This position establishes an in-house legal team to assist with strategic and operational objectives that infuse mission, values, and anti-racist approaches into legal analysis and representation. This position collaborates with key stakeholders, including Home Forward residents, participants, and staff across all departments. The position serves Home Forward’s anti-racist focus and systems change approach through policy and process improvement, legal research and analysis, and representation and litigation support.
Initial focus areas for this position include:
- Supporting housing-first and barrier reduction efforts, centered on screening of justice-involved applicants, to ensure racially equitable access to Home Forward housing;
- Reducing proposed evictions in Home Forward housing and exploring creative non-litigation solutions that prioritize housing stability for vulnerable residents.
- Standardizing tenant notices to ensure they are trauma-informed and infuse anti-racist values that center the experience of people experiencing housing insecurity;
- Thinking creatively about affirmatively furthering fair housing through waitlists, preferences, and other resource allocations;
- Advising on and strengthening tenant protections and policies in the areas of source of income discrimination, fair housing, reasonable accommodations, language access, formation of tenant associations, and debt collection.
Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQIA+ people, and women are strongly encouraged to apply. We are most interested in finding the best candidate that aligns with our organization, and that ideal candidate may be one who comes from a less traditional background. We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every one of our described qualifications.
TO SEE THE FULL JOB DESCRIPTION: CLICK HERE.
COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement:
To protect the health of the community and employees, effective November 19, 2021, Home Forward requires employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved medical or religious exemption as a qualification of employment.
This position will close on Monday, March 20, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. This is a remote position that may include court appearances depending on agency need.
Compensation starts at $88,218.00 annually, and in addition to Home Forward’s wonderful and competitive benefits (please see the benefits tab for full details), we will cover various position related costs, including:
- Bar admission fees
- Continuing Legal Education requirements
- Professional Liability Fund coverage, as needed
This is a great opportunity to make an impact in your community, and establish a great career with an organization that cares about its employees.
Education & Experience Guidelines
Required Education
- Law degree from an accredited law school (Juris Doctor)
Required Certification or License
- Admission (or pending admission) to the Oregon State Bar.
Required Experience
- Three (3) years of practicing law or comparable clinical, paralegal, clerkship or similar legal work.
Other Preferred Skills or Experience:
- Experience in a mission-driven practical focus working on behalf of people in poverty or populations that have been historically marginalized.
- A demonstrated ability to critically analyze the impact of systems and institutions.
- A preference for firsthand experience of homelessness, housing instability, poverty, or societal marginalization due to identity.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT:
The conditions herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential job functions.
Environment: Hybrid combination of office setting and telework based in Oregon or Washington. Some travel needed to attend meetings, trainings, and courtroom.
Physical: Incumbents require sufficient mobility to appear in court and work in an office setting and operate office equipment; sit for extended periods of time; perform repetitive motion of hands and wrists.
Vision: Vision sufficient to read and write on a computer, tablet, or phone screen.
SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED:
This position reports to the Chief Operating Officer, an attorney in good standing licensed to practice in the states of Oregon and New York.