Senior Staff Attorney Housing & Homelessness Prevention Unit

The Public Law Center (PLC); Santa Ana (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The Public Law Center in Orange County seeks a highly skilled Senior Staff Attorney to support its Housing and Homelessness Prevention Unit. You will provide direct representation for low-income tenants, lead community outreach, and collaborate with staff, volunteers and partners to advance access to affordable housing.

The role requires active California Bar membership, at least five years of experience with three in state court litigation, and strong written and public speaking skills.

Qualifications

• Active membership in the California State Bar or eligibility to practice.
• Minimum of five years’ experience, with at least three years in state court litigation.
• Experience in housing and unlawful detainer cases preferred.
• Excellent written communication skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and LegalServer.
• Strong public speaking abilities and audience engagement.
• Must work from the office several days a week; partial remote work may be requested.
• Located in Southern California; willingness to travel across Orange County and surrounding counties.

Responsibilities

• Handle a diverse caseload for low-income tenants, including eviction defense, discrimination, and other housing issues.
• Assist with impact litigation and policy advocacy.
• Monitor legal changes and ensure regulatory compliance for housing services.
• Mentor and train less-experienced staff; coordinate with volunteers and pro bono attorneys.
• Participate in internal initiatives and external events; conduct trainings and community education.

Skills

Litigation

Legal writing

Public speaking

Office software

Education

California Bar admission

Tools

Microsoft Office

LegalServer

Job description

About Public Law Center

Founded in 1981, The Public Law Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free legal services to low-income residents and other nonprofits in Orange County. Every year, Public Law Center serves about 4,000 clients annually through staff and volunteers, providing tens of thousands of hours of legal services worth over $30 million. Our services include counseling, individual representation, community education and strategic policy advocacy and impact litigation to challenge societal injustices.

About The Role

The Public Law Center (PLC)’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Unit seeks an energetic, passionate advocate to join our team in fighting for justice for low-income tenants and self-represented litigants in Orange County through innovative, collaborative, community-centered lawyering to address inequities and pursue access to affordable housing.

PLC’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Unit provides high-quality, direct representation, in addition to coordinating and supervising pro bono representation, of tenants in cases involving evictions or unlawful detainers, discrimination, harassment, housing voucher disputes, affordable housing advocacy, and other issues related to housing.

The Unit alsoparticipatesin community education, community-based clinics, and local and statewide advocacy.

PLC is seeking a highly skilled Senior Staff Attorney to support the Unit with ensuring the provision of quality legal services by handling their own direct services cases and other legal services, such as community outreach and education, legal advocacy and/or impact litigation and will also collaborate with attorneys, paralegals/administrative staff, clients, and external partners.

What You’ll Do

• Handle a diverse caseload on behalf of low-income tenants, including eviction defense, discrimination, habitability, subsidized housing cases, administrative hearings, impact cases, and other issues arising in landlord/tenant relationships and land use laws. In-court representation required.
• Assist with impact litigation and/or policy advocacy.
• Monitor changes and ensure compliance with laws and regulations affecting housing legal services.
• Some training and mentoring of less-experienced staff, including through co-counseling on direct services cases and impact work.
• Participate in internal office initiatives and external events and activities.
• Prepare and conduct trainings and community presentations and otherwise assist with or coordinate community outreach and education efforts.
• Full-timeposition with occasional evening and weekend workrequired.
• Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Occasional supervision of volunteers, including undergraduate students, law clerks, pro bono attorneys, etc., through training, technical support, and interim direct supervision to ensure high-quality legal services are provided to PLC’s clients.

Qualifications

• Active membership in the California State Bar or eligibility to practice under State Bar Multijurisdictional Practice Program.
• A minimum of five years’ experience, with at least three years of state court litigation experience. Experience in housing and unlawful detainer cases preferred.
• Excellent written communication skills.
• Proficiency with everyday office software, including Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, etc.), case management system (LegalServer), and others.
• Strong public speaking skills and ability to communicate with a variety of audiences, including community members, volunteer attorneys, court staff, and judges.
• Must be able to work from the office several days a week, and for request for partial remote work to be granted, must be able to work in a distraction-free and confidential environment. This position requires attendance at meetings, both remote and in person, in and outside the Public Law Center’s offices, and requiresbeing located inSouthern California. Must have ability to work at the organization’s offices in Santa Ana, CA, and travel to work siteslocatedthroughout Orange County, CA. In addition, travel to Los Angeles County and other neighboring counties may berequired.
• Must have reliable transportation.

Public Law Center is dedicated to building a diverse team and fostering a fair and welcoming work environment. To view our complete DEI statement, please click here.

Public Law Center is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, please contact Public Law Center.

PLC will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with all legal requirements.

PLC regrets that it is unable to sponsor employment Visas or consider individuals on time-limited Visa status for this position.