SUPERVISING HOUSING ATTORNEY - GROUP REPRESENTATION - BROOKLYN/QUEENS

Communities Resist (CoRe) seeks an experienced Supervising Housing Attorney to join a team combating gentrification, displacement, social disenfranchisement, and structural injustice through affirmative litigation before housing, state, and federal courts as well as administrative agencies.

CoRe is a legal services organization for housing and community justice steeped in the 50-year tradition of community lawyering in North and East Brooklyn. We have spent years working together with neighborhood organizations and organizers in representing hundreds of tenants and tenant associations toward enforcing their right to social citizenship by struggling, resisting, and enduring against any attempts to deny working communities, largely of color, their agency. The Supervising Attorney will work in collaboration with this extraordinary coalition of neighborhood organizations and their tenant and community organizers to preserve and expand affordable housing for lower income residents of those areas—in the face of rapid gentrification and tenant displacement throughout their neighborhoods.

The primary job responsibilities of the Supervising Attorney are as follows:

• Directly supervising one to four staff attorneys in group tenant association representation, including in HP proceedings, 7A proceedings, eviction defense, and matters in state or federal court relating to repairs, rent regulation, and fair housing.
• Directly supervising and/or serving as a resource for staff attorneys litigating fair housing claims before federal, state and city courts and administrative agencies.
• Maintaining a personal caseload of (generally complex) litigation matters.
• Co-counseling, as appropriate, matters with staff attorneys.
• Ensuring that direct supervisees conduct their representation competently and ethically, and in compliance with CoRe’s recordkeeping and reporting policies.
• With the Director of Litigation and other supervising attorneys, assigning new tenant association matters to staff attorneys and assisting with managing the caseloads of direct supervisees.
• With the Director of Litigation and other supervising attorneys, assisting with the training of new and continuing staff attorneys as necessary.
• Working with existing community partners (CBOs, elected officials, coalitions) to improve community education on housing issues.
• Programming and leading community education events on housing issues.
• Participate in management meetings and assist in other managerial or administrative responsibilities as appropriate.

Applicants must have the following minimum qualifications:

• Admission to the bar of the State of New York.
• A minimum of three years of experience litigating in housing cases in state, city, and administrative courts, or substantially similar experience in other areas of law in addition to demonstrated leadership, potentially including experience with supervising legal interns, experience leading group projects, and/or experience in complex litigation. Five years of litigation experience in substantially relevant areas will be viewed favorably.
• Cultural competence demonstrated through present or past residence in, or employment at organizations serving, our clients’ communities.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with individuals from diverse backgrounds and local organizations.
• Excellent legal writing, litigation and advocacy skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Effective communication skills, including the ability to work with clients.
• Ability to work independently with strong motivation, to supervise a high caseload, track case data, and to meet deadlines.
• Computer proficiency sufficient to independently review and generate materials relevant to the position as well as track client information in our database, prepare reports for grantors, attend meetings, and perform tasks related to the work such as timekeeping and case notes.
• Willingness, desire, and ability to attend evening meetings and events.
• Demonstrated ability to publish articles effectively advocating on behalf of clients.

Applicants possessing the following qualifications will be viewed favorably:

• Second language ability is a major plus.
• Experience litigating housing cases or other substantially similar experiences.