Housing Attorney

Overview

Position Description:

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.

Responsibilities

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