POSITION: Farmworker Legal Services (FLS) is seeking a supervising attorney with immigrant workers’ rights experience to join its dynamic and committed litigation team working directly with migrant and seasonal agricultural workers and community groups to dismantle systems that perpetuate poverty and injustice. The supervising attorney will work closely with FLS attorneys, staff, and other providers to develop and pursue affirmative systemic litigation and community outreach and ensure high quality representation of farmworkers. The supervising attorney will handle cases, provide supervisory support to team members, and assist in directing the legal work of FLS. Ideally, the supervising attorney will be based out of our Kalamazoo office with a flexible remote work schedule option.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM: Farmworker Legal Services (FLS) is a growing and nationally recognized non-profit law office and the statewide division of the Michigan Advocacy Program (MAP) that fights for justice and dignity alongside the farmworker community through our systemic, multi-forum legal advocacy, community engagement, and direct legal representation of farmworkers in their civil legal matters. FLS currently has 7 permanent staff and 7 summer seasonal advocates based out of our Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Ypsilanti (Ann Arbor area) offices. FLS provides a full range of civil legal services to Michigan’s eligible population of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their dependents and prioritize cases including wage theft, trafficking, discrimination, sexual harassment, workplace health and safety, housing, civil rights, and labor-based immigration relief.
MAP works to advance the safety, independence, and economic stability of those most affected by poverty, racism, and other structurally oppressive systems by increasing access to justice and working for systemic solutions. MAP has provided civil legal aid for those unable to afford an attorney for more than 50 years, serving 13 counties through five legal aid offices and managing 6 statewide programs that serve farmworkers (Farmworker Legal Services), immigrant communities (Michigan Immigrant Rights Center), vulnerable older adults (Michigan Elder Justice Initiative), victims of domestic violence and elder abuse (Crime Victims Legal Assistance Program), legal aid advocates through research and training support (Michigan Poverty Law Program), and self-represented litigants (Michigan Legal Help Program). MAP has a staff of about 220 people in offices in Battle Creek, Detroit, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Monroe, and Ypsilanti. Visit www.miadvocacy.org and www.farmworkerlaw.org for more information.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Applicants must be licensed to practice law in Michigan or qualify to be admitted by waiver;
- have 5+ years of mission-aligned work or lived experience and a demonstrated commitment to advocating in low-income or immigrant communities;
- have experience litigating at state or federal levels or filing immigration affirmative applications;
- be willing to occasionally work a flexible schedule that may include travel and evening or weekend outreach;
- have demonstrated success working effectively in teams with diverse identities;
- possess excellent communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills; and
- be committed to social, racial, and economic justice and FLS’s mission.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Priority will be given to applicants who have significant (10+years) mission-aligned, supervisory, litigation, or immigration experience, experience effectively supervising teams and projects across lines of identity and differences;
- a working knowledge of labor-based immigration relief, such as deferred action, U-Visas, T-Visas, and H-2 visas;
- experience negotiating, filing administrative complaints, and litigating employment claims;
- Spanish and English communication skills,
- effective bilingual Spanish-English communication skills or proficiency in Haitian Creole or indigenous languages native to Mexico or Central America; and
- familiarity with farmworker advocacy, employment and immigration law, or legal services and advocacy.
BENEFITS: Salary depends on experience, starting from $72,520 and includes an annual raise. MAP offers a generous benefits package, including life, short and long term disability, health, vision, dental, fully funded deductibles, and flexible spending accounts. If an applicant does not require health benefits, they can take an annual $1,500 payout in addition to the base salary paid over the year. MAP also has a generous leave policy allowing staff to accrue over 3 weeks paid leave the first year and 15 paid holidays, as well as a 401K retirement plan, including employer-match for eligible staff after 6 months of employment. MAP is a qualifying employer for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the position includes LRAP (Loan Repayment Assistance Program) eligibility. Kalamazoo is a college town in southwest Michigan with its own airport and is located 35 miles east of Lake Michigan, 50 miles from Grand Rapids, 2 hours from Chicago and Detroit. Kalamazoo also offers the Kalamazoo Promise (an independent scholarship program that provides students who graduate from Kalamazoo Public Schools up to up to 100% tuition for post-secondary education).
TO APPLY: Please complete this application and submit your resume and cover letter describing your level of Spanish competency and how your personal background or experiences have prepared you to work effectively alongside diverse colleagues and the farmworker community. You can also access the application by copying and pasting the following web address into your browser: https://miadvocacy.bamboohr.com/careers/116. The position is open until filled; applications received by August 9, 2024 will receive priority.
The Michigan Advocacy Program is an equal opportunity employer, committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Posted: 7/23/24