Staff Attorney - LITC
Indiana Legal Services, Inc
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Job summary
Indiana Legal Services, Inc. in Indiana seeks a visionary Chief Executive Officer to lead one of the state's premier civil legal aid organizations.
The CEO will guide a statewide team, advance access to justice, and strengthen community leadership and advocacy. Based in Indianapolis or Bloomington, the role requires strategic direction, fiscal stewardship, and collaboration with staff, boards, and funders to sustain high-quality civil legal services for low-income clients.
Job description
Indiana Legal Services is seeking a visionary Chief Executive Officer to lead one of Indiana’s premier civil legal aid organizations. Guide a dedicated statewide team, advance access to justice, and build on a legacy of impactful advocacy and strong community leadership.
Indiana Legal Services, Inc. (ILS) is a statewide, not-for-profit law firm that provides free legal services to eligible clients in civil cases through 8 branch offices. ILS is funded by the Legal Services Corporation, Indiana Civil Legal Aid Fund, United Ways, Area Agencies on Aging, and approximately 60 other funding sources.
ILS is committed to being an equal opportunity employer. We recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any category protected by law.
Low Income Taxpayer Clinics ensure the fairness and integrity of the tax system for taxpayers who are low-income or have limited English proficiency (i) by providing pro bono representation in tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), (ii) by educating them about their tax rights and responsibilities and general tax issues, and (iii) by identifying and advocating for issues that affect these taxpayers. Eligibility for legal representation is based on the existence of a controversy with IRS; taxpayers may also receive assistance with a related state tax controversy involving Indiana Department of Revenue (IDOR). Taxpayers are frequently represented in audits, appeals, requests for innocent spouse relief, collection matters, and before the U.S. Tax Court. Although an LITC is not a tax preparation service, preparation of prior year tax returns is allowed if necessary to resolve an individual taxpayer’s controversy. The LITC is funded in part by a grant from IRS. The LITC team includes three staff attorneys and two student interns.
This position can be located in either the Indianapolis or Bloomington office of Indiana Legal Services.
The LITC staff attorney will primarily provide legal assistance and representation services to taxpayers in disputes with the IRS and related IDOR matters. The attorney will also conduct outreach and tax education to low-income taxpayers and those with limited English proficiency. The LITC staff attorney will help build and maintain community partnerships that allow the LITC to conduct education and outreach. The attorney will mentor and supervise the work of student interns. The LITC staff attorney will perform other duties as assigned and will work under the supervision of the LITC Project Director.
- Provide high-quality legal representation to taxpayers in disputes with the IRS and related IDOR matters.
- Provide high-quality legal representation before the U.S. Tax Court.
- Provide high-quality legal advice, limited service, and negotiation.
- Review applications for legal assistance and make initial calls with taxpayers to assess legal issues and needs.
- Manage casework for each assigned case from open to closing.
- Mentor student interns and assign and supervise their work on your cases.
- Conduct outreach and tax education to taxpayers.
- Provide informative tax consultations with taxpayers.
- Build and maintain strong community partnerships.
- Track individual grant deliverables and prepare monthly and quarterly internal reports.
- Assist with LITC grant reports and applications as needed.
- Attend the annual LITC Conference (in person or virtually).
- Comply with all LSC and LITC grant requirements and all ILS policies and procedures.
- Dedicated to the mission of Indiana Legal Services.
- A license to practice law in Indiana and a Juris Doctor degree from an ABA-accredited law school is required.
- At least three (3) years of attorney experience is preferred.
- Ability to travel as needed to perform job responsibilities.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Excellent organizational and time management skills.
The starting salary for the position is $57,425 with a range up to a maximum of $75,535 depending on experience. ILS offers an excellent fringe benefits package including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, Rx), disability insurance, life insurance, a 401(k) plan, and a flex benefit plan.
Leave days earned and taken will be calculated upon the normal 7.5 hour workday. Leave is pro-rated based on the start date of a new employee and is also pro-rated for part-time employees based on their part-time percentage.
ILS provides vacation leave to regular full and part time employees. Temporary full and part-time employees may be provided vacation leave time, depending upon the provisions of the employment contract.
Years of Employment
Days of Vacation Leave
First & Second 15
Third, Fourth & Fifth 20
Sixth 21
Seventh 22
Eighth 23
Ninth 24
Tenth & all years thereafter 25
All employees will accrue 14 days of health care leave per year. Health care leave is intended to provide a measure of security and aid to an employee in the event of health care appointments, illness or other health related issues, including physical, mental, and emotional health.
- New Year’s Day
- Martin Luther King’s Birthday
- Washington’s Birthday (President’s Day)
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day and the Friday immediately after Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
each full-time employee accrues two personal days annually; all of each employee’s personal time is made available for use as of January 1. Part-time employees accrue personal days on a pro rata basis.
Should an employee suffer a death in their family, the employee will receive 3 days off with full pay.
Twelve weeks of paid leave, paid at the employee’s normal rate, are available to full-time regular employees upon the birth or adoption of a child.
Attorney candidates who are studying to take the bar exam may choose to work half time, and the balance of time spent studying will be considered time worked, thereby qualifying the candidate for a full paycheck. Alternatively, the candidate may choose to be out of the office completely during the period before the bar exam, in which case ILS will recognize half time worked, and the employee will be paid half time until taking the bar exam.
ILS will consider similar arrangements for other professionals addressing licensing or similar examinations, such as paralegals, social workers, and IT and HR professionals. The number of days provided for this study may not be the same as for bar study, depending on circumstances such as length and complexity of the test and recommended preparation time.
ILS provides additional leave for qualifying circumstances, including qualifying military service, FMLA, education leave, witness duty, and jury duty.
There is no waiting period for medical coverage. Coverage will begin on an employee’s first day of employment.
To qualify for benefits an employee must work 20.25 hours or more per week (54% FTE).
Health insurance coverage is available to benefit eligible employees. Health insurance is provided at a cost to employees and is subsidized by ILS.
Coverage Type: Core Buy-Up High-Deductible (w/HSA) Plan
Employee Only: $140.23 $160.63 $48.08
Employee +Spouse: $315.59 $358.43 $177.08
Employee + Child(ren): $239.07 $275.79 $113.20
Employee + Family: $419.06 $478.22 $246.83
ILS provides benefit eligible employees with dental insurance for themselves and qualifying dependents at no cost.
ILS provides benefit eligible employees with dental insurance for themselves and qualifying dependents at no cost.
Employees participating in the High Deductible Health Plan can elect to setup a pre-tax account through Financial Center Credit Union to pay for qualified medical expenses. The employee election amount will be withheld from their checks on a pre-tax basis. Account funds roll-over from year to year.
ILS provides a starting contribution to employee HSA accounts in the amount of $250 (single); $375 (employee + spouse/domestic partner or employee + child(ren)); or $500 (employee + family).
Employees can elect a FSA which is a pre-tax account through iSolved to receive reimbursement for qualified medical expenses. The employee election amount will be withheld from their checks on a pre-tax basis, but the full annual election amount is available at the beginning of the plan year. Account funds must be used by December 31 st and do not roll-over from year to year (see plan details for rollover limits).
Benefit eligible employees may elect HRA coverage, which provides up to $1950 of reimbursement for qualified medical expenses within the annual enrollment period. Employees must pay $100 towards the qualified expense prior to receiving reimbursement. ILS provides this benefit at no cost to the employee.
Basic Life and AD&D Insurance – ILS provides full-time employees with basic life & AD&D through Standard. Basic life is 1x the employee’s annual salary.
ILS provides benefit eligible employees working a minimum of 30 hours per week basic dependent life insurance, if it has been elected by the employee. Dependent Life Insurance provides a spouse benefit of $5000 and a child(ren) benefit of $2500.
Additional employee and dependent life insurance can be elected by enrolling in voluntary life benefits.
Voluntary life insurance can be purchased by all benefit eligible employees. Voluntary life insurance is available through UNUM and is paid for in full by the electing employee. Voluntary life insurance can be elected for the employee, a spouse, or child(ren).
Short-term disability insurance is provided by ILS to all benefit eligible employees at no additional cost. Short-term disability provides financial support for up to 60% of an employee’s wages when they are experiencing a qualifying event.
Long-term disability insurance is provided by ILS to all benefit eligible employees at no additional cost. Long-term disability provides financial support for up to 60% of an employee’s wages when they are experiencing a qualifying event.
Access for you, your spouse or domestic partner, dependent children, parents, and parent-in-laws to an employee assistance program through UNUM is provided by Indiana Legal Services at no cost for all employees. The EAP provides 3 free in-person counseling appointments, unlimited telephonic support available 24/7, and access to an online resource database.
Access to an employee travel assistance program through UNUM is provided at no cost for all employees. Travel Assistance can provide emergency help for the following areas:
- Help replacing lost prescriptions and passports
- Referrals to Western-trained, English-speaking medical providers
- Hospital admission assistance
- Emergency medical evaluation
- Transportation for a friend or family member to join a hospitalized patient
- Care and transport of unattended minor children
- Legal and interpreter referrals
Staff may record up to four hours (prorated based on FTE status) per month for wellness activities, participation in events organized by the wellness committee, other wellness activities organized within offices or projects, individual wellness activities, or any combination of these.
Benefit eligible employees can elect a DCFSA which is used to pay for childcare or adult dependent care expenses that are necessary to allow you and your spouse, if married, to work, look for work or attend school full-time.
ILS contributes to a 401(K) retirement plan for eligible employees beginning upon the first day of the month following 3 months of employment. ILS contributes 1% of the employee’s pay. ILS also matches the employee’s contribution to the 401(K) plan at a rate of 50% of the employee’s contribution up to a total of an additional 2% of the employee’s pay.
ILS reimburses eligible employees for minimum required student loan payments (all, not just law school), with an annual cap starting at $3000 and increasing to $5250 depending on years of tenure at ILS. This reimbursement is tax-free to the employee. This program is designed to dovetail with income-based repayment and public service loan forgiveness (PSLF). Several ILS employees in this program have qualified for forgiveness of 100% of the remaining balance after 10 years under PSLF.
ILS will pay dues for members in professional organization and Indiana bar registration fees for attorneys up to a combined annual limit of $500.00. Employees may also apply this payment amount for an Indiana Lawyer electronic subscription at a group rate. ILS will pay dues for members in professional organization for paralegals and support staff up to an annual limit of $150.00.
ILS offers an excellent fringe benefits package including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, Rx), disability insurance, life insurance, a 401(k) plan, and a flex benefit plan.
If you are attracted to a mission driven organization committed to providing holistic civil legal assistance for low-income people, Indiana Legal Services is the place for you!
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