Immigration / Immigrant Rights Litigation Sr. Staff Attorney

Inside Philanthropy; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 78,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) seeks an experienced attorney to join MLRI’s Immigration Practice Group as Sr. Staff Attorney. The role leads immigration litigation, policy advocacy, and coalition-building with legal aid and immigrant rights organizations statewide and nationally.

Reporting to the Sr. Immigration Attorney, the position emphasizes leadership, strategic advocacy, and collaboration to advance rights for low-income immigrants across Massachusetts.

Qualifications

• Law degree and admission to any state bar.
• Minimum 5 years post-law school legal experience.
• Experience in immigrant rights/immigration law field and commitment to immigrant rights issues affecting low-income people.
• Litigation experience at trial and/or appellate level in affirmative litigation.
• Strong writing and legal research skills.
• Strong leadership skills and ability to develop advocacy strategies with partners.
• Experience collaborating with diverse community groups and coalitions.
• Commitment to MLRI’s anti-poverty mission and to the immigration practice group’s mission.

Responsibilities

• Identify, develop and implement affirmative litigation strategies with MLRI’s immigration team and coalition members.
• Identify, develop and implement advocacy strategies in collaboration with MLRI’s Immigration team and coalition members.
• Provide legal and technical support to policymakers, legal services staff, and community organizations on immigration law matters.
• Share responsibility for leading and coordinating advocacy work, supervising interns, and assisting with fundraising.

Skills

Legal writing

Legal research

Leadership

Advocacy strategy

Collaboration

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Job description

Deadline to Apply: Application materials will be reviewed and interviews will be scheduled on a rolling basis; interested and qualified candidates are strongly encouraged to submit application materials promptly.

The Opportunity

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) seeks an experienced attorney to join MLRI’s Immigration Practice Group. The Sr. Staff Attorney will play a lead role in crafting and carrying out MLRI’s immigration/immigrant rights agenda - through federal court litigation, administrative/legislative and other policy advocacy, and coalition-building with legal aid, community-based, and immigrants’ rights organizations statewide and nationally. The position will be supervised by MLRI’s Sr. Immigration Attorney, Iris Gomez.

About MLRI

MLRI is a nationally recognized nonprofit poverty law and policy center that provides statewide advocacy and leadership in advancing laws, policies, and practices that secure economic, racial, and social justice for low-income people and communities. We pursue systems change through litigation, legislative and administrative advocacy, coalition building, community lawyering, and other strategies that address systemic harm to low-income people. MLRI is also the statewide multi-issue poverty law support center for the Massachusetts civil legal aid delivery system; our advocates provide substantive expertise and technical assistance to frontline legal aid field program advocates and to many other advocates and providers who serve low- income people and communities in Massachusetts. MLRI leads and coordinates a number of statewide advocacy coalitions in substantive issues areas, including the very active Immigration Coalition which has over 150 members. Visit www.mlri.org.

Desired Qualifications & Experience

• Law degree and admission to any state bar;
• Minimum 5 years post-law school legal experience;
• Experience in the immigrant rights/immigration law field and a demonstrated commitment to immigrant rights issues that affect low-income people;
• Litigation experience at the trial and/or appellate level in affirmative litigation;
• Strong writing and legal research skills;
• Strong leadership skills and the ability to develop and advance advocacy strategies, including systemic litigation and advocacy campaigns, in collaboration with partners;
• Experience effectively collaborating with racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse community groups and coalitions; and
• Commitment to MLRI’s anti-poverty mission and to the immigration practice group’s mission and collaborative work style.

Core Responsibilities

• Identify, develop and implement effective affirmative litigation strategies in collaboration with MLRI’s immigration team, outside counsel, immigration coalition members and immigrant plaintiffs;
• Identify, develop, and implement effective administrative, legislative, and other policy advocacy strategies, in collaboration with MLRI’s Immigration team and our statewide Immigration Coalition members;
• Provide legal and technical support and expertise to policymakers, legal services program staff, and community organizations on immigration law issues and other areas of law in which immigration law affects the rights of low-income immigrants;
• Share responsibility with the rest of MLRI’s Immigration team for leading and coordinating our advocacy and support work, supervising interns, and assisting with immigration-related fundraising.

Salary and Benefits

• MLRI offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. MLRI provides very generous benefits including health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, 403(b) plan employer contribution of 5% after 6 months of employment, as well as vacation, holiday, and family leave.
• MLRI’s Staff Attorney salaries are based on scale and are commensurate with skills and years of relevant post-JD attorney experience. For example, for this position the salary range is $78,000-105,000 depending on applicant level of experience. Internal equity considerations and average salary of the peer range will be reviewed and taken into consideration.
• MLRI is currently operating on a hybrid schedule.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

MLRI is an equal opportunity employer that values a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. We believe that having a staff, board, and volunteers with diverse personal and professional backgrounds and lived experience enhances our ability to meet our mission and creates an environment where all members of our community can thrive. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, immigrants, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with lived experience of poverty, and people from underrepresented and historically marginalized groups.