JOB ANNOUNCEMENT – SENIOR STAFF ATTORNEY

The Southwest Women’s Law Center is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that seeks to improve women’s lives by combating gender discrimination, reducing poverty among women and their families, and ensuring that all women have access to comprehensive healthcare services, including family planning and reproductive health services. We provide legal and policy expertise to government officials and to direct service, community and advocacy organizations that work on behalf of women and girls in New Mexico. The Senior Staff Attorney will report to the Executive Director of the Center and is expected to be able to participate in the full range of the Center’s programs and planning as needed.

The Center engages in significant administrative advocacy with state and local government agencies and is seeking – through this position – to extend and strengthen that work and to develop the Center’s capacity to engage in impact litigation in collaboration with attorneys in the private bar. The Senior Staff Attorney is a new position at the Center and will be primarily responsible at the outset for the Center’s Title IX advocacy and civil legal services work on behalf of low-income women in New Mexico, including public benefits and housing work impacting survivors of domestic violence. The Senior Staff Attorney will also provide support to the Executive Director around women’s health and reproductive rights advocacy, and will be responsible for supervising reproductive and health law fellows who will be working at the Center.

The Center seeks an attorney with a demonstrated commitment to civil rights and social justice. We seek a creative, self-motivated, hard-working attorney who is committed to helping build and sustain the Center’s legal program in a challenging economic environment, including participating in strategic planning and grant writing. The Senior Staff Attorney is expected to set and promote a standard of excellence in the work product of the Center.

Overall Responsibilities

1. Establish and implement appropriate systems and procedures within the office, including intake, filing, and other policies to ensure effective management of the Center’s legal work.
2. Remain current on major legal developments at the federal level impacting women’s rights in the courts, including gender discrimination and reproductive rights.
3. Provide staff support for the Center’s Amicus Committee, including reviewing and researching potential amicus opportunities nationally for the Center and coordinating national amicus activities.
4. Review and monitor developments under state law to identify possible amicus opportunities for the Center in New Mexico and prepare legal briefs to support such efforts.
5. Analyze the Center’s potential for engaging in impact litigation and implement strategies resulting from that analysis.
6. Assist the Executive Director and members of the Board of Directors in recruiting attorneys to the Center’s Legal Committee and work with them to develop policies and procedures regarding the use of cooperating attorneys for the Center. The Senior Staff Attorney will be expected to coordinate any such cooperating attorney relationships with the Center in particular cases in the future.
7. Recruit and supervise law students to work with the Center and supervise law fellows or other junior attorneys who may work for the Center in the future.

Program Responsibilities
(in areas assigned by the Executive Director consistent with the Center’s priorities and funding)

1. Conduct legal research, writing and analysis to advance the Center’s programmatic and legal advocacy work.
2. Coordinate the Center’s administrative advocacy work before state agencies, including monitoring proposed rule changes, identifying areas of significant potential impact on low-income women, and preparing appropriate legal analyses regarding state agency policies and regulations.
3. Research and analyze proposed legislation and prepare draft/model bills as appropriate.
4. Conduct trainings, prepare summaries, fact sheets, training materials, toolkits, talking points and other similar materials and provide technical legal assistance and support to community partners.
5. Oversee and ensure the accuracy of the content of the Center’s website relating to the Center’s program areas.
6. Work collaboratively with community partners and other legal services agencies in assigned program areas.
7. Assist in the preparation of grant proposals and identify possible areas of effective legal and policy advocacy for the Center.
8. Develop work plans, evaluation standards and procedures, and measurable benchmarks for the assigned program work.
9. Provide support to other staff from time to time on special projects or priorities of the Center.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Licensed attorney with a minimum of 7 years of experience.
• Demonstrated personal commitment to addressing reproductive rights, gender discrimination, poverty and racism
• Ability to work in diverse communities
• Excellent communication and analytic skills (both written and oral), including the ability to explain complex policy issues to lay audiences and diverse communities
• Strong computer skills (including legal research databases, Microsoft Office and PowerPoint)
• Strong interpersonal skills, including ability to work well with a wide variety of people and communities and public officials
• Attention to detail
• Strong organizational skills
• Flexible and able to identify important opportunities for the Center to advance its mission and program
• Ability to multi-task, work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Ability to represent the Center and its mission professionally and appropriately to the community and to public officials
• Ability to work collaboratively and with individuals with diverse work styles

Desired Skills and Qualifications

• Civil rights or other civil litigation experience
• Fluent in Spanish
• Prior experience in social justice advocacy
• Prior experience with administrative and/or legislative advocacy
• Prior public policy experience

Salary and Benefits

This will be a salaried (exempt) position at a public interest salary. Benefits include health insurance, paid holidays and paid leave. To apply, please send a cover letter (including salary requirements), resume and writing sample by email to: hiring@swwomenslaw.org or by mail to: Southwest Women’s Law Center, 1410 Coal Ave SW, Albuquerque, NM 87104. The Southwest Women’s Law Center is an equal opportunities employer. For more information about the Center, visit our website at: www.swwomenslaw.org