The Lead BIA & Post-Filing Attorney provides legal leadership, appellate case-strategy direction, and quality control for assigned Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and post-filing immigration matters. With a reduced individual caseload, the position supervises legal work product, advises on complex procedural issues, and ensures timely, well-supported filings and coordinated case follow-through.
Key Responsibilities
- Direct strategy for BIA appeals and related post-decision matters, including issue identification, standards of review, preservation concerns, and procedural options.
- Oversee drafting and quality review of notices of appeal, appellate briefs, motions, supporting records, and other filings within the assigned practice.
- Assess filing deadlines, briefing schedules, jurisdictional requirements, and procedural posture; ensure reliable tracking and escalation of time-sensitive matters.
- Advise attorneys on motions to reopen or reconsider and other post-decision or post-filing actions, as applicable to the team's scope.
- Coordinate with removal-defense attorneys and case teams to obtain records, confirm litigation history, and maintain consistent strategy across case stages.
- Carry a reduced personal caseload to preserve capacity for legal strategy, quality control, mentoring, and escalation support.
- Provide day-to-day legal guidance to assigned attorneys and functional oversight to paralegals and legal assistants.
- Review attorney work product and filings for accuracy, completeness, legal sufficiency, deadlines, and compliance with professional-responsibility standards.
- Serve as an escalation point for complex matters, changes in case strategy, and elevated legal or ethical risk.
- Monitor case aging, filing deadlines, workload distribution, and quality trends; identify and escalation resource or process concerns.
- Coordinate with lead paralegals and operations leadership on caseload distribution, workflow, training, and staffing needs.
- Mentor and onboard attorneys, deliver constructive feedback, and support department training and consistent legal practices.
- Participate in leadership meetings and collaborate with legal strategy and operational leadership on escalations and process improvements.
Required Qualifications and Skills
- J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar license in good standing in a jurisdiction relevant to assigned duties.
- 3-5 years of immigration law experience, including meaningful experience in the assigned practice area.
- 1-2 years of people-management, supervisory, or team-leadership experience.
- Substantive experience with immigration appeals, BIA procedures, legal research and brief writing, and post-decision or post-filing immigration practice.
- Demonstrated ability to manage legal work while directing, reviewing, and developing other attorneys.
- Strong legal writing, research, communication, organizational, and professional judgment skills.
- Ability to collaborate across distributed attorney, paralegal, and operations teams and appropriately oversee legal risk.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with EOIR litigation, motions practice, complex procedural analysis, and coordination between trial-level and appellate teams.
- Experience supervising geographically distributed teams and improving legal quality-control processes.
Supervisory Responsibilities
Provides functional, operational, and managerial legal oversight for assigned Associate Attorneys and functional legal direction to supporting paralegals and legal assistants, consistent with organizational reporting arrangements.