Managing Attorney- Statewide

WHO WE ARE

Headquartered in Seattle, with regional offices in Pierce, Spokane and Yakima counties, TeamChild is a nationally recognized nonprofit organization providing civil legal aid to vulnerable youth across Washington State. The mission of TeamChild is to uphold the rights of youth involved, or at risk of involvement, in the juvenile court system. TeamChild works to help youth secure the education, healthcare, housing, and other supports needed to achieve positive outcomes in their lives. TeamChild believes that racial and other social identities should be respected and affirmed. In support of this belief, an equitable and inclusive organization is being built. Staff, volunteers and board members are being given the tools to address institutional racism and other forms of oppression. This commitment provides a foundation for empowering the youth and families; ensuring they are justly represented and their desires are amply fulfilled.

ABOUT TEAMCHILD

TeamChild is a nationally recognized nonprofit legal aid organization serving youth across Washington State, with office locations in Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima and Spokane. TeamChild’s mission is to uphold the rights of youth involved, or at risk of involvement, in the juvenile legal system to help them secure the education, healthcare, housing and other support they need to achieve positive outcomes in their lives. We have three mutually reinforcing program strategies: legal services, policy advocacy, and training and community education. Core to all of our work is our legal services program, which reaches youth 12-24 years old in four of Washington’s largest counties as well as youth incarcerated in our state’s juvenile prisons. Our clients are youth and young adults who are entangled in juvenile court and the child welfare system and need civil legal advocacy to prevent homelessness, access education and employment, and get their basic health and other needs met. In our work, we also aim to move systems away from exclusion, punishment, arrest, and incarceration towards more effective and community-based strategies that address root causes and provide culturally meaningful and developmentally appropriate support and opportunities for young people.

At TeamChild, we believe that racial and other social identities should be respected and affirmed. In support of this belief, we are trying to build an equitable and inclusive organization and providing our team of staff, volunteers, and Board members with the tools to address institutionalized racism and other forms of oppression. All members of our team are responsible for providing and supporting an equitable and inclusive work environment that will enrich our interactions with each other and our advocacy. This responsibility provides the foundation for empowering the children and families that we serve so their needs are justly represented, and their desires amply fulfilled.

OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE

Managing Attorneys are responsible for day-to-day management and supervision of their legal teams and directly report to TeamChild’s Director of Legal Services. Managing Attorneys must work directly with staff on their team to support their development and skills at TeamChild. Managing Attorneys are expected to carry a lower case load than Staff Attorneys, to reserve sufficient time for supervision, and are strongly encouraged to co-counsel all their cases except counsel/advice cases. Managing Attorneys are supported by the Director of Legal Services, and also work with each other and with the Executive Team. Managing Attorneys provide leadership within their teams to ensure high quality services, to create a cohesive work environment including linkages to other teams, and to build strong partnerships that advance local and statewide goals. TeamChild’s legal program management is collaborative and based on a framework of support, education, and team accountability.

We are seeking lawyers who are committed to undoing institutional racism and other forms of oppression, as well as passionate about supporting young people. We seek candidates who are willing to go beyond the traditional attorney role to move towards cultivating holistic advocacy models to identify and execute creative—and sometimes nonlegal—strategies alongside youth. Candidates should work well both independently and as a team member, be respectful and passionate about working with people from diverse backgrounds, enjoy creative problem solving, and value the creation of relationships across disciplines.

This Statewide Managing Attorney supervises statewide attorneys, who carry caseloads in King, Pierce, Spokane, and Yakima Counties, as well as a Case Support Specialist. The team represents young people (ages 12-24) in those four counties on civil legal issues, prioritizing youth who have been impacted by juvenile court involvement or are highly at risk for court involvement. Priority legal representation is around education and housing stability in community. The statewide team includes two specialist attorneys, one focused on education law and the other on housing. Senior Attorneys carry case loads in their area of focus and are also expected to support other staff attorneys in those case areas. They both co-counsel and develop case handling materials. In addition to direct services, TeamChild’s attorney work also includes outreach, community education, and policy work.

This position can be located in near proximity to any of our four regional offices: King, Pierce, Spokane, or Yakima Counties and can expect to travel regularly in person to each of our four regional offices throughout the year in support of the statewide team and organizational work.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Supervises team staff, which includes:
  • Supporting a team that will be physically located in four different geographic locations in building a cohesive, collaborative, informed, and competent staff that can effectively fulfill their job duties and the mission of the organization
  • Facilitating and directly supporting the onboarding of new legal staff, volunteers, and interns
  • Ensuring case management support and oversight of staff, volunteers, and interns
  • Supporting training, professional/leadership development, and staff recognition for local office staff
  • Co-counseling cases with Staff Attorneys
  • Learning about and applying innovative and collaborative models of management and leadership
  • Cultivating a transparent and collaborative work environment
  • Facilitating collaborative development and implementation of teamwork plan, including determining caseloads, that ties into TeamChild’s mission and statewide impact goals
  • Facilitating the team’s collaborative development and implementation of outreach, training, and community engagement
  • Communicating and advocating for staff needs, concerns, and suggestions to the Executive Team
  • Approving timesheets, vacation request and expenses
  • Encouraging and modeling self-care and work-life balance
• Partners with Director of Legal Services, other Managing Attorneys, legal program staff, and policy and community engagement staff to develop coordinated strategies to achieve impact for clients/communities.
• Maintains continuous communication with Executive Team about the needs of the Statewide Legal team, including:
  • Administrative needs, such as office space location, lease arrangements, supplies, and technology
  • Human resources, including staffing needs, supervision and support needs of staff
  • Team needs, such as resources for program/project implementation or other identified needs of the community and clients
  • Communications needs, such as press inquiries, public announcements, and social media
  • Budgeting, including coordination with legal program team and Executive Team to develop and implement a budget
  • Ensuring your team is informed and included in these processes
• Models, centers and upholds TeamChild’s shared values.
• Adheres to TeamChild’s anti-racism principles.
• Participates in hiring, termination, promotion, and special assignment of employees and interns, including law students, summer clerks, and temporary employees.
• Identifies and helps develop funding opportunities that support local efforts and advocacy needs including building and maintaining partner/funder relationships and coordinates closely with Executive Team and staff on grant proposals, individual giving, special project needs and events, fellowship opportunities, etc.
• Works with Operations, Communications, Development (fundraising), and program teams to manage local contracts, grants, and funding applications (private and public). Collaborates to ensure contract expectations align with our work and that staff and activities are completed and documented to meet contract deliverables and deadlines.
• Maintains an appropriate client case load dependent on the number/size of local office staff and their supervision needs.
• Maintain contemporaneous timekeeping in statewide electronic database on cases and community engagement work;
• Maintain coherent and clear electronic case files
  • including detailed notes of case and client activities and time spent in the case file;
  • uploading all related documents, correspondence, records, and court paperwork to the legal file; and
  • updating the case file with new information, contact information, change of circumstances.;
• Documentation of training, outreach, and community activities;
• Writes retainer agreements on active representation and brief services cases with youth to ensure understanding and agreement of the scope of representation; and send closing correspondence when legal representation is completed;
• Develops content expertise in substantive areas of law that we regularly practice, including education law, access to services and public benefits, family law, civil rights, post-conviction, and collaboration with defense counsel.
• Participates in internal work groups at TeamChild regarding hiring, policies, retreats, and other internal functions and collective agency work

Other Duties, Developed in Collaboration

• Participates in client storytelling aligned with organizational values.
• Participates in sharing issues/case examples to contribute to TeamChild’s policy advocacy work.
• Participates in internal work groups at TeamChild regarding budget, hiring, policies, retreats, and other internal functions and collective agency work.
• Other tasks may be assigned based on organizational needs, professional development opportunities, and the supervisor's request.

SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

• Member in good standing of the Washington State Bar Association or eligible for reciprocity or limited admission to practice pending admission to the Washington State Bar Association;
• Must have a valid driver’s license and ability to travel throughout the county to meet client and agency needs (TeamChild provides mileage reimbursement or car rental options for travel);
• Must live and be authorized to work in Washington State and be proximate to one of TeamChild’s offices;
• Exceptional legal skills, preferably in the relevant areas of law including school discipline/special education, juvenile defense, public health care, public benefits, re-entry issues, delinquency, child welfare, or other areas of youth related law;
• Demonstrated competence working with young people, especially adolescents, and diverse people and communities;
• Compassion and empathy in working with youth from all backgrounds and situations;
• High level of integrity; commitment to following the Rules of Professional Conduct and upholding ethical standards, including client confidentiality and zealous advocacy for client-directed goals;
• Demonstrated alignment with TeamChild values: Centering Youth, Anti-Racism, Wholeness, Accountability;
• Anti-racist analysis and commitment to undoing institutional racism and other forms of oppression;
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse groups of people with varying perspectives, experience, and expertise;
• Strong initiative, creativity, and problem-solving abilities and thrives in a work environment that nurtures growth, exploration and innovation;
• Willingness to develop relationship with communities, county/community service providers, funders, government entities, and other legal services;
• Committed to innovative leadership and collaborative team decision making;
• Experience managing a team, including working with people who are working in person and remotely and not in the same geographic region;
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with community stakeholders (other advocates and social service providers) and co-workers. Our attorneys must be adept at forging relationships with our clients, our client communities, and the various advocates and social providers our clients access;
• Strong organizational, technology (case management systems, Microsoft Suite), and project management skills;
• Demonstrated competence in maintaining timely case and client electronic files;
• Legal advocacy skills, including administrative hearing and civil litigation experience, negotiation, clear and persuasive writing, and oral presentation preferred;
• Experience providing high quality training, supervision, and mentoring of students, volunteers, program staff, and attorneys strongly preferred;
• Personal connection with our client communities preferred, including lived experience with juvenile court, criminal court, foster care, homelessness and special education.

CULTURE

TeamChild is a unique, values-driven organization that is boldly committed to creating and maintaining a work environment that supports collaboration, inclusion, shared-accountability, distributed power and non-hierarchical operations. At its core, TeamChild fights for effective solutions and community-driven strategies that nurture and develop the health and wellbeing of young people, instead of exclusion and incarceration. Individuals who work for TeamChild are naturally aligned with the following:

• A commitment to anti-racism, anti-oppression, intersectional equity analysis.
• A focus on relationship building.
• An ability to listen with an open mind and a deep commitment to including and respecting diverse viewpoints.
• Values collaboration and inclusive decision-making.
• A proactive, passionate, and collaborative attitude.
• A foundation of self-awareness that provides space for learning and growth.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

TeamChild has offices in Seattle, Pierce, Spokane, and Yakima that are generally open on weekdays between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The physical demands and work environment described below represent those required and encountered by an employee to perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Able to input information into a computer for long periods of time.
• Able to remain stationary for extended periods.
• Able to assess information communicated through a computer.
• Able to work some evenings, weekends, holidays, and extended hours in occasional emergent circumstances.
• Able to travel locally as needed.

This job description provides a general but not comprehensive list of the essential responsibilities and qualifications required. It does not represent a contract of employment. TeamChild reserves the right to change the description and/or posting at any time without advance notice.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

This is a full-time salaried, exempt position that is not eligible for overtime pay. TeamChild’s work week is 35 hours. TeamChild is committed to providing employees with a competitive salary and benefits package. Compensation is based on the TeamChild Attorney salary scale and the candidate’s years of relevant experience. For example, a candidate with 5 years of relevant experience would start in this position at $81,833 per year, and a candidate with 10 years of relevant experience would start in this position at $93,271 per year. * The place where a candidate starts on the salary scale may be increased based upon their lived experience with systems of oppression reflective of our clients’ experiences.

Additionally, managing attorneys receive a $7,500 pay bump for supervising a team of 3 staff or smaller, or a $10,000 pay bump for supervising a team of 4 or more.

*Please note that salary range is pending on Board approval for implementation on July 1, 2024.

TeamChild offers full benefits including medical, dental, vision, employee assistance program (EAP), generous paid time off, long- and short-term disability, life insurance, and options to set-up a flexible spending account (FSA) and 403b retirement account. TeamChild typically offers an annual well-being benefit of $1,000/year. Additionally, TeamChild is a qualifying employer for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. TeamChild provides a $5,000 moving bonus to those individuals who are relocating to Washington State from elsewhere.