Description:
Position Summary:The UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative (LPPI) seeks an emerging legal advocate to serve as a staff attorney for the UCLA Voting Rights Project. The UCLA Voting Rights Project is the flagship project of LPPI and works to ensure an accessible and equitable system of voting for all Americans through impact litigation, research, and clinical education to expand access to the ballot box. Reporting to the Legal Director, the staff attorney will play a critical role in the Voting Rights Project, developing and litigating high-impact cases, managing an ongoing docket of cases and matters, and working with other departments to accomplish organizational goals. The Staff Attorney will be responsible for: Develop and engaging in impact litigation in the federal and state courts, including conducting pre-litigation legal research and legal analysis, conducting factual investigations and witness interviews, preparing litigation strategy memoranda, preparing pleadings, and being involved in other stages of litigation. Supervise paralegals, legal fellows, interns, and volunteers. Collaborate with LPPI colleagues to implement integrated advocacy efforts drawing on a mix of legal, research, communications, and legislative advocacy functions, and serve as a resource on legal matters to colleagues. Draft and/or coordinate amicus briefs in cases of constitutional significance, both in federal and state courts. Assist in developing communication materials, including press releases, op-eds, articles, blog posts, and social media assets. Assist with fundraising and development pitches, drafting and submission of grant proposals and reports, and other tasks needed to promote the organization and its mission. Develop equitable and reciprocal relationships with scholars, external community-based organizations, other lawyers and law firms, and elected officials.
Qualifications:
- 2 Years At least 2 years of trial and/or appellate litigation experience in federal or state courts, or, in the alternative, one year or more of judicial clerkship experience. (Required)
- Experience representing individuals, organizations or governmental units. (Preferred)
- Experience in drafting high quality legal briefs and memoranda, conducting legal research. (Required)
- Interpersonal skills and ability to maintain cooperative relationships and ongoing communications with persons of diverse social, educational, and cultural backgrounds. (Required)
- Ability to travel locally, nationally and internationally. Willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends. (Preferred)
- Excellent command of Spanish-- highly proficient in spoken and written Spanish. (Preferred)
- Ability to manage time and workload effectively and complete assignments promptly amid conflicting demands, multiple deadlines, competing requirements, and changing priorities. (Required)
- Highly organized with strong skills in using project management tools to compile information in the most efficient and informative, manage project tasks, and track progress and information. (Required)
- Ability to both take direction and work independently with minimal direction,making independent decisions, establishing priorities, and following through on assignments. (Required)
- Skilled at working as part of a team and collaborating with other individuals on a variety of levels. (Required)
- Working knowledge of online legal research. (Required)
- Working knowledge of web-based collaboration and project management systems, including Google Drive, Google Apps, and Doodle. (Required)
- Working knowledge of social media platforms and social media management systems, especially Twitter and LinkedIn. (Required)
Education, Licenses, Certifications & Personal Affiliations
- Bachelor's Degree Bachelor's degree (Required) And
- Juris Doctor (JD) Degree Juris Doctor in good academic standing from an accredited college or university. (Required) And
- Licensed to practice law in a U.S. state or the District of Columbia. Upon Hire (Required)