Senior Law Project Director

About the Role

Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) seeks an experienced and motivated attorney to lead our Senior Law Project. This role will serve on the VOLS Leadership Team, manage two attorneys, and report to the Legal Director.

Organizational Mission

For 40 years, VOLS has partnered with New York City’s leading law firms and companies as well as community-based organizations to help close the access to justice gap for low-income New Yorkers. VOLS provides free, civil legal services to New Yorkers with limited resources, including seniors, veterans, individuals entitled to public benefits, immigrant youth, children and their families, mothers in prison or jail, and small business owners. Last year, VOLS assisted clients on more than 4,000 legal matters, and our services benefited over 6,200 individual New Yorkers. VOLS’ staff of 22, including 15 attorneys and law graduates, works with volunteers from over 80 law firms/companies to exponentially increase our impact. We partner with 150 community groups to ensure that our services are accessible and address local needs.

VOLS strives to build and retain a diverse and inclusive team, and we actively seek a diverse candidate pool. We strongly encourage candidates who have had lived experience in the communities we serve.

VOLS Senior Law Project

VOLS’s Senior Law Project coordinates pro bono legal services for New York City older adults aged 60 and over with limited resources by partnering with older adult centers, naturally occurring retirement communities, community-based organizations, and partner law firms and corporate legal departments. A core emphasis of the Project is training and supporting volunteer attorneys to assist seniors with the preparation and execution of life-planning documents, including wills, powers of attorney, health care proxies, and other advance directives. Our goal is to ensure that older adults are able to make their wishes clear, empower their chosen caregivers, and stay in the community for as long as possible. The Project also provides legal advice and referral to older adults on a wide range of other civil legal issues.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Oversee the Senior Law Project’s daily activities
• Supervise staff attorneys, which includes managing duties, schedules, and work output.
• Evaluate staff performance both formally and informally and regularly provide appropriate feedback.
• Monitor intakes, screen matters for pro bono placement and in-house advice and representation.
• Carry a small caseload of advice and full representation matters.
• Oversee the Senior Law Project’s pro bono practice
• Develop, manage, and sustain the pro bono initiatives of the Senior Law Project in collaboration with the Legal Director, Pro Bono Specialist, and VOLS’ pro bono partners.
• Provide supervision and training for advance care, estate planning, and adult guardianship matters being handled by volunteers in the VOLS Children’s Project.
• Recruit, train, and mentor volunteer lawyers on VOLS senior law matters.
• Design and conduct CLEs and workshops for the pro bono bar.
• Identify, establish, and maintain relationships with community partners, including older adult centers and other older-adult
• serving community-based organizations.
• Conduct trainings for community partners and speak on legal panels.
• Run and review data reports and manage case-management system protocols for data collection and grant reporting.
• Manage project budget in coordination with VOLS Operations team.
• Support the Development & Communications team in Project-related fundraising and communications activities
• Represent VOLS on local, regional, and national coalitions and collaborate with legal service providers on policies affecting clients.
• Represent VOLS on bar association committees and promote pro bono best practices.
• Engage in advocacy and policy efforts to support older adults with limited resources.
• Use LegalServer, our web-based case management system, to maintain data on clients, services, and impact.
• Serve as an active thought partner and strategic leader on VOLS’ Leadership Team to advance VOLS’ mission, promote strong and supportive organizational culture, and ensure effective operations.

Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor and admission in good standing to the New York Bar.
• A minimum of 7+ years of estate planning experience.
• A minimum of 2+ years of supervisory or management experience and a commitment to provide support and coaching to team members to enhance their skills, knowledge and their professional development.
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work with people in crisis.
• Demonstrated commitment to social justice and supporting pro bono.

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Team/department/unit leadership experience.
• Experience collaborating with community organizations serving older adults.
• Experience working with pro bono attorneys.
• Public speaking experience including leading educational workshops, trainings and CLE programs.
• Bilingual fluency in one of the top five languages spoken in NYC.

This position will be hybrid, with the opportunity to telecommute up to 8 days per month. Local travel to meetings and other events is required to meet programmatic or client needs.

All candidates must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 including a Bivalent vaccine dose or latest 2024–2025 COVID vaccine formula, unless provided a reasonable accommodation pursuant to applicable federal, state and local statutes.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commitment:

VOLS strives to build and maintain a diverse workplace that embraces staff with different backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We seek a diverse applicant pool and particularly welcome and encourage applicants from marginalized communities, including, but not limited to, those who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, women, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, disabled, immigrants, uniformed service, people from low socio-economic backgrounds, and those directly impacted by the legal system.

VOLS is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, creed, age, disability, sexual orientation, biological sex, gender identity/expression, family status, military service or any other status protected under the law.