OLC is a legal services program committed to achieving justice for the low-income communities of Oregon by providing a full range of the highest quality civil legal services. OLC operates eleven offices around the state. It has a litigation support unit, legislative advocacy unit, and statewide farmworker program.
OLC strives to create a supportive work culture enriched by values of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for all staff. Our commitment to advancing DEI work is deeply connected to our ability to achieve client-oriented advocacy and access to justice for low-income communities. The diversity of our staff is a strength and an asset to our organization that helps reflect and effectively advocate for low-income client communities of diverse backgrounds.
OLC’s Woodburn Farmworker office comprises four attorneys (including one supervising attorney) and one paralegal, as part of a larger Farmworker Program. The Farmworker Program sets priorities according to client need; current priorities include employment, occupational safety and health, housing, and civil rights. Most of our clients speak Spanish or one of the indigenous languages native to Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Triqui, Zapoteco, Mam, and Akateco. They experience a wide variety of legal problems, including unpaid wages, inadequate housing, unsafe work conditions including excessive heat, hazardous chemicals, violence, and sexual harassment. The most common form of discrimination they face is retaliation for asserting their legal protections.
Position: Oregon Law Center (OLC) seeks a staff attorney to provide civil legal services to low-income individuals on employment and employment-related housing, health and safety, and civil rights, matters. The position is based in Woodburn, Oregon and serves farmworkers statewide. Woodburn is located in the heart of the Willamette Valley between Salem and Portland and has a rich history of farmworker movements, from the labor movement, to the development of off-farm community housing, to community health, and more.
Responsibilities: The staff attorney will handle all phases of litigation in state and federal courts including intake, investigation, filing complaints, engaging in discovery, making, and defending dispositive motions, alternative dispute resolution, and trial. There will be a significant emphasis on impact work that affects large numbers of farmworkers, such as class actions. The staff attorney will meet, investigate, and interview farmworkers on assigned cases, sometimes outside of normal business hours, as well as engage in intensive community outreach and education together with OLC’s community educators involving educational presentations to farmworkers and community-based groups. Attorneys in the Farmworker Program work some irregular hours, with some travel during the daytime and occasionally overnight, and some outreach to clients in the evenings.
Salary/Benefits: The salary scale ranges from $65,500 to $102,500 and placement on the scale is determined by years of relevant experience. Additional compensation for bilingual ability. Competitive benefits package includes individual and family health, vision and dental insurance coverage, employer retirement contribution, generous paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave, paid moving expenses and bar study leave, among others.
• Admission to Oregon Bar.
• Demonstrated proficiency in spoken and written Spanish.
• Desire and ability to work successfully as part of a team.
• Demonstrated commitment to justice for low-income communities.
• A high degree of initiative and ability to manage a litigation caseload.
• Commitment to developing litigation and other advocacy skills.
• Excellent written and verbal advocacy skills.
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• Willingness to work irregular hours to meet the needs of clients.
• Proficient use of Microsoft Office Suite (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), Adobe, and web-based video
conferencing and learning platforms (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams).
• Demonstrated ability to take direction and guidance from low-income clients and their self-identified priorities and
work for solutions within the legal process.
Preferences:
• Experience representing low-income clients, especially farmworkers.
• Experience with complex, impact litigation.
Apply by August 10, 2024. To apply, please submit your resume, cover letter, a description of your Spanish proficiency, and list of three references to Julie Samples, Managing Attorney, Gresham and Woodburn Farmworker Offices, [email protected].
As part of your cover letter, please address the following:
OLC is committed to achieving justice for the low-income communities of Oregon. Our client communities include people of color, farmworkers, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, seniors, people with lived experiences of homelessness, veterans, people with disabilities, and people from other underrepresented groups. It is essential to our work to serve clients that we also work to create an inclusive and respectful workplace in which differences are acknowledged and valued.
How do you think your personal background or experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to:
(1) serve our diverse client communities effectively,
(2) work effectively with colleagues from backgrounds different than your own,
(3) acknowledge the systemic barriers that our clients and some colleagues face, and
(4) contribute to our efforts to achieve racial justice?
Feel free to provide examples and apply various aspects of your life and personal experiences, as you respond to this question.