Staff Attorney – Consumer Protection Team

Position Summary

Ability to maintain a heavy caseload, which may include interviewing prospective clients, analyzing their legal problems, rendering legal advice, negotiation with opposing parties and agencies, preparing and submitting documents for clients, representing clients in various phases of litigation, engaging in community outreach and education, developing impact litigation, and finding solutions to broader client problems through litigation, policy development, or other strategies.

About the Organization

Legal Aid Society of San Diego (LASSD), the largest poverty law firm serving San Diego County since 1953, strengthens our communities by redressing our clients’ legal problems, empowering our clients to access and effectively participate within the legal, governmental, and social systems and encouraging self-empowerment in the fight against poverty and injustice. LASSD continues to be a proud, committed, and compassionate group of people dedicated to providing equal access to justice for San Diegans through aggressive, quality legal services. #justicebeginshere

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Interviewing prospective clients, rendering legal advice, and developing case strategy.

• Representing clients in all phases of litigation, including research, investigation, drafting pleadings, discovery, law and motion, trial, and appeal, with a focus on consumer debt-related work, such as debt collection defense for issues such as credit card debt, medical debt, auto loan deficiencies, and identity theft; preparing bankruptcy petitions; and, filing affirmative cases for violations of consumer protection statutes such as the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

• Running a weekly debt collection defense clinic under the supervision of the Managing Attorney and Supervising Attorney.

• Handling an increasingly complex caseload.

• Attending and engaging in community outreach and education and developing positive relationships with the client community.

• Developing good working relationships with the court, administrative agency personnel, and opposing counsel.

• Assisting in the training and supervision of advocates, support staff, and volunteers as appropriate.

• Complying with all program and grant requirements, including but not limited to maintaining data, records, and case files in compliance with funder requirements.

• Timely and accurately completing administrative tasks, including timekeeping and timesheets.

• Collaborating with other teams and outside organizations to provide holistic services.

• Developing creative methods, litigious and non-litigious, for dealing with recurring client problems.

• Staying up to date on substantive developments in the consumer protection field.

• Other duties as assigned by Managing Attorneys, Supervising Attorneys, and/or Executive Management.

Requirements

Qualifications:

• Admitted and in good standing with the State Bar of California.

• Demonstrated written and oral communication skills.

• Ability to work independently as well as support team efforts, and to strategize and plan so as to timely and consistently meet grant deliverables and reporting requirements.

• Must have reliable transportation.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Admitted and in good standing with the Federal Bar.

• Knowledge or experience in the field of consumer protection law.

• Experience in civil litigation.

• Fluency in written and spoken Spanish, or another language, preferred.

• Excellent Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint skills.

• Demonstrated commitment to serving low-income people.

• Ability and desire to work successfully with people from diverse backgrounds.

Salary and Benefits:

The Staff Attorney position is an exempt position with an annual salary range of $75,000 – $112,500. The starting pay rate is $75,000. In addition, there is a bilingual pay increase of 2% for passing an oral test and 2% for passing a written test for threshold languages other than English.

LASSD offers a generous benefits package, a 35-hour workweek, paid vacation leave and sick leave and 100% employer-paid medical premium, 50% employer-paid premium for dependents under LASSD health plan, as well as dental, vision, and life benefits. Staff also have the option to participate in a 403(b)-retirement plan and dependent and health flex savings accounts (FSA). LASSD has its own law school loan repayment program and is an eligible nonprofit employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.

LASSD is an equal opportunity employer, we hire without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, marital status, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, age (40 years and over), sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status, domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.

Hybrid Work Environment:

Legal Aid Society of San Diego (“LASSD”) has adopted a hybrid work environment in which most staff are required to work in the office part of the week and permitted to work remotely for the remainder of the week, provided their job duties allow. All employees are issued LASSD computers and provided with appropriate supplies to perform their work. LASSD has implemented and continues to explore additional technologies to make our hybrid working environment as efficient and connected as possible. All employees must be available to travel to LASSD offices and service locations throughout San Diego County as needed and in compliance with public health advisories. Applicants must reside in or near San Diego County or plan to relocate in or near the County prior to their start date and must be able to commute to the physical Legal Aid Society of San Diego office locations or service delivery locations within San Diego County. LASSD’s normal business hours are 9am-5pm, but we are open to providing flexible work schedules to the extent feasible for the position. LASSD reserves the right to change these policies at any time.

Diversity and Inclusion:

It is vitally important to LASSD that we represent the community that we serve. LASSD is a signatory to the San Diego County Bar Association’s Diversity Pledge. We pledge to promote diversity and inclusion through hiring and retention, promotion and leadership, engagement of outside counsel, and participation in legal community diversity initiatives. We strongly encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply.