Staff Attorney

Peggy Browning Fund; Florida; On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Beyond the Bars in South Florida is seeking a full-time Staff Attorney to help use legal strategies to build worker power and support campaigns. The role emphasizes improving BTB’s legal infrastructure and providing timely legal guidance to organizers and workers.

This position focuses on worker intake, strategic enforcement, and coordination with legal partners. It is not a traditional direct-services role, but supports leadership development and long-term improvements in working conditions.

Qualifications

• Fluency in English and Spanish required.
• Must be located in South Florida (or willing to relocate) and able to conduct in-person worker intakes and trainings in Miami-Dade County.
• Valid driver’s license and reliable transportation required.
• J.D. preferred.
• Experience conducting intakes in a community setting.
• Ability to explain complicated legal information clearly and compassionately to people without legal training.
• Proficiency with Google Workspace.

Responsibilities

• Provide organizers with timely, accessible guidance about relevant laws, legal risks, case developments, and enforcement options.
• Create internal legal resources and reusable worker-education materials.
• Maintain regular communication with the organizing team about intake pipeline, case status, referrals, deadlines, and next steps.
• Work with BTB leadership and organizers to identify opportunities to combine legal and organizing strategies in worker campaigns.
• Review worker intakes and field information to identify shared violations, patterns, and strategic enforcement matters.
• Participate in campaign meetings and help assess how legal interventions could strengthen or undermine collective worker action.
• Help build and maintain a network of attorneys and legal organizations available to support BTB members and campaigns.

Skills

Bilingual English/Spanish

Strong communication

Google Workspace

Explain legal concepts clearly

Education

J.D. preferred

Tools

Westlaw

LexisNexis

Job description

Compensation

$60,000 to $80,000, based on BTB’s salary scale (negotiable!)

Schedule

Full-time; occasional early-morning, evening, and weekend work based on worker availability

About Beyond the Bars

Beyond the Bars is a Southern worker organization led by people with records, building power on the job to fight for the rights, dignity, and future we deserve.

Position Overview

Beyond the Bars seeks a full-time Staff Attorney to help use legal strategies to build worker power. The Staff Attorney will identify opportunities for strategic enforcement, revenue-based litigation, and administrative advocacy that can strengthen BTB’s infrastructure and organizing campaigns. They will also provided as-needed legal assistance to BTB’s members.

Note: this is not a traditional direct-services position. The Staff Attorney will help workers understand and exercise their rights in ways that support collective action, leadership development, and long-term improvements in working conditions.

Key Responsibilities

Improving BTB’s Legal Infrastructure

• Provide organizers with timely, accessible guidance about relevant laws, legal risks, case developments, and enforcement options
• Create internal legal resources and reusable worker-education materials
• Maintain regular communication with the organizing team about the intake pipeline, case status, referrals, deadlines, and next steps
• Work with BTB leadership and organizers to identify opportunities to combine legal and organizing strategies in worker campaigns
• Review worker intakes and field information to identify shared violations, patterns of exploitation, and potential strategic enforcement matters
• Participate in campaign and organizing meetings and help assess how legal interventions could strengthen or undermine collective worker action
• Help build and maintain a network of attorneys and legal organizations available to support BTB members, campaigns, and organization

Worker Intake and Referral

• Conduct in-person and remote legal intakes with workers, primarily in English and Spanish
• Gather facts, documents, and other evidence needed to evaluate potential legal claims and organizing opportunities
• Explain workers’ rights, legal options, risks, and possible outcomes in clear and accessible language without overpromising results
• Develop and deliver Know Your Rights trainings, legal clinics, and worker-facing materials that support peer education, collective action, and worker leadership
• Maintain accurate and confidential records of intakes, evidence, case status, referrals, and dispositions
• Develop and refine intake frameworks, screening criteria, referral protocols, confidentiality practices, and case-tracking systems
• Screen matters for legal merit, organizational and campaign fit, potential collective impact, and referral or co-counsel opportunities

Strategic Enforcement

• Research legal issues affecting temp and construction workers, including wage and hour violations, workplace safety, retaliation, discrimination, staffing-agency practices, and barriers related to criminal records
• Support issue identification, case theory development, evidence preservation, and preparation of matters for strategic enforcement
• Under attorney supervision, assist with demand letters, administrative complaints, agency charges, arbitration, litigation, and other enforcement strategies
• Coordinate case referrals and co-counsel relationships with nonprofit, government, and private-bar legal partners
• Help develop productive relationships with labor-enforcement agencies and other relevant government officials
• Timely completion of legal intakes and written screening assessments
• Clear intake summaries, case analyses, and referral recommendations
• Legal research and strategy memoranda for active and prospective campaigns or cases
• Accessible Know Your Rights trainings and worker-facing legal materials
• Accurate intake, referral, evidence, deadline, and case-tracking systems
• Regular updates to BTB leadership and the organizing team
• Other deliverables established through work planning with the Co-Executive Director

Qualifications

• Fluency in English and Spanish required
• Must be located in South Florida (or willing to relocate) and able to conduct in-person worker intakes and trainings in Miami-Dade County
• Valid driver’s license and reliable transportation required
• J.D. preferred
• Experience conducting intakes in a community setting
• Ability to explain complicated legal information clearly and compassionately to people without legal training
• Proficiency with Google Workspace

Preferred, but not required

• Experience in labor or employment law and/or criminal defense
• Familiarity with Westlaw, LexisNexis, or comparable research tools
• Experience with worker centers, labor unions, or other base-building organizations
• Experience developing or facilitating Know Your Rights trainings or legal clinics
• Experience coordinating with external counsel, government agencies, or legal referral networks