Disability Appeals Staff Attorney

The Urban Justice Center (UJC) Mental Health Project (MHP) seeks a full-time disability appeals staff attorney.

Who We Are:

Our mission is to disrupt and dismantle cycles of hospitalization, homelessness, and incarceration that traps low-income New Yorkers with serious mental health concerns. MHP is a dedicated team of attorneys, social workers, advocates, and peer specialists. We intervene at all parts of the system. We work to: secure financial and medical benefits to prevent homelessness and hospitalization; provide peer advocacy and social work support to empower clients in the community; collaborate on impact litigation; ensure proper discharge planning occurs prior to release from jail and psychiatric hospitals; connect people to the appropriate organizations through advice and referrals; and host community workshops to educate people about their rights and how to advocate for themselves and their peers.

Job Summary:

MHP’s Disability Advocacy Project (DAP) advances the mission by helping clients obtain federal disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA), which provides a regular income to clients whose disabilities prevent them from working. SSA has a lengthy application process followed by a multi-stage administrative appeals process. DAP is seeking a staff attorney to represent clients at the first stage of appeal before the SSA, with the possibility of representing at later stages of appeal.

Responsibilities include:

• Advocating with SSA and the Disability Determination Services on behalf of clients, including written argument and informal oral advocacy
• Managing all aspects of case handling including
  • Interviewing clients and possibly lay witnesses
  • Requesting, analyzing, and submitting medical records
  • Keeping internal and external deadlines
  • Ensuring approvals are being processed properly by reviewing notices and advocating with agencies as necessary
  • Ensuring denials are timely appealed
• Maintaining accurate and contemporaneous case files
• Providing legal information and referrals as needed
• Contributing to the project’s systemic advocacy efforts
• Conducting outreach and trainings for mental health providers and consumers, with a focus on formerly incarcerated individuals, and attending relevant task force meetings with community partners
• Additional tasks as necessary, including the possibility of conducting intakes and representation at additional later SSA appeal stages

Qualifications include:

• J.D., with at least two years’ experience strongly preferred, and up to 10 years’ experience
• Knowledge of SSA benefits programs is strongly preferred
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, including the ability to keep and maintain individual deadlines for a high-volume practice
• Efficient and meticulous attention to detail
• Excellent research, writing, analytical, and critical thinking skills
• Ability to work as a member of a team and independently
• Demonstrated commitment to public interest or pro bono work or to advocating for persons with mental health concerns and a diverse client population in a sensitive and professional manner
• Experience applying an anti-oppressive, anti-racist, and social justice lens to your work
• Advocacy skills, and the ability to navigate bureaucratic agencies
• Proficiency in Spanish or another foreign language is strongly preferred

The Mental Health Project is currently on a hybrid working schedule. The work schedule may change depending on the Project’s needs.