Job Title: Director of Litigation
Job Responsibilities:
1. Litigation & Legal Advocacy:
- Lead and manage litigation focused on civil defense, civil rights violations, and class action lawsuits impacting incarcerated TGNCI individuals.
- Develop and execute litigation strategies to address systemic injustices faced by TGNCI people, with a focus on conditions of confinement including denial of gender-affirming healthcare, housing safety, and protection from violence.
- Pursue class action lawsuits to address widespread violations of civil rights, particularly those impacting TGNCI individuals in institutional settings.
- Ensure the enforcement of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and other directives that protect transgender people in custody from harassment, assault, and discrimination.
- Collaborate with external legal teams, law firms, and community-based organizations on high-impact litigation aimed at advancing the rights of incarcerated TGNCI people.
2. Movement Lawyering & Policy Advocacy:
- Engage in movement lawyering, working with the organization’s membership and impacted communities to develop legal strategies that align with broader movements for justice.
- Support advocacy for the development and implementation of policies that improve conditions for TGNCI individuals, particularly those in custody, focusing on healthcare access, safety, and housing rights.
- Collaborate with advocacy groups, policymakers, and government agencies to influence policy reform and ensure the protection of TGNCI individuals’ rights in prisons and other detention facilities.
- Provide legal guidance and contribute to legislative efforts aimed at systemic reform, particularly in areas related to criminal justice and civil rights.
3. Public Education & Know Your Rights Training:
- Lead Know Your Rights workshops and public education initiatives designed to inform TGNCI individuals, particularly those in custody, about their legal rights and protections.
- Develop educational materials and legal resources tailored to TGNCI communities, with a focus on healthcare, safety, and housing rights in confinement.
- Train service providers, advocates, and legal professionals on best practices for supporting TGNCI people in custody, particularly around issues of safety, dignity, and healthcare access.
4. Supervision and Leadership:
- Supervise law student interns, fellows, volunteers, and consultants on the Direct Services Team, ensuring high-quality case management and strategic advocacy.
- Collaborate with the organization’s Movement Building Team to align litigation with the organization’s broader mission and goals to remove barriers to TGNCI liberation.
- Provide mentorship and training to other staff involved in the organization’s litigation efforts.
- Manage relationships with legal organizations, law firms, and external partners to maximize impact and resources for litigation and advocacy efforts.
5. Areas of Shared Responsibility and Staff Coordination:
- Participate in the Collective Development Team’s work, including organizing board meetings and annual collective retreats, and improving and maintaining infrastructure and capacity for sustainable, non-hierarchical work.
- Increase the participation, decision-making, and leadership of low-income trans people and trans people of color in organizational governance.
- Contribute to short- and long-term organizational planning and strategy.
- Participate in Collective-wide responsibilities including attending monthly meetings, annual retreats, co-supervision, and team meetings.
- Coordinate staff and collective training to increase skills and address growth areas.
- Coordinate development and communication of emergency and safety planning protocols.
- Coordinate office cleaning, a shared responsibility among all staff.
Education and Experience Information:
- A minimum of 5 years of litigation experience, with a focus on criminal defense, civil rights, or class action lawsuits.
- Demonstrated experience advocating for TGNCI individuals, particularly those in custody or facing institutional violence and discrimination.
- Strong background in movement lawyering and working alongside grassroots organizations and social justice movements.
- Deep knowledge of issues affecting incarcerated TGNCI people, including healthcare access, housing safety, and PREA protections.
- Proven experience leading class action lawsuits and high-impact litigation efforts aimed at systemic reform.
- Commitment to racial, economic, and gender justice, with a deep understanding of the intersections between criminal justice and LGBTQ+ rights.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience in public speaking, community education, and policy advocacy.
- Experience working on policy reform and advocacy in the context of criminal justice, civil rights law, or prisoner’s rights.
- Familiarity with the legal challenges and rights of LGBTQ+ people in detention facilities and institutional settings.
- Prior experience in a nonprofit or grassroots legal organization, with a focus on community-driven legal strategies.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Fluency in Spanish or another language.
- Bar admission in the Southern and/or Eastern District of New York.
- Experience litigating in federal court.
- Experience in criminal defense.
- Experience with legal strategic planning.
- Experience working in non-hierarchical settings.
- Knowledge and practice in collective decision-making processes.
Salary Information:
This position is a full-time, salaried position with medical, dental, and optical benefits as well as three weeks paid vacation and professional development opportunities. The organization works in a hybrid working environment. The position requires 40 hours/week, with some evenings and weekends as necessary. The salary is $125,000/year. Consistent with the organization’s values as a collective, all staff receive salaries based on the same hourly rate.
