Staff Attorney- Quality Legal Representation, Dearborn, MI

Position Description

Organization Overview: Lakeshore Legal Aid serves low-income people, seniors, and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in a holistic manner to address clients’ legal issues and improve our communities. Lakeshore provides free direct legal representation in southeast Michigan and the thumb and client intake, advice, and brief legal services throughout Michigan via our attorney-staffed hotline. Our practice areas include housing, family, consumer, elder, education, and public benefits law.

Position Overview

Lakeshore Legal Aid is seeking dedicated lawyers who will provide quality legal representation to families at risk of child removal in the Juvenile Division of Third Circuit Court. Staff attorneys will be responsible for representing clients in a holistic manner to achieve clients’ goals through advocacy including litigation. In addition to individual client representation, staff attorneys are expected to be active in the community through participation in outreach and community organizations. Staff attorneys will treat clients, co-workers, and others with dignity and respect.

General Task Areas

• Provide timely civil legal services to low-income and senior clients and client groups through representation in trial courts, appellate courts and other forums, through litigation, advice, negotiation, drafting and review of legal documents, referrals and administrative advocacy.
• Serve the clients in a holistic and client centered manner and engage in community lawyering through a racial justice lens.
• Develop an expertise in one or more areas of law, if required.
• Promote and maintain civil and professional relationships with coworkers, clients, members of the judicial system, and members of the public with whom they have contact, treating all with dignity and respect.
• Maintain currency of legal developments in poverty law.
• Communicate and establish contacts with court, community agencies, local and state bar associations, and local client group as appropriate. Act as a resource to such groups when appropriate.
• Create and/or deliver presentations to community groups on legal services related topics.
• Develop continuing expertise to handle increasingly more complex litigation or other projects.
• Follow Lakeshore Legal Aid policies particularly as they relate to file maintenance, case handling, document production, storage, report preparation, and time keeping.
• Perform other work-related duties as assigned by the supervising attorney, a director, CEO, or a CEO designee.