Staff Attorney, Family Law – Portland Regional Office

Staff Attorney, Family Law – Portland Regional Office

The Portland Regional Office of Legal Aid Services of Oregon is seeking a full-time staff attorney with 2-8 years of family law experience. The position is a general civil litigator with an emphasis on serving domestic and sexual violence survivors in Hood River, Sherman, Wasco, Clackamas, and Multnomah counties. This position will primarily carry a family law caseload including representation of clients in restraining orders, divorce and custody matters but can also represent on general poverty law cases including but not limited to consumer rights, public benefits, immigration, housing and employment discrimination. This position will be eligible for a partial remote work option.  

Background
LASO is a non-profit organization that represents low-income clients in civil cases. LASO’s eight regional offices serve the general low-income population throughout the state and two specialized statewide programs focused on services to farmworkers and on issues impacting Native Americans. LASO is an effective, high-quality legal services program that is committed to advocacy strategies having the broadest possible impact on client community problems.

The Portland Regional Office of LASO serves a poverty population of more than 220,000. The office serves Multnomah, Clackamas, Hood River, Sherman and Wasco counties, a diverse service area requiring the ability to work effectively with individuals from different cultures and backgrounds. The Portland Office has adopted a race equity agenda to guide its work with clients as well as its internal operations. The office has a strong commitment to building an inclusive, diverse workplace.

Responsibilities
The staff attorney will be responsible for conducting trauma informed initial client meetings (intake) and representing survivors of crime, including domestic and sexual violence and stalking. The litigation caseload will primarily include restraining orders, custody and divorce matters, and other civil legal needs. This attorney is also expected to work closely with community-based organizations as a liaison to LASO for organizations that that serve Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and immigrant communities to receive referrals, identify legal issues important to crime victims, conduct regular trainings and attend outreach events. In addition to serving individual clients, this attorney is expected to spend substantial time identifying and advancing cases and projects designed to achieve broad impact on significant problems in the client community.

Qualifications
Competitive candidates will have a proven interest in and commitment to advocacy for the legal rights of low-income and other vulnerable populations, specifically DV/SA survivors; experience providing trauma-informed services to survivors; enthusiasm, creativity, good judgment, initiative, and willingness to work collaboratively; as well as a demonstrated understanding and commitment to anti-bias principles, cultural competency and addressing systemic racism and other forms of oppression. LASO has a hiring preference for candidates who are bilingual in Spanish and/or another language and are members of the Oregon State Bar.

Salary/Benefits
Compensation is based on a 35-hour work week. Salary range is $66,200 – 73,700 for 0-5 years’ experience; $75,200 – 81,200 for 6-10 years’ experience and $82,700 - $105,200 for 11-30 years’ experience annually; salaries are determined by relevant work experience and our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Additional $4,300 to $5,700 annually for bilingual ability, depending on proficiency. Full benefits package including individual and family health, vision, and dental insurance coverage; 6% employer retirement contribution; generous paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave; and paid moving expenses.  

Closing Date
Review of resumes to begin on March 18, 2024.

Applications
Send resume and letter of interest to:
projobs@lasoregon.org

As a part of your letter of interest, please address the following:

LASO is committed to achieving justice for the low-income communities of Oregon. Our client communities include people of color, farmworkers, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, seniors, people with lived experiences of homelessness, veterans, people with disabilities, and people from other underrepresented groups. It is essential to our mission that we also work to create an inclusive and respectful workplace environment in which differences are acknowledged and valued.

How do you think your personal background or experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to: (1) serve our diverse client communities effectively, (2) work effectively with colleagues from backgrounds different than your own, (3) acknowledge the systemic barriers that our clients face, and (4) contribute to our efforts to achieve racial justice? Feel free to provide examples and apply various aspects of your life and personal experiences in your response.

Please note, we will not review applications that are not emailed directly to the above email address.

If you require reasonable accommodation for a disability during the application/hiring process, please contact Meghan Collins, Director of Administration, at Meghan.Collins@lasoregon.org. 

We celebrate diversity 
LASO is committed to being an organization that reflects the communities we serve and is diverse in race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, national origin, or sensory, mental and physical abilities, work background, experience and education. We believe that the outcome of such diversity is our greatest strength and a matter of basic human fairness. It is to this end that we strongly encourage applications from people of color; people from any other underrepresented and historically marginalized group; people who have experienced economic, social, or other barriers; people who have personally experienced discrimination or oppression; or can otherwise demonstrate a commitment to advancing our diversity mission.