Staff Attorney, Guardian ad Litem
$66,000–$76,512 year
HybridWashington, District of Columbia, United States or Washington, United States
Job Summary
Represent children in abuse and neglect cases before DC Family Court, managing a caseload of up to 35 cases with high-quality direct legal representation. Attend all court dates, file timely pleadings, and maintain accurate data entry and documentation in the case management system. Zealously advocate for children's best interests in and out of court while providing support to colleagues on cases and covering emergency or holiday shifts. Participate in regular supervision, monthly case rounds, and ongoing trainings to refine case strategies and ensure quality representation. Submit written materials to supervisors for feedback on trial preparation and maintain notes on quarterly case planning. Identify and elevate targeted appellate strategy issues to the Appellate team. Work independently to achieve annual professional development goals and incorporate supervisory feedback to improve case performance.
Required Qualifications
- JD degree
- DC Bar membership or eligibility for DC Bar membership based the transfer of a Uniform Bar Examination score attained in another jurisdiction or membership in good standing in the Bar of another jurisdiction for at least 3 years immediately prior to the application for admission
- Valid driver's license
- Authorized to work for any employer in the U.S.
- Minimum of two days per week in-person work at Children's Law Center's office
- At least one of the in-person days must be either Tuesday or Wednesday
Desired Qualifications
- A demonstrated commitment to social, economic and racial justice
- Post-JD litigation experience
- Experience working with children and/or teens
- Experience in legal services or other community lawyering
- Post-JD judicial clerkship experience
- Experience in legal research roles
- Experience in family law or disability law
- Experience working with communities with limited financial resources
- Strong legal analysis, research, writing and oral advocacy skills
- Excellent organizational and time management skills
- Exceptional interpersonal, communication and relationship-building skills
- Demonstrated capacity to work independently and collaboratively
- Proactively identifies issues and works to find creative solutions in the face of obstacles
- Strong independent judgement and decision-making
- Cultural Humility – an openness to self-reflection and to understanding and respecting other cultural experiences and points of view and viewing individuals as experts in their own culture and experiences
- Giving and Receiving Feedback – the ability to be self-reflective, give and receive appreciative, coaching, constructive, interpersonal and evaluative feedback
- Conflict Management – a process which is designed to guide individuals and groups from the moment of conflict to the implementation of an identified solution
- Spanish language proficiency
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