Staff Attorney/Clinical Supervisor - Education Justice Clinic

THE ORGANIZATION

East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) is a non-profit legal services organization, the community-based clinical program for U.C. Berkeley Law School, and one of the Bay Area’s largest and most effective systems disrupters. With a dual service and teaching mission, EBCLC is a racial justice organization committed to building a culturally diverse workplace, centered on equity. With about 80 staff, 150 law students a year, and a $10 million annual budget, EBCLC is the largest provider of free legal services in Alameda County, providing multimodal, collaborative, and holistic legal services to over 5,000 clients annually and engaging in legislative and policy advocacy at the state and local level.

EBCLC’s Education Defense and Justice for Youth (EDJY) Program, the umbrella program for the Youth Defender Clinic (YDC) and Education Justice Clinic (EJC), provides holistic legal representation to youth in Alameda County, CA. EDJY’s mission is to disrupt the “school-to-prison pipeline” by challenging the marginalization and criminalization of young people in their schools and communities. The team strives to uplift the voices and rights of young people – particularly young people of color – through holistic legal representation in Alameda County, local and statewide policy advocacy, and community engagement.

THE POSITION

The EJC Staff Attorney/Clinical Supervisor will represent Alameda County youth clients in special education and school discipline proceedings, provide education advocacy for clients in juvenile court, as well as supervise and train law students on these cases. The Staff Attorney/Clinical Supervisor will also engage in local and state systems change work, through the lens of community lawyering.

The EJC Staff Attorney will also be a Clinical Supervisor at EBCLC. A Clinical Supervisor position at EBCLC is unique from other similarly situated legal aid attorney positions since, in addition to working directly with clients, the Staff Attorney will co-teach a law school seminar, supervise law students, and receive a partial appointment as a UC Berkeley Lecturer.

The ideal candidate will have a commitment to pursuing racial justice and community healing, an eagerness to engage in bold, creative thinking, and an enthusiasm for interdisciplinary advocacy in which the lawyer does not always lead.

Primary Responsibilities

· Represent system-involved young people in expulsions and expulsion appeals, Individualized Education Program (IEP) and Section 504 matters, and district and state administrative complaints

· Teach, train, and supervise clinical law students, including co-teaching Berkeley Law seminars and developing EDJY’s training curriculum

· Advocate for clients in juvenile court

· Collaborate with community partners and statewide coalitions to confront school push-out practices, school policing, and the school-prison nexus more broadly

· Complete administrative tasks, such as those related to case management

· Additional tasks as assigned by the EDJY Program Co-Director

Minimum Qualifications

· J.D. degree and admission to the California Bar by the position start date

· Professional or personal experience in advocacy to advance the rights of historically marginalized communities. Experience may include legal advocacy, organizing, and/or lived experience

· Strong written advocacy skills

· Ability to travel to visit clients, attend court and school meetings, and engage with the community in person throughout Alameda County

· Ability to work in person in the EBCLC office, located at 2001 Center St., Berkeley

Preferred Qualifications

· Spanish language fluency

· Experience in education justice advocacy

· Personal experience with the juvenile legal system, school discipline, or special education

· Excellent time management, priority-setting, and organizational skills

· Experience working with both lawyers and non-lawyers in a professional setting

Salary and Benefits

The starting salary for this full-time exempt position is $81,000 - $102,000 based on the applicant’s law school graduation date, as dictated by the EBCLC salary scale. This is a bargaining unit position.

Benefits include fully paid health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) for employees and their dependents, life and disability insurance, and generous paid leave (vacation, sick, and holidays); EBCLC also offers flexible spending accounts for qualified health, dependent care, and commute expenditures; and retirement options.

Workplace Expectations

EBCLC is a hybrid workplace. The Staff Attorney/Clinical Supervisor will need to attend in-person client appointments, court proceedings, and team meetings, and/or engage in in-person fieldwork to support our clients. Your supervisor will review EBCLC’s Office Use Protocol with you, which outlines the safety protocols employees are expected to follow when using the office.

Application Procedures

Interested applicants should submit a complete application – resume, cover letter, 5-7 page writing sample, and 3 professional references –https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/Details/2036864/East-Ba....

The position will remain open until filled. EBCLC will review applications and interview candidates on a rolling basis and will only review complete applications.

*If you need technical assistance to submit your application, please message us or email [email protected]. Please contact Atasi Uppal, [email protected], with any questions about the position.

Working at EBCLC

EBCLC is a unionized workplace and members of the bargaining unit are represented by the Engineers and Scientists of California Local 20, IFPTE.

Additionally, EBCLC is committed to building a culturally diverse workplace centered on equity and providing an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients. We strongly encourage individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply. EBCLC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior contact with the criminal or juvenile legal system, or any other basis prohibited by law.