Family Defense Practice Custody Staff Attorney
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
Date: 3 weeks ago
City: Bronx, NY
Contract type: Full time
Position Description
The Bronx Defenders (BxD) – an innovative, progressive, holistic indigent defense office in the South Bronx – seeks passionate attorneys with a commitment to public defense to join our Family Defense Practice.
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.
Family Defense Practice
The Bronx Defenders’ Family Defense Practice (FDP) provides legal representation and social work support to parents charged with child abuse and neglect who are at risk of losing custody of their children. Our Family Defense Practice is at the forefront of a movement to provide holistic representation to parents in the Bronx while creating long-term solutions for the reunification and stability of families. Family Defense Practice Attorneys primarily litigate abuse and neglect cases, but occasionally appear in concurrent matters including custody, visitation, and termination of parental rights.
Responsabilities
Responsibilities
Reporting to the Family Defense Practice Custody Supervising Attorney, the Custody Staff Attorney will work with attorneys to assist in the litigation of Family Court Articles 5, 6 and 8 cases including matters of custody, visitation, family offense, guardianship and paternity. The Custody Staff Attorney will be expected to develop an understanding of the relevant law by attending trainings, facilitating trainings, and working with the Training and Legal Departments in order to carry out the following responsibilities:
Zealously represent parents in child protective proceedings in Bronx Family Court and litigate legal matters in any concurrent cases including custody, visitation, paternity, and family offense cases both orally and in writing
Effectively communicate and negotiate with judges, children’s attorneys, and opposing parent attorneys on behalf of the parents we represent
Assist parents in accessing appropriate resources and services to restore or maintain full parental rights
Collaborate with social workers and parent advocates in the Family Defense Practice, as well as attorneys and advocates in the criminal defense, civil action and immigration practices on enmeshed issues that arise in other venues
Collaborate to provide coverage for cases to ensure that all the needs of the people we represent are met
Maintain case files and data in BxD’s case management system
Provide consultation on custody, visitation, paternity, guardianship and family offense issues to both the Family Defense Practice as well as other practice areas
Maintain a system to track the outcomes in custody, visitation, paternity, guardianship, and family offense cases
Maintain in-house resources including, but not limited to, a bank of decisions and orders, research articles, expert lists, sample stipulations, model motions, reply briefs and other materials related to custody cases
Provide mentorship to junior attorneys
Supervise and train interns and externs
Collaborate with the Training Director to facilitate in-house trainings on matters related to custody, visitation, paternity and family offense proceedings
The Bronx Defenders (BxD) – an innovative, progressive, holistic indigent defense office in the South Bronx – seeks passionate attorneys with a commitment to public defense to join our Family Defense Practice.
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.
Family Defense Practice
The Bronx Defenders’ Family Defense Practice (FDP) provides legal representation and social work support to parents charged with child abuse and neglect who are at risk of losing custody of their children. Our Family Defense Practice is at the forefront of a movement to provide holistic representation to parents in the Bronx while creating long-term solutions for the reunification and stability of families. Family Defense Practice Attorneys primarily litigate abuse and neglect cases, but occasionally appear in concurrent matters including custody, visitation, and termination of parental rights.
Responsabilities
Responsibilities
Reporting to the Family Defense Practice Custody Supervising Attorney, the Custody Staff Attorney will work with attorneys to assist in the litigation of Family Court Articles 5, 6 and 8 cases including matters of custody, visitation, family offense, guardianship and paternity. The Custody Staff Attorney will be expected to develop an understanding of the relevant law by attending trainings, facilitating trainings, and working with the Training and Legal Departments in order to carry out the following responsibilities:
Zealously represent parents in child protective proceedings in Bronx Family Court and litigate legal matters in any concurrent cases including custody, visitation, paternity, and family offense cases both orally and in writing
Effectively communicate and negotiate with judges, children’s attorneys, and opposing parent attorneys on behalf of the parents we represent
Assist parents in accessing appropriate resources and services to restore or maintain full parental rights
Collaborate with social workers and parent advocates in the Family Defense Practice, as well as attorneys and advocates in the criminal defense, civil action and immigration practices on enmeshed issues that arise in other venues
Collaborate to provide coverage for cases to ensure that all the needs of the people we represent are met
Maintain case files and data in BxD’s case management system
Provide consultation on custody, visitation, paternity, guardianship and family offense issues to both the Family Defense Practice as well as other practice areas
Maintain a system to track the outcomes in custody, visitation, paternity, guardianship, and family offense cases
Maintain in-house resources including, but not limited to, a bank of decisions and orders, research articles, expert lists, sample stipulations, model motions, reply briefs and other materials related to custody cases
Provide mentorship to junior attorneys
Supervise and train interns and externs
Collaborate with the Training Director to facilitate in-house trainings on matters related to custody, visitation, paternity and family offense proceedings
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