Legal Director

The Legal Director provides leadership to ensure that 603 Legal Aid achieves its overall mission to provide legal representation, advocacy, and education. The Legal Director is responsible for facilitating quality delivery of legal services. The Legal Director leads, manages, and supports legal personnel (attorneys and paralegals) who provide advice and counsel and/or direct client representation and provides legal support to pro bono attorneys. The Legal Director also develops, maintains, and disseminates legal information (e.g., cases, statutes, and regulations) to provide support to legal team and pro bono volunteers. The Legal Director works closely with and reports to the Executive Director.

Detailed Responsibilities:

Leadership:

•    Participates in the Management Team with the Executive Director and Deputy Director and may function as Executive Director designee; 

•    Participates in annual development of 603 Legal Aid’s areas of work;

•    With the Management Team and other staff as appropriate:  establishes program benchmarks and recommends improvements,  develops standards for reporting, accountability, and measuring success; and      makes program development recommendations to the Executive Director;

•    Develops and implements innovative methods that maximize the strength of agency resources and successfully address the mission and grant requirements;

•    With the Management Team, makes innovative recommendations for technology, planning, fiscal and human resource policy to the Executive Director; and

•    Participates in planning and applying for agency fund diversification including supporting

603 Legal Aid grant writing and other fund development activities

Legal Team Management:

•    Day-to-day leadership and oversight of the firm's legal work and team members;

•    Regular leadership and oversight of 603 LA's advocacy work through supervision of attorneys and paralegals;

•    Participates in case reviews; 

•    Engages in occasional legal work on behalf of clients and the agency;

•    Participates and conducts annual job performance reviews and assists with the development of professional development plans with legal team members;

•    Works with the Executive Director to recruit and hire legal team members;

•    Oversees legal training of new team members;

•    Reviews and responds to complaints regarding case services;

•    Assists the Client Intake Supervisor with oversight of our Client Intake team; and

•    Reviews staff timesheets and expense reports of legal team members

Program Development and Evaluation:

•    Provides instrumental quality assurance monitoring of programs;

•    Participates in relevant task forces;

•    Collaborates with partner organizations to develop efficient and effective service delivery models;

•    Develops and edits written practice guides; template motions, and other legal material for internal use and for distribution to and use by pro bono volunteers; and

•    Reviews and updates legal information available to the public on our website

Community Involvement and Systemic Advocacy:

•    Participates in local, state, and boards, committees, etc. to address identified program issues and concerns;

•    Cultivates and maintains collaborative working relationships with other agencies and organizations in civil legal aid;

•    Participates in projects that address systemic issues;

•    Assists with planning staff development activities and participates in professional development;

•    Collaborates with the Management Team as needed to develop content for newsletter articles, social media, annual report, and other publications as well as live and recorded video and audio content; and

•    Performs related tasks consistent with skills and abilities and general responsibilities as assigned by the Executive Director

Qualifications:

Education and Experience:

•    Juris Doctorate degree from an accredited law school

•    Active New Hampshire law license or ability to procure one within one year of hire;

•    A minimum of 5 years of experience handling litigation and/or direct client representation;

•    Strong preference for applicants who have practiced public interest law;

•    Must be able to work in a collaborative manner with diverse groups, including government agencies, foundations, media and other advocacy and community organizations.

Skills and Abilities:

•    Sound professional judgment;

•    Excellent critical thinking and evaluation skills;

•    Oral and written communication competency with attention to detail;

•    Outstanding leadership skills;

•    Understanding of human resource management and staff evaluation;

•    Exceptional time management and organizational skills;

•    High level of proficiency using Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint);

•    Ability to easily integrate new technology into work environment;

•    Ability to facilitate communication within teams and participate effectively as a member in teams;

•    Demonstrated commitment to the mission of 603 Legal Aid through professional presentations and agency representation;

•    Must have ability to develop and implement innovative models of service delivery with limited resources.

Compensation and Hours:

This is a full-time, salaried-exempt position (37.5 hours per week). Starting salary will be based on number of years of relevant experience with an anticipated range of $80,000 - 90,000 annually. This position also includes generous benefits and paid time off. Candidates with a disability and/or those who are minorities are encouraged to apply.