Managing Attorney, Community Safety Program

The Opportunity

Join us at Asian Law Caucus (ALC) in a pivotal role as a leader in our Community Safety team. We are seeking an experienced attorney and advocate who can harness legal, policy, and community engagement strategies to both challenge unjust carceral and national security systems and build preventative, restorative, and community-based alternatives to our punitive criminal legal system. You will deepen and amplify innovative, non-carceral, and community-level interventions, alternatives, and policies that center the voices and leadership of systems-impacted individuals and survivors to change how we think of community safety and accountability. You will work on integrated advocacy strategies to beat back abuses by the criminal legal and national security systems, including disrupting California's arrest-to-ICE detention pipeline and disentangling local law enforcement from the FBI’s surveillance programs. And you will work on our efforts to end targeting, profiling, and surveillance based on race, national origin, and religion – including fighting against state and local surveillance programs, and supporting communities harmed by local, state, and federal national security policies that are rooted in white supremacy and racism.

As the Managing Attorney, you will supervise a dedicated team that includes legal and advocacy professionals, fostering a collaborative environment aimed at achieving meaningful and lasting impact. The ideal candidate possesses a deep understanding of how to implement integrated strategies that combine multiple tactics (such as litigation, policy advocacy, and organizing) to change governmental systems and policies, has expertise on criminal legal issues, has familiarity with policies that limit entanglement between law enforcement and immigration or other federal authorities, is devoted to mentoring junior staff, and is committed to amplifying the voices and leadership of impacted communities. We are seeking a Managing Attorney who embodies principles of equity and inclusion and is capable of fostering connectivity and collaboration across our organization.

This is an exciting opportunity to drive transformative change and make a tangible difference in communities across California. If you are passionate about social justice and ready to lead with purpose, we invite you to join us. The Managing Attorney will report to the Program Director, Community Safety.

The Organization

Asian Law Caucus (ALC) is the nation’s first legal and civil rights organization serving low-income, immigrant, and marginalized Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander communities. Since 1972, ALC has fought to protect access to affordable housing in San Francisco’s Chinatown, litigated high-profile civil rights cases, advocated for the passage of landmark policy changes, and provided an array of services to low-income immigrants and communities of color. Today, with a staff of 60 we bring together legal services, community empowerment, and policy advocacy to fight for immigrant justice, economic security, and a stronger, multiracial democracy. Our work is rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area and California and expands to states across the country, including places where immigrant, Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Islander communities are rapidly growing. 

Primary Responsibilities

• Help develop and implement the strategic direction and the short and long-term goals of the Community Safety Program
• Supervise staff, guide their professional development, and manage the team’s progress toward its work plan and goals in alignment with the organization’s mission and strategic priorities
• Develop and consistently maintain technical expertise on criminal legal and law enforcement/ICE disentanglement, civil rights, and national security issues that impact our communities
• Work with Community Safety program team, Program Director, ALC’s Policy Director and staff on legislative/public policy advocacy to address the profiling, criminalization of, and disinvestment in low-income Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Islander communities, and other communities of color and ensure successful policy implementation 
• Work with the Community Safety program team, Program Director, and the Legal Director to identify opportunities, legal theories, and claims to challenge civil rights abuses and violations 
• Serve as a senior member of the litigation team in impact cases, including class actions, in state and federal court
• Supervise direct legal representation and case management work related to ALC’s Legal Clinic for Victims and Survivors of Violence, which provides holistic legal counseling to help clients clarify and meet their long-term goals for healing, safety, and accountability 
• Supervise direct legal representation in complex national security cases that have immigration and criminal law components
• Represent the organization in legislative hearings, the media, conferences, and other public contexts
• Establish and deepen relationships with grassroots partners, advocacy and legal organizations, governmental agencies, and other stakeholders
• Collaborate with Communications staff to develop narrative-shifting strategies
• Collaborate and coordinate with other ALC programs on intersectional work, such crim-imm, surveillance, and the policing of low-income and other marginalized communities
• Assist in development activities such as grant proposals, reporting, and fundraising events

All ALC staff are expected to participate in regular check-in meetings with their supervisor/supervisees, staff meetings, team meetings, and other organization meetings, as required. This includes two (2) annual retreats, an anniversary celebration dinner, and meetings as needed in the San Francisco Bay area. 

The above statements are not intended to encompass all functions of the position; rather, they are intended to provide a general framework of the position's requirements. Job incumbents may be required to perform other functions not explicitly addressed in this posting.

Qualifications

• Substantive experience in criminal legal, civil rights, national security, and/or immigration enforcement issues and a minimum of five (5) years' related policy advocacy, state/federal court litigation, or legal services experience, ideally with familiarity in practicing in a non-profit organization
• Minimum two (2) years’ experience supervising staff and managing a team
• Two (2) years’ experience with conducting litigation or policy advocacy as part of a broader integrated advocacy campaign
• B.A./B.S., plus J.D. with membership in good standing with the California State Bar
• Demonstrated commitment to building power for and with grassroots communities
• Demonstrated leadership and ability to work independently and in collaboration with other attorneys, community advocates, and community-based organizations
• A trusted colleague who works effectively within a nonprofit management team towards organizational goals and objectives
• Willingness to take risks and innovate
• Non-English language skills (particularly Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi, Urdu, or other Asian languages) are a plus but not required.
• Excellent verbal, analytical, writing, facilitation, and interpersonal skills