered, harm reduction-based lens. We engage in zealous individual representation, human rights monitoring, and impact litigation to protect the rights of individual immigrants and challenge systemic practices that violate the human rights of immigrant communities. We leverage vital partnerships with community-based organizations and academic institutions, and engage thousands of volunteers to maximize our impact and help build a broad-based immigrant justice movement.

Al Otro Lado’s U.S. Based Advocacy team provides holistic, full-scale representation

to particularly vulnerable immigrants, including unaccompanied children, members of the LGBTQA+ community, Indigenous migrants, Black migrants, torture survivors, survivors of human trafficking, clients with disabilities/medical vulnerabilities, and clients whose cases present family unity concerns. AOL’s holistic representation strategy includes identifying a client’s needs, goals, and challenges, and seeking to achieve their best possible immigration outcomes, not only through legal services but also by connecting individuals with support to overcome the non-legal obstacles they face in their cases.

For more information about our organization, please visit us on our website at: alotrolado.org/ or visit us on social media: Instagram and Twitter: @alotrolado_org; Facebook: Al Otro Lado.

Supervisory Attorney/Accredited Representative, Affirmative Asylum

The Supervisory Attorney/Accredited Representative will work as part of Al Otro Lado’s U.S. Based Advocacy team and will be based out of Al Otro Lado’s office in Los Angeles. This is a hybrid position, allowing for mostly remote work with some in-person duties as needed. These in-person duties may include attending USCIS interviews, in-person client meetings, and other duties as needed to ensure high quality representation for our clients. USCIS interviews will require travel to the asylum office in Irvine, CA, and potentially other locations as assigned.

The Supervisory Attorney/Accredited Representative will lead a team of people working on affirmative asylum cases in Los Angeles County. The Supervisory Attorney/Accredited Representative will work under the direct supervision of the Managing Accredited Representative in collaboration with colleagues and supervisors in the Los Angeles and San Diego offices.

JOB DUTIES

• Mentor, supervise, and provide support for a team of people representing affirmative asylum seekers in Los Angeles County
• Implement and monitor systems for workflow for both legal representation and case management
• Access the RepresentLA case portal and assign referrals on a weekly basis
• Ensure compliance with data reporting for the RepresentLA grant including submission of required client data on the RepresentLA portal
• Monitor capacity and distribution of work through meeting regularly with staff in individual one-on-one meetings
• Lead case review sessions and work collaboratively with staff to develop case strategies
• Work to develop and implement policies, templates and procedures that increase effectiveness and efficiency within our representation work
• Conduct performance evaluations, identify training needs and address personnel issues for direct reports
• Keep abreast of changes in case, statutory, or regulatory law and changes in affirmative asylum practices
• Ensure compliance with Al Otro Lado’s data management policies including record-keeping for grants and funders, case management documentation, and internal systems for fiscal and personnel oversight
• Manage data collection, compilation, and provision regularly needed to complete reports, applications, and program budgets for grants and government contracts funding affirmative asylum representation, as well as other duties required by funding programs and development purposes
• Provide holistic, client-centered representation to clients on their own reduced caseload of affirmative asylum clients
• Other duties as needed to further the mission of the organization

QUALIFICATION AND REQUIREMENTS

• Law degree or previous DOJ Accreditation (partial or full)
• Active California State Bar License or licensure from another state and, if required, willingness to "waive into" the CA Bar via the Multi-Jurisdictional Practice Program, or ability to obtain DOJ Accreditation (partial or full) with Al Otro Lado;
• Fluency in Spanish required
• Minimum 3 years experience in immigration law, preferably affirmative representation
• Excellent communication and writing skills
• Self-directed and self-reliant, highly organized with strong attention to detail, flexible, innovative, able to quickly adapt to changing program needs as border policies change, and able to work in a fast-paced setting with limited resources
• Adept at learning to use new technology platforms, as well as experience with and proficiency with Microsoft Office, Adobe, and in Google Suites programs such as Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Forms, and Zoom
• Commitment to working in a diverse professional environment, with a kind and respectful attitude towards clients, colleagues, and relevant stakeholders

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience representing noncitizens in affirmative applications for asylum
• Knowledge of best practices in working with clients with mental competency issues, including those suffering from mental health challenges
• Experience managing, teaching, and mentoring staff

Please note, this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this position. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. The ideal candidate will be flexible, adaptive, and enthusiastic about responding to needs as they arise.

This is a full-time, exempt position with an annual salary of $70,000- $80,000 DOE. The Supervisory Attorney/Representative will be based out of Al Otro Lado’s office in Los Angeles. This is a hybrid position, allowing for mostly remote work with some in-person duties as needed.