Senior Supervising Attorney, Economic Justice

About the position The Southern Poverty Law Center is seeking a Senior Supervising Attorney committed to economic justice. The Economic Justice team is working to advance the SPLC's strategic goal to eradicate poverty by expanding access to opportunity and eliminating racial economic inequality in the Deep South. In the area of Land Justice, we protect and reclaim land in Black and Brown communities to build generational wealth and support community-driven visions of economic development. We also seek Housing Justice by advancing the human right to housing, ending the criminalization of homelessness, and dismantling racially discriminatory policies that deny Black and Brown communities the right to safe, secure, and affordable housing and essential housing-related services. Our other work includes Protecting the Social Safety Net to ensure equitable access to government programs so that everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Our work on Ending the Exploitation and Criminalization of Poverty focuses on stopping exploitative and punitive policies that siphon wealth from Black and Brown communities by government and predatory private actors. Who You Are Experienced. Demonstrated experience litigating individual and class action civil rights cases in federal and state courts at the trial and appellate levels. People Manager. Experienced legal staff manager with proven success in leading, training, and developing teams. Clear communicator of goals and priorities of goals and priorities, organizational policies, and processes, keeping the SPLC’s and its clients’ best interest at the heart of all communications, decisions, and actions. Effective leader. Established leadership in creating work plans, setting annual goals, and supporting and tracking staff performance towards achieving the goals. Advocate. Experience working with community organizations, grassroots campaigns, and impacted communities, particularly in the Deep South, to promote economic justice. Creative. Ability to create vision and take calculated risks in crafting and executing strategies to move litigation forward. Collaborative. Demonstrated ability to work with other ALITs, external organizations, and stakeholders to execute specific strategies to advance the work and cases of the Economic Justice ALIT. Communicative. Exceptional communication skills and ability to communicate persuasively to a variety of audiences through writing and speaking. Mission, Vision & Culture Alignment. Demonstrates an understanding of and a commitment to SPLC’s mission.

Responsibilities

• Lead the implementation of SPLC’s economic justice legal advocacy strategies, especially in the Deep South.
• Develop, lead, supervise, consult, and advise on complex civil rights impact cases in federal and state courts and administrative entities.
• Supervise and manage litigation teams within the ALIT and the Legal Department that include SPLC attorneys, paralegals, analysts and investigators, cooperating counsel, fellows, legal interns, and others from within the SPLC, providing mentoring and coaching in support of the work.
• Collaborate with the Deputy Legal Director and the Policy Department to identify and support the advancement of SPLC’s state, local, and federal policy priorities; and the Communications Department to develop communication strategies around cases and campaigns.
• Collaborate with team members of other ALITs in the Legal Department as well as all other members of other SPLC Departments to advance the impact goals and campaigns of SPLC.
• Serve as a public thought leader on issues confronting the communities the SPLC serves, and represent SPLC in the media, at conferences, and in other public venues as assigned and/or approved.
• Develop and maintain relationships with community partners, coalition members, and legal allies to maintain open communication and collaboration with directly impacted people and communities.
• Hire, train, and monitor staff performance and development, and conduct performance reviews.
• Perform other duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of the duties in this job classification.
• Uphold our JEDI principles by seeking diverse collaborators and partners that can deliver genuine, authentic and impactful work while ensuring their contributions are directed towards the shared mission, vision and values of the Center and Legal Department’s goals.

Requirements

• At least eight (8) years of federal court civil litigation or comparable legal experience
• At least two (2) years of supervisor experience managing legal professionals
• Membership in good standing of at least one state bar in the United States, preferably Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, or Florida
• J.D. degree from an ABA-accredited law school

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