Albuquerque, New Mexico
Washington, D.C.
Posted: 08-Nov-24
Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Type: Full Time
Salary: $56,500 - $97,684
Salary Details:
Required Education:
Internal Number: SA-CR-CSP2024
Iowa Legal Aid is seeking an attorney to join our Cedar Rapids office, to help grow our Community Schools Project and to support other important work in the regional office. Duties will be split between these two roles. For the schools project, the Staff Attorney will join our existing team and will have the opportunity to provide a broad range of direct legal services through our school-based clinic in Cedar Rapids. Our regional office work is a diverse practice, where we prioritize work involving housing, domestic violence, income maintenance, health care, individual rights, and consumer issues to help secure our clients’ most essential needs.
Cedar Rapids Community Schools Project: Children living in poverty face special challenges in school because their families often lack basic needs such as stable housing, food and income security and physical safety. These destabilizing conditions are known to cause poor outcomes in school.
The Cedar Rapids Community Schools Project, an innovative partnership between Iowa Legal Aid, Cedar Rapids Public Schools, and many other stakeholders, is designed to alleviate these problems and achieve meaningful change. The Cedar Rapids school system has an existing community schools program that addresses part of the problem by helping students with health, food and clothing. Iowa Legal Aid has joined these efforts, taking a new approach to service delivery that focuses on stabilizing the family in multiple areas rather than just one area of crisis. We work inside and outside the school helping families with legal issues related to housing, domestic violence, and income security that impact school attendance, performance and disciplinary issues. We partner with other social services organizations in the community to help connect families with a wide variety of services and resources. Iowa Legal Aid currently has established Community Schools Projects in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, and Davenport.
The cornerstone of the Cedar Rapids project is our onsite legal aid clinic in a Cedar Rapids elementary school. Our attorneys will meet with school families on a regular basis at the clinic.
Project Responsibilities: The successful candidate will be responsible for helping to further develop and maintain the school-based legal clinic and assist in building the project to full scale. Responsibilities include coordinating with school staff and existing and future project partners and coordinating legal, social work and volunteer activities.
General Regional Office Responsibilities: Through free legal assistance and community legal education, Staff Attorneys bring hope, dignity, and justice to low-income and other vulnerable Iowans. Legal assistance at Iowa Legal Aid ranges from advice and brief service to full representation before administrative agencies and state and federal trial and appellate courts. Staff attorneys appear in court frequently and serve clients out in the community through expungement and pro se divorce clinics, our Eviction Diversion Project Help Desks, and targeted outreach events.
About Cedar Rapids: Looking for a public interest position in a community where you can afford to make a difference? Learn more about housing and recreational options in Cedar Rapids and the region: https://www.tourismcedarrapids.com/
Opening/Closing Date: Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Salary/Benefits: The current salary range for the position is $56,500 - $97,684 ($59,000 – 100, 184 effective 2025), depending on years of experience. Excellent fringe benefits are available, including a generous leave, insurance, and retirement package. Iowa is a great place to live and to work for a non-profit, ranking fourth in the country for affordability. See US News & World Report Study Ranks Iowa Number 1 for Opportunity Nationally, Des Moines Register, March 11, 2021
Applications: To apply, submit letter of application, resume, law school transcript (recent graduates only), recent representative writing sample, and names, addresses and phone numbers of at least three professional references.
Qualifications: Applicants must be graduates of law school and licensed to practice law in Iowa, be eligible for admission on motion, or be available for the next scheduled bar examination. Prior experience in the practice of law or working with poverty law issues is preferred. Applicants must possess a demonstrated interest in poverty law and have a strong commitment to providing a full range of legal services to low-income people. Individuals with Spanish or other language skills are encouraged to apply.