The Bronx Defenders (BxD) – an innovative, progressive, holistic indigent defense office in the South Bronx – seeks a passionate housing attorney.

Founded in 1997, The Bronx Defenders is a public defender nonprofit that has developed a nationally recognized model of representation called holistic defense, which provides people with teams of lawyers, social workers, and advocates to defend them zealously in court as well as to address the underlying drivers and enmeshed penalties of legal system involvement. 

Since opening our doors, we have grown into an organization of more than 400 staff members defending nearly 20,000 New Yorkers each year in criminal, family, civil, and immigration proceedings who face incarceration, family separation, eviction, and deportation, among other devastating consequences. 

Today we are reimagining the role of public defense even further, using community organizing and engagement, legislative advocacy, and impact litigation to partner with the communities we represent to bring about long-lasting systemic change. 

We also share our model and lessons learned with current and future public defenders, run two legal clinics at NYC law schools and train public defenders throughout the country on how to move to a holistic model of representation. 

CIVIL ACTION

A sweeping array of civil punishments are triggered the moment someone faces arrest, deportation, or family separation. The people we represent risk losing their jobs, homes, income, property, and basic civil rights – struggles that can be more devastating and long-lasting than the charges themselves. Last year, we helped 2,200 people obtain concrete benefits like maintaining their jobs, homes, income, property, and rights.

Civil Holistic Defense Team 

Our goal is to minimize the severe and often unforeseen fallout from criminal, family and immigration court proceedings and facilitate the seamless reintegration of the people we represent into the community. Our Civil Action Practice attorneys, advocates and social workers represent and advocate for impacted people in every forum in New York City – administrative, state, and federal – to address these problems. Our civil staff provide comprehensive representation to assist in overcoming civil legal barriers to housing, eviction, employment, and public benefits, as well as addressing instances of police misconduct, criminal record errors, and civil forfeiture.  

Housing Justice and the Right to Counsel Team 

Recognizing the challenges to accessing affordable, quality and safe housing in New York City, The Bronx Defenders has a team exclusively dedicated to providing tenants at risk of losing their homes with defense attorneys for their Housing Court cases. Our Housing Team was developed in response to the 2017 New York City Right-to-Counsel Law, which provides tenants facing eviction in Housing Court and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) administrative proceedings with access to free legal representation.  We are one of seven institutional providers effectuating the Right to Counsel in Housing and have dedicated attorneys and advocates on a housing team serving and representing tenants in the community and in Housing Court. 

COMMUNITY INTAKE AND BENEFITS

The Community Intake team and Benefits advisors offer in-person meetings and hotline services with attorneys and non-attorney advocates to assess people’s needs and provide meaningful referrals and support. This proactive advocacy team has reached thousands of Bronx residents and, alongside the Early Defense team, helps identify and address legal issues before they become legal cases.

• Engage in intensive client interviewing, counseling, research, writing, oral advocacy, and negotiations as part of legal representation
• Staff our community intake to assist with and represent community members with housing legal issues, advise people of their options, and make referrals to other organizations for services we do not provide
• Manage our housing hotline to address housing inquiries presented by the community
• Collaborate with our Benefits Access team, Right to Counsel team and other BxD colleagues to address the housing needs of community members
• Identify holistic needs, make referrals, and work with attorneys and advocates to address and mitigate the enmeshed consequences of legal system involvement
• Represent, advise, counsel and advocate for individuals in eviction proceedings, Housing Part (HP) actions, Illegal Lockout proceedings and other housing matters and fora, including appeals, for housing advocacy and services
• Develop, staff and lead community clinics to address housing needs
• Develop and maintain fact sheets and informational materials for pro se and community litigants
• Work with our community engagement team and community partners and tenant organizers, including the Bronx Leadership & Organizing Center (BLOC) to create community events and clinics
• Effectively litigate, confidently negotiate and skillfully advocate with adversaries
• Co-counsel cases in other venues, including Criminal, Family, Immigration Court and Administrative Hearings, when necessary
• Lead and assist with external and internal trainings and presentations on housing law and policy
• Participate in coalition and collaborative meetings within The Bronx Defenders and with stakeholders, community-based organizations and government agencies to address housing needs
• Collaborate with members of the community intake team to develop and improve the team's intake protocols
• Maintain client case information and data in BxD’s case management system  

We are specifically seeking candidates with Spanish language skills and/or those from racially/ethnically marginalized communities disproportionately impacted by systemic injustice to deliver effective, culturally conscious client representation.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Be licensed to practice law in New York or be eligible to become licensed to practice in New York
• Have at least one year of housing law experience or relevant experience
• Have Spanish language proficiency

Candidates must demonstrate: 

• Commitment to directly defending people with limited financial resources placed in removal proceedings or facing immigration consequences based on contact with the family and/or criminal legal system 
• Experience working in and with racially, ethnically and socioeconomically marginalized communities 
• Ability to effectively and respectfully communicate, collaborate and connect with people with various backgrounds, identities and experiences 
• Ability to work well independently as well as collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team of lawyers and non-lawyers
• Commitment to fierce advocacy, and willingness to strategically challenge authority in defense of the people we represent
• Effective research, writing and courtroom advocacy skills
• Strong analytical skills and capacity to employ non-legal resources in cases
• Ability to multitask, maintain order and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment 
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to think critically and creatively in fast-paced settings, finding innovative solutions to unique obstacles
• Ability to receive constructive feedback, demonstrate introspection and shift behavior accordingly
• Ability to exercise excellent judgment, discretion, and confidentiality with sensitive matters

This is an in-person position subject to the organization’s hybrid work policies. 

Salary is commensurate with experience. For candidates with 2-5 years of directly relevant experience, the salary range for this position is approximately $86,833-$94,554. Full-time employees are also eligible for a comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to medical, dental and vision coverage; a 403(b) plan with employer contribution; a generous vacation, sick leave, and parental leave policy.  

Approximately 70% of The Bronx Defenders' staff, including attorneys and non-attorneys, are represented by UAW Local 2325 - Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (AFL-CIO). This position is within the bargaining unit. 

This position is exempt. By law, non-exempt employees are compensated hourly based on their annual rate and therefore are entitled to over-time, whereas exempt employees are not. 

To apply, please click APPLY TO THIS JOB ONLINE and upload your resume and cover letter in one document. Your cover letter should share why you want to do this work at our office, as well as some key lived and/or professional experiences that have prepared you for this position. Your resume will be used to determine your salary based on the number of years of directly relevant professional experience and should include all relevant professional experience. Applications without a written cover letter will not be considered.  

The Bronx Defenders is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to maintaining a workplace that embraces staff with a diversity of backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We acknowledge the ways in which systemic oppression and injustice can undermine access to professional opportunities and are committed to conducting hiring and promotion processes that are equitable and accessible to those commonly excluded from the workforce. We do not discriminate against and in fact specifically encourage applicants from marginalized communities to apply, including those who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, disabled, neurodivergent, and those directly impacted by criminal, civil, family, and immigration legal systems. We value lived as well as professional experience and particularly welcome applications from the Bronx community that we serve.