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Attorney in Houston, TX

The Texas Civil Rights Project Aug 01,2023 Feb 17,2021 Location Houston TX
This job is expired...

Public Interest

Attorney

Min 5 yrs required

Profile

Legal Program Director Duties: Lead the development and execution of a vision and strategy that builds on existing highly regarded litigation and legal advocacy campaigns, assessing and shifting as needed following the 2020 election, to craft strategies that ensure all Texans can freely and equally participate in democracy. Work includes collaboratively setting and driving this vision; leading, supervising and mentoring a talented and highly engaged team focusing on litigation, advocacy, and community engagement; working in coalition with grassroots organizations, local government officials and other partners; and, as a member of the Leadership Team, helping to advance the internal goals of the organization, including those around racial equity and justice. In collaboration with the Voting Rights team, leadership team and external partners, develop and execute a vision and strategy that builds on highly regarded Voting Rights team efforts. The new Legal Director will leverage a strong understanding of the national political landscape to craft litigation and legal advocacy strategies that seek to beat down barriers for people of color and other traditionally disenfranchised Texans and to expand avenues for participation. In doing so, will collaborate closely with movement partners and maintain reputation as the go-to lawyer for civil engagement and power-building groups. Keeping an ear to the ground and an eye on election-related trends and developments nationally and in Texas, the new Director will consistently evaluate opportunities for TCRP to advance its mission. Lead and manage a highly engaged, deeply skilled team. Will supervise case development and investigations, and actively seek opportunities for staff to develop their litigation, advocacy, and community lawyering skills. Will foster an inclusive, collaborative, consensus-driven environment that encourages creative, outside-the-box thinking and calculated risk-taking. Will seek to build and manage a dynamic, diverse team built on strong equity principles and goals and rooted in a caring team culture. Will ensure strong management, organizational, and communication structures and systems are in place to advance these goals. Collaborate with other Legal Directors on program strategy. Will explore opportunities to build cases and campaigns that intersect with other legal program areas, enabling cross-team integration as well as boosting ways to serve grassroots partners. Will also actively support the work of colleagues in advocacy, communications, and development as they build campaigns to drive visibility, community support, and funding to increase impact. Partner to drive equity, diversity and inclusion. Grounded in commitment to justice and equality and its organizational values, the new Director will bring an equity lens to all aspects of strategy, priority setting, team development, and community engagement. Will support work to reflect the communities it serves and build a culture of inclusion, continuous growth, openness, and antiracism. Will help create a respectful and equitable work environment for staff at all levels of the organization and will ensure the same experience for clients, partners, and stakeholders.

Qualification and Experience

Qualifications: Must be licensed to practice law in Texas or able to waive into the Texas bar (which is permitted after 5 years of practice). Will, first and foremost, be an inclusive, passionate, equity-focused leader committed to fighting for voting rights. Will be an experienced litigator and movement lawyer with the proven ability to develop and lead successful civil litigation and design effective legal advocacy campaigns. Will bring an in-depth knowledge of Texas election law, or at a minimum, federal election law. Will have a deep respect for community-centered lawyering and experience working in coalition with community-based organizations. will be a proven mentor with the ability to set vision and align strategies in collaboration with others and bring strong communication and interpersonal skills. Sincere and demonstrated commitments to equity and inclusion, social justice, and voting rights; Exceptional litigation skills and 7+ years of federal or state court civil litigation experience, including complex case development; Deep knowledge of and expertise in state-level (Texas preferred) or federal election law and election reform, and a demonstrated commitment to voting rights efforts; Strong familiarity with political systems, and experience leading political, legal or advocacy campaign strategies; 3-5 years of demonstrated success inspiring and leading highly talented and diverse teams, preferably of legal and paralegal staff; proven success hiring, training, conducting performance evaluations and mentoring teams; Initiative, vision, creativity, and a demonstrated willingness to take calculated risks in crafting and executing programmatic strategies; A deep personal commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion; proven success in engaging with and working in partnership with diverse communities; lived experience that informs an authentic understanding of the challenges faced by vulnerable communities and a sophisticated understanding of the historical nature of structural power differences with a lens into how that impacts social justice efforts today; Experience analyzing public policy issues, including an ability to synthesize and summarize large amounts of information and to focus quickly on the essence of an issue; Excellent communication skills, including legal writing, interpersonal and public communication skills, and an ability to translate vision and strategy into external messaging; Excellent interpersonal skills, including maturity, keen judgment, the ability to facilitate challenging conversations and quickly read interpersonal dynamics, and the ability to work with people from a wide array of backgrounds, perspectives, and personalities, and across projects; Ability to create a positive atmosphere in a high-energy, fast-paced work environment; excellent and consistent attention to detail and the ability to prioritize and meet deadlines; Proven ability to foster an optimistic, resilient work environment, especially in the face of adversity; A personal drive for self-reflection, improvement, and learning; Patience, a sense of humor, gravitas and a high tolerance for ambiguity; the ability to adapt quickly to change; and a natural orientation towards collaboration; The ability and willingness to travel regionally; Spanish or other language abilities are a plus; Admission to the Texas Bar or ability to waive into the Texas Bar.

Additional info

Send cover letter, outlining their interest and qualifications, with resume.

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