Homes for All Staff Lawyer

Pivot Legal Society; Vancouver; Hybrid; CAD 71,000; Full time

Job summary

Pivot Legal Society is seeking a Staff Lawyer for a one-year contract to advance the rights of unhoused communities. The role involves strategic litigation, law reform, and public education, working closely with grassroots organizations to create systemic change. Applicants should have a strong anti-oppressive analysis and experience in community-based advocacy. This position offers a salary of $70,600 per year, with a competitive benefits package.

Benefits

20 vacation days annually

16 personal days for full-time staff

Health benefits from start date

Qualifications

• Minimum two years of bar membership.
• Experience with marginalized communities in BC.
• Strong legal research and writing skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead policy development and legal analysis.
• Manage Pivot’s Homes for All campaign.
• Collaborate with community stakeholders.

Skills

Advocacy

Interpersonal Skills

Communication

Education

Law Degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

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Direct message the job poster from Pivot Legal Society

Pivot is seeking a staff lawyer to lead our campaign to advance the rights of unhoused and precariously housed communities. This is a one-year, full-time contract position with the possibility of extension.

About us

Pivot’s mandate is to use the law to address the root causes of poverty and social exclusion. Our name is a metaphor for our approach to social change - by making the most tangible violations of rights the focal point of our efforts, we exert maximum pressure to shift society toward greater equality and inclusivity.

Pivot works alongside marginalized communities and grassroots movements using litigation, law reform, and legal education. In partnership with affected communities, Pivot develops campaigns to create systemic change on many of Canada’s most pressing social issues: housing, drug policy, police accountability, sex workers’ rights, and anti-stigma efforts. We are a highly collaborative organization. We strive to recruit team members from diverse backgrounds and with a wide range of life experiences.

About you

You have experience with community-based advocacy, including co-creating strategy alongside directly impacted people. You bring a strong anti-oppressive and intersectional analysis to your work, underpinned by a deep understanding of settler colonialism, racism, classism, patriarchy, trans-misogyny, ableism, and anti-substance user stigma. You bring a deep understanding of the ways in which criminalization and stigma negatively impact the health, safety, and human rights of people who depend on public space. Applicants are invited to share how their lived experience informs their approach and ethics.

You are a strategic thinker, strong writer and advocate, and an excellent relationship builder. You are committed to working with grassroots organizations and believe that lawyers can play an important role as allies within social movements. You are excited for the challenge of combining litigation with law and policy reform work, community engagement, public communications, and political advocacy.

Desired Qualifications (please do not hesitate to apply if you do not meet all criteria)

• Called to the bar for a minimum of two years and current practicing membership with the Law Society of BC;
• Experience working alongside communities that are marginalized by laws and policies in BC and Canada in an anti-oppressive way;
• Strong, intersectional analysis of issues impacting people who are homeless and/or precariously housed and their access to rights;
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively alongside colleagues;
• Experience working with social justice movements;
• Strong legal research and writing skills;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (including comfort speaking with media);
• Advocacy skills, judgment, discretion, and attention to detail;
• Comfort working independently and in collaboration with colleagues, pro bono counsel, and community stakeholders;
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including MS Word and Outlook;
• Lived experiences with marginalization are an asset;
• Experience with some of the following: Constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law, and civil procedure.

About the role

The Homes for All Staff Lawyer will work in collaboration with the Director(s), other staff lawyers and campaigners, and Pivot staff to identify, develop, coordinate, and implement strategic litigation, law reform, and public education strategies within the context of homelessness and the right to housing. The Homes for All Staff Lawyer will work to advance the human rights of people who are unhoused or precariously housed in Canada by challenging discriminatory laws, law enforcement practices, oppressive housing models, and stigma against people who rely on public space to meet their survival needs.

The role involves working closely with allied grassroots groups and other organizations in the fight for social and legal change. The role will also involve collaboration with the Pivot team and engagement with Pivot’s other campaign areas: sex workers’ rights, drug policy, anti-stigma, and police accountability. Pivot’s model involves a collaborative, team-based structure to develop robust social change campaigns that include engagement with impacted communities, legal action, communications strategies, and political advocacy. This role will require flexibility and the ability to be responsive to changing conditions on the ground while remaining focused on long-term goals.

Responsibilities

• Lead policy development, law reform, government relations, and legal analysis to advance campaign goals in allyship with community stakeholders;
• Where appropriate, work with Pivot team, our partner organizations, and the community to identify test cases and to develop litigation plans;
• Act as the lead project manager on Pivot’s Homes for All campaign;
• Build relationships across so-called BC with the legal community, pro bono counsel, and allied organizations to support litigation and campaign work;
• Work with the communications team to co-develop content and act as a media spokesperson;
• Support fundraising team by assisting with grant reporting, attending fundraising events, and meeting with donors;
• Attend, participate in, and support Pivot’s team meetings, organizational strategic planning retreats and events;
• Collaborate with the team to create a strong, inspired, supportive, ambitious, sustainable, and accountable organizational culture; and
• Assist with organizational and administrative tasks and other duties as needed.

Working Conditions and Oversight

Your direct supervisor will meet with you regularly to discuss progress and challenges, and strategies for moving the work forward and to support your work. Your supervisor will collaborate with you in creating a yearly work plan to help direct your work. You will also work collaboratively alongside other Pivot staff members in the decision-making process when it comes to making major decisions about the direction of this campaign. Pivot currently offers a hybrid work model with some flexibility around remote work.

Compensation

Compensation for the position includes a salary of $70,600 per annum, and a competitive vacation and benefits package, including 20 vacation days annually and at least 16 personal days for full-time staff. In addition to vacation and statutory holidays, the Pivot office closes for approximately 7 business days over the winter holidays, for which staff will also be paid. The successful candidate will be eligible for health benefits from their start date, without any probation period.

Application process and deadline

Applications should include a cover letter and CV. Applicants may be asked to provide a writing

sample if advancing to the interview stage.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their application promptly. Please submit your application to [e-mail] identified by the subject line: Application for Staff Lawyer Position - Homes for All.

Pivot strives to create a fair and respectful environment that protects and promotes human rights. Our office is located at 312 Main Street, Vancouver B.C. It is accessible by elevator. Washrooms are gender neutral. Pivot believes that a workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve strengthens our ability to achieve our mission. We strongly encourage applicants of all genders, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, abilities, and with a range of life experiences to apply.

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