Managing Attorney - Milwaukee Office

National Legal Aid & Defender Association; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 102,000 - 156,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fringe benefits package including HSA/

Health and dental insurance for family

Life and long‑term disability coverage

Profit‑sharing plan

Vacation leave and personal holidays

Relocation assistance up to $1,200

Spanish or Hmong language proficiency/

Job summary

Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. is seeking an experienced leader to serve as Milwaukee Office Managing Attorney, overseeing a large team and complex operations to deliver high‑quality civil legal services for low‑income clients.

The role combines strategic leadership and external collaboration with a hands‑on approach to supervision, training, and program management, advancing racial justice and access to justice throughout the service area.

Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited law school.
• Current Wisconsin bar license or eligible within three months.
• Three years of supervising attorneys and non-attorney staff.
• Experience practicing civil law.
• Commitment to civil legal aid, access to justice, and client-centered representation.
• Proven success supervising, mentoring, developing, and holding employees accountable.
• Strong legal judgment, research, and writing.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience appearing in or managing matters before Wisconsin state courts.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a high-volume legal-aid environment.
• Commitment to racial justice, equity, inclusion, and serving diverse communities.
• Willingness to travel throughout Legal Action’s service area; overnight travel as needed.

Responsibilities

• Lead, supervise, mentor, and develop attorneys, paralegals, and staff in Milwaukee office.
• Provide onboarding, regular supervision, case review, and professional development.
• Ensure high-quality, client‑centered representation and staff training.
• Oversee office budget, funding, expenditures, and invoice approvals.
• Participate in grant development, management, and reporting; ensure compliance.
• Represent the Milwaukee office to community partners, courts, funders, and stakeholders.
• Foster an inclusive, equitable workplace and professional growth.
• Ensure compliance with labor agreements; maintain relations with AFSCME/ULW.
• Support training and supervision of employees; respond to client concerns and grievances.
• Manage office operations and implement firmwide procedures and initiatives.

Skills

Supervision experience

Leadership

Civil legal practice

Communication skills

Staff development

Education

J.D. from accredited law school

Wisconsin bar admission or eligible within 3 months

Job description

Position Description

Milwaukee Office Managing Attorney

8/24/2026

Open until filled but with a minimum of 14 days posting.

Summary

Legal Action of Wisconsin (Legal Action) is seeking an experienced leader to serve as Managing Attorney of our Milwaukee office, our largest office and a major part of our statewide legal aid program.

This is a hands‑on leadership position for an attorney who wants to develop people, strengthen the delivery of high‑quality legal services, and help shape impactful advocacy on behalf of low‑income clients and communities.

The Milwaukee Office Managing Attorney leads a large and diverse team serving Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. The Managing Attorney works closely with the Chief Operating Officer, Legal Action’s six other Managing Attorneys, administrative leadership, and Milwaukee office staff. The position also has a significant external‑facing role, building relationships with courts, community organizations, funders, law firms and lawyers, and other partners.

The position is open because our previous Milwaukee Office Managing Attorney was recently appointed to the Milwaukee County bench.

The position is available as soon as September 8th.

Description of Legal Action

http://www.legalaction.org/Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. (“Legal Action”) is a non‑profit law firm, funded by the federal Legal Services Corporation, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, and many other sources and supporters. Legal Action provides free civil legal aid to low‑income persons and to Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized Native American tribes statewide with offices in Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Racine, and Wausau. Legal Action attorneys, lay advocates, legal advocates, and paralegals have expertise in a range of substantive areas, but most of our direct representation is in the areas of housing, public benefits, removing barriers to employment, consumer law, and family law.

Mission Statement: Deliver exceptional civil legal services and structural change advocacy, free of cost, to those most in need. Our core values (equity, advocacy, client‑centered, integrity and community) guide our work and actions. Please see our website for a description of the core values and vision that guides our work.

Milwaukee Office: Our Milwaukee office provides free legal aid to thousands of low‑income clients in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. It is located at 633 W. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 2000, Milwaukee, WI 53203. It is Legal Action’s largest office. The total staffing currently consists of the following: 10 supervising attorneys or project managers, 17 staff attorneys, 12 paralegals, and 17 other administrative, professional, and technical staff. (The Milwaukee Office Managing Attorney does not directly supervise all these positions.

Key Responsibilities

Office Leadership, Supervision, and Staff Development

Lead, supervise, mentor, and develop attorneys, paralegals, and other employees assigned to the Milwaukee office, consistent with Legal Action’s supervisory standards.

Provide effective onboarding, regular supervision and case review, performance‑based goal setting, performance management, professional development, and offboarding.

Ensure that attorneys provide high‑quality, assertive, client‑centered representation; maintain and develop expertise in their areas of practice; and participate appropriately in impact litigation, other advocacy, outreach, and community engagement.

Ensure that non‑attorney staff receive the training, support, supervision, and accountability necessary to perform their work successfully.

Promote an inclusive, equitable workplace in which employees can do high‑quality work and continue to develop professionally.

Legal Services and Advocacy

Lead the delivery of legal services in the Milwaukee office and ensure that the office responds effectively to Legal Action’s priority areas of law and the legal needs of clients in its service area.

Advance Legal Action’s strategic impact litigation and other advocacy efforts, including the firm’s racial justice legal work.

Support high‑quality legal analysis, litigation, advocacy, and professional responsibility throughout the office.

Respond to significant client complaints, grievances, and concerns regarding services or denial of services.

Provide training and support to attorneys participating in Legal Action’s Volunteer Lawyer Project as needed.

Labor and Employee Relations

Ensure management compliance with applicable collective bargaining agreements covering Milwaukee office employees.

Maintain effective working relationships with AFSCME and ULW representatives and participate in labor‑management matters affecting the office.

Office and Program Management

Manage the Milwaukee office’s budget, funding, expenditures, accounts, and invoice approvals in coordination with Legal Action’s administrative leadership.

Participate in grant development, grant management, and reporting, and ensure compliance with Legal Services Corporation requirements, grant requirements, Legal Action policies, professional responsibility obligations, and other applicable laws and regulations.

Oversee office operations, implementation of firmwide and office procedures, and special projects and organizational initiatives affecting the Milwaukee office.

External Leadership and Relationships

Represent Legal Action and the Milwaukee office with community partners, courts, funders, legal organizations, bar associations, and other stakeholders.

Build and maintain relationships that strengthen Legal Action’s ability to serve clients, respond to community needs, and advance access to justice.

Required Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school.
• Current license to practice law in Wisconsin or ability to become licensed within three months of hire.
• Three years of experience supervising other attorneys and non‑attorney staff.
• Experience practicing civil law.
• Demonstrated commitment to civil legal aid, access to justice, and client‑centered representation.
• Demonstrated success supervising, mentoring, developing, and holding employees accountable.
• Strong legal judgment and skills in case analysis, research, and legal writing.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and persuasively with employees, clients, community partners, and other stakeholders.
• Experience appearing in or managing matters before Wisconsin state courts and familiarity with applicable Wisconsin law.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a high‑volume legal‑services environment.
• Demonstrated commitment to racial justice, equity, inclusion, and serving diverse communities.
• Ability to travel throughout Legal Action’s service area, including occasional overnight travel, and to travel out of state occasionally as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Five or more years of experience supervising employees and managing delivery of legal aid.
• Experience practicing in more than one area of civil law that our clients typically encounter.
• Experience supervising hybrid or remote employees.
• Experience developing training materials and providing training.
• Experience building productive relationships with community organizations, funders, government agencies, courts, bar associations, or other stakeholders.
• Experience managing grant‑funded programs, budgets, or other aspects of program administration.

Other Information

SALARY: This is an Attorney Manager Tier 3 position. The salary is determined by the candidate’s number of years of relevant, post‑J.D. experience. For example, a candidate with eight years of relevant experience will earn an annual salary of $101,599; 10 years of relevant experience will earn an annual salary of $109,500; 15 years of relevant experience will earn an annual salary of $123,986; 20 years of relevant experience will earn an annual salary of $133,862; and 36 years of relevant experience will earn an annual salary of $155,852.

To ensure fairness and remove bias, Legal Action’s Board of Directors determines salaries and the language differential. They are not negotiable.

FRINGE BENEFITS: All Legal Action employees receive a full package of fringe benefits. It currently includes: employer‑paid health and dental insurance for employee, spouse, and family with a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA), employer‑paid life and long‑term disability insurance; employee‑paid income protection benefits; a profit‑sharing plan; generous sick leave accrual; and at least four weeks of vacation leave and four personal holidays per year. (Legal Action policies require employees with a spouse to contribute $200/month to the health insurance premium if the spouse has other health insurance available to them.)

SPANISH OR HMONG LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY PREMIUM: Legal Action’s Salary Administration Plan includes additional pay of either $2,400 annually or $4,800 annually to those employees who are fluent in Spanish or Hmong.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD: For an external hire, the probationary period is six months. For an internal hire, if the incumbent is moving into the Attorney Manager Tier 3 classification from a different classification, they may be subject to a probationary period of up to six months.

CLASSIFICATION: This is a full‑time, FLSA‑exempt position.

GOVERNANCE: Legal Action’s personnel policies govern this position, and these are subject to unilateral change by Legal Action. As with any Legal Action position, there is no guaranteed period of employment and employment is at will, subject to termination at any time.

SCOPE OF AUTHORITY: This position works closely with the Chief Executive Officer, COO, Finance and Human Resources leadership, and other managers on personnel management and directing our work and workforce. This includes but is not limited to: ensuring that our employees receive training and support to maintain and develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities; encouraging and supporting our staff to provide the highest‑quality legal aid; responding to employee concerns and grievances; responding to client concerns; and assigning work. This position also receives confidential budget, spending, personnel, and other financial information related to direction of the workforce and assignment of work. This position uses independent judgment in exercising this authority and in making recommendations.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Enter information into a computer accurately. Answer numerous emails, phone calls, and other electronic communications throughout the day. Occasionally move objects, usually about 10–20 pounds. Retrieve documents from printers, copiers, and similar office equipment and file or distribute them to others as needed.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: This role is mostly sedentary, with most duties performed using a computer and phone at a desk or other workspace. Desks and workspaces will accommodate a wheelchair or other assistive devices. This position may require occasional short‑distance or long‑distance travel.

IN OFFICE WORK: We require the Milwaukee Office Managing Attorney to be physically present in the Milwaukee Office at least 4 days during the 5‑day work week.

HIRING MANAGER

Nicole Zimmer, COO, is the hiring manager for this position and will form and lead a panel to interview applicants.

RELOCATION EXPENSES

Reimbursement for eligible relocation expenses, up to $1,200, may be available.