The National Homelessness Law Center (Law Center) seeks a strategic, collaborative, mission-driven thought partner to serve as our Managing Attorney. The Law Center serves as the legal arm of the national movement to end homelessness and is looking for a Managing Attorney compelled by the national housing crisis and energized by our vision of housing as a human right and dismantling structural racism as we seek to end homelessness.
ABOUT THE LAW CENTER
Founded in 1989, the Law Center fearlessly advances federal, state, and local policies to prevent and end homelessness, while fiercely defending the rights of all unhoused persons. Our work has put unhoused children back in school, won new resources for affordable housing, prevented homelessness for renters, overturned laws that criminalize homelessness, and built support for the human right to housing. We play a critical role in protecting, defending, and promoting the rights of unhoused persons to ensure they can lead national, state, and local efforts to end homelessness.
Our core conviction is that no one should have to go without safe, affordable housing, especially in a country as wealthy as ours. The Law Center’s work, in partnership with national, state, and local partners, is critical now more than ever as the eviction and affordable housing crises, exacerbated by the pandemic, push record numbers of people and families into homelessness. People of color, people living with disabilities, women, children, the elderly, victims of interpersonal violence, and members of the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately and uniquely affected by homelessness, and our work consciously and affirmatively seeks to address these interrelated inequities. In April 2021, the Law Center welcomed its second Executive Director, Antonia Fasanelli, a national leader recognized for her expertise in housing and homelessness law and policy. The Law Center elevates the power and voices of persons with lived expertise in working toward systems change.
We are proud of our high-quality and committed team of 14 staff persons and our large corps of volunteer attorneys. Although headquartered in Washington, DC, Law Center staff live and work across the country. The Law Center’s budget for 2025 is $2.3 million. The Law Center is financially sound and maintains a reserve. For more information on our work, explore our website at www.homelesslaw.org
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF POSITION The Managing Attorney will assist the Law and Policy Team in maximizing the impact, and ensuring the smooth and efficient functioning, of the legal and policy advocacy work of the Law Center. The Managing Attorney will maintain a portfolio of the Law Center’s housing justice work in fair housing and has the option to assist with litigation, organizing, and/or policy matters in the decriminalization, youth and human rights areas.
This is a full-time, exempt role that reports to the Executive Director and is on the organization’s Management Team (non-Bargaining Unit). The person in this role directly supervises 3 Program Directors (Decriminalization Director, Senior Policy Director and Youth Homelessness Director). These three Directors supervise 3 attorneys and 1 support staff member, as well as contractors.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Administrative Management (include 70%)
- Serve as day-to-day administrative and personnel manager of Law Center’s legal & policy staff and help foster an inclusive, collaborative, and supportive work environment;
- Support and coach attorney supervisors (Program Directors) to excel in carrying out their management responsibilities. (Supervision of attorneys is not anticipated to include authority over case selection or require regular review of legal work product, unless necessary.);l
- Identify and pursue ways to improve efficiency in work and information flow within the Law Center, both within the Law and Policy staff and within the Law Center as a whole about Law and Policy matters;
- Oversee coordination of grant management activities among attorneys and liaise with development staff regarding grant management, including facilitating timely and accurate reporting to grant funders;
- Draft outreach materials highlighting the law firm’s case docket and litigation victories for external attorney audiences;
- Oversee coordination of communication activities among attorneys with communication staff;
- Work closely with Executive Director and other Directors in development of annual budget for law and policy work and work to contain costs within the law firm in a manner that is consistent with any strategic plan and/or programmatic objectives;
- Work closely with the Pro Bono Coordinator in identification of pro bono needs within the Law and Policy Team;
- Monitor legal resource allocation within the law firm.
- Assist the Operations Director and/or Executive Director in resource allocation decisions in light of strategic and/or programmatic objectives including approval of legal staff travel;
- Oversee acquisition of legal resources for the law firm, including library and online research resources in consultation with the Operations Director;
- Oversee and manage the recruitment, hiring, orientation, and professional development of all legal and legal support staff in consultation with the Operations Director (final decisions regarding staff hiring rests with the Executive Director);
- Implement the performance review process for legal and policy staff and legal support staff in coordination with the Executive Director and other Directors;
- Oversee the case and policy matter intake and acceptance processes;
- Oversee the use and implementation of Legal Server;
- Identify and implement systems to ensure best practices within the law firm, including with respect to retainer agreements, co-counsel agreements, and compliance with professional ethics.
Housing Justice and other Work (include 30%)
- Lead the Law Center’s litigation and policy advocacy efforts around prohibiting and enforcing source of income anti-discrimination laws;
- Foster and serve the Law Center’s efforts to advance housing justice through local, state, and federal policy efforts, providing technical assistance, including litigation, if necessary, and growing its collaboration with local grassroots, policy, and legal advocates, including the National Coalition for Housing Justice, state and local housing coalitions and tenant organizing networks;
- Support other Law Center litigation, organizing, or policy strategies as you choose.
QUALIFICATIONS
- You have a J.D. and are an attorney admitted and in good standing in at least 1 US jurisdiction.
- You have at least 10 years of attorney experience with relevant policy or litigation experience with at least 5 years of civil litigation experience and 4 years of experience in policy or litigation in housing.
- You have experience working with directly impacted individuals and grassroots organizations on litigation and/or policy advocacy efforts.
- You have experience managing staff in a nonprofit law practice. Preference given to candidates who have either managed a nonprofit law practice itself and/or managed in a unionized nonprofit.
- You have experience making budget proposals and managing budget expenditures.
- You have experience engaging with foundation funders and individual and corporate/law firm donors;
- You have an understanding of international human rights frameworks and share our belief that all human beings have the right to a basic standard of living that includes safe, affordable housing, healthcare, and freedom from discrimination and cruelty.
- You write clearly and accessibly and have experience editing others' writing.
- You enjoy multi-tasking and thrive in a collaborative and fast-paced work environment.
- You have flexibility for occasional travel (e.g. 2 times per year if within the DC metro area, or 4 times if outside the DC metro area).
WHO YOU ARE
- You are a strong manager. You set clear expectations, create supportive and inclusive work environments and are able to engage in difficult conversations when appropriate.
- You support unions/unionized workplaces.
- You follow through on tasks until completion.
- You enjoy taking initiative, and you think strategically and creatively.
- You manage your time, stay organized to meet deadlines and support your supervisees in doing the same.
- You thrive in a fast-paced, team-centric environment and are a self-starter.
- You are a successful collaborator across teams, with leadership, volunteers, and external partners.
- You have strong relationship-based competencies (communication, empathy, conflict resolution, collaboration, trust building).
- You handle sensitive information with confidentiality.
- You give and receive constructive feedback, are willing to learn, and ask for help when needed.
- You have a positive, problem-solving attitude.
- You thrive in a values-aligned organization.
- You have a justice-oriented understanding for how race and power impact relationships, organizational culture and partnerships. You are committed to personal and professional practice around deepening this understanding, through continuous learning, reflection and growth.
- You have a strong commitment to social justice and the values and mission of the Law Center, viewing homelessness through a structural and anti-racist lens; the Law Center also encourages those with lived expertise of homelessness or housing instability to apply.
SALARY AND LOCATION
Salary: To ensure equitable compensation, the Law Center uses labor market benchmarking as the basis for establishing the salaries of employees across all roles at the organization. Aligned with this practice and in support of upholding internal equity, we do not negotiate salaries above the stated range. The salary range for this position is $130,000 to $150,000.
Location: The Law Center’s headquarters is in Washington, DC. This position may work remotely with occasional travel to Washington, DC and other areas of the Law Center’s work (e.g. 2 times per year if you are within the DC metro area, or 4 times per year if outside the DC metro area).
