Director of Litigation

Civil Rights Corps (“CRC”) is searching for a Director of Litigation to work closely with our Deputy Litigation Directors and senior management team to support a  team of exceptional attorneys and investigators. The Director of Litigation will supervise several attorneys and an ambitious docket that directly challenges the brutality of our criminal system and overlapping systems of oppression.

About Us

Civil Rights Corps (CRC) is a non-profit civil rights organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2016, CRC challenges wealth-based and race-based systems of oppression. We work to shift power to community-led movements, particularly those led by Black and Brown people who are most affected by this legal system, so they can build sufficient power to create structural change. We work with individuals accused and convicted of crimes, their families and communities, people currently or formerly incarcerated, activists, organizers, judges, and government officials to challenge mass human caging, to create a legal system that promotes equality and human freedom, and to dismantle white supremacy. Civil Rights Corps engages in advocacy and public education and specializes in innovative, systemic civil rights litigation with the goal of re-sensitizing the legal system and our culture to the injustice and brutality that characterize the contemporary U.S. legal system.

CRC has won groundbreaking litigation challenging the rise of debtors’ prisons, abusive private probation schemes, and wealth-based pre-trial detention. CRC works closely with community partners and is committed to fundamentally transforming the criminal system. CRC’s staff is comprised of passionate and dedicated advocates with a profound commitment to social justice and fighting inequality in all its forms.  Learn more about our work at civilrightscorps.org. 

Job Description

The Director of Litigation will supervise and engage in impact litigation and advocacy. The Director of Litigation reports to the CEO. Specific job responsibilities include:

■         With the senior leadership team, engage in long-term planning and visioning concerning the role of litigation, the focus of new cases and projects, and an overall legal strategy.

■         Oversee a docket of approximately 35 active class actions and individual cases; and manage the development of case-specific litigation strategies and case priorities.

■         Work as appropriate with the Deputy Directors to oversee litigation teams, approve major strategic decisions, and manage the preparation of pleadings, motions, briefs, and discovery.

■         With the litigation team, ensure connection of casework and litigation strategy to local community, directly impacted individuals, and broader movement goals.

■         Develop department policies and procedures to improve internal processes, manage relationships with other departments and outside partners, and develop litigation talent.

■         Ensure that case teams are appropriately staffed and resourced;

■         Advocate in court and engage in day-to-day litigation as necessary;

■         Provide personnel supervision to Deputy Directors and other attorneys (in addition to supervising individual cases;

■         Work with the Deputy Directors to arrange, conduct and guide trainings as needed;

■         Ensure that litigation is well-coordinated with CRC’s storytelling, policy, strategic initiatives, and operation teams; and

■         Occasionally represent CRC at conferences, in the media, in coalitions, and at other events.

Qualifications

The ideal applicant has over eight (8) years of civil litigation experience, including substantial experience with civil rights class actions in state and federal court; is passionate about racial and social justice; and is an outstanding and experienced attorney, interpersonally and culturally competent, and thrives in a collaborative environment. Innovative thinking, an unwillingness to accept things as they are, and a strong work ethic are essential. Specific qualifications for this position include:

●         Outstanding legal work, as established by many of the following criteria:

-- Experience directly representing clients who come from marginalized backgrounds (and where that background is the subject of representation)

-- Significant litigation experience, including developing innovative strategies and legal claims, building cases from the ground up, drafting complaints, motion practice, courtroom advocacy, complex discovery, and settlement negotiations;

-- Demonstrated excellence in oral and written advocacy, investigation and development of cases, and public speaking skills;

-- Experience in n civil rights litigation and with those directly impacted by the criminal system is preferred.

-- Willingness to think outside the box about every aspect of litigation and to experiment with new ideas.

-- Demonstrated commitment to client- or movement-centric litigation, including implementing creative solutions to supporting the needs of clients outside the context of pure litigation.

-- Experience dealing with issues of professional ethics and responsibility.

●         Excellent manager, as evidenced by such things as:

-- Day-to-day management of attorneys managing complex litigation and projects.

-- Effective supervision of teams of people with a variety of levels of experience, abilities, and comfort working independently, including trial teams and/or investigatory teams, while also viewing their supervisory role as one of support and uplifting the team.

-- Willingness to participate in the day-to-day work of litigation when needed.

-- Ability and willingness to encourage supervisees to think outside the box about litigation strategies and legal claims and to experiment with new ideas.

-- Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with focus and effective prioritization.

-- Facility in leading goal-setting processes and individual performance evaluations, including gathering and providing feedback.

-- Providing regular personnel check-ins and effective, thoughtful workload management for supervisees.

--Demonstrated commitment to training, mentoring and advancing junior attorneys and litigation support staff.

●         Demonstrated commitment to an integrated strategy, including litigation, policy and community engagement. 

●         Race and identity competency, ability to understand and navigate issues of identity, power, privilege and lived experience with clients, partners and colleagues. Relevant lived experience a plus.

J.D. degree and a member in good standing of the bar of a U.S. state.

Salary and Benefits

This is a full-time exempt position that will be located in Washington, DC. Salary is determined based on years of experience and will be in the range of $155,000 - $169,000. 

Civil Rights Corps offers an outstanding and generous benefits package, including employer-paid health, vision, and dental benefits; transit benefits; an annual wellness benefit; retirement matching; and paid sick, family, and unlimited vacation leave.

Application Requirements

Interested applicants should submit a PDF including: a cover letter, resume, writing sample from 5-10 pages, and five references. Please include as two of the references people whom you have supervised. 

 In your cover letter, which should be no longer than 3 pages, please include two or three examples of litigation that you have led in terms of developing and implementing a strategy. Your examples should include detail on what you did to move the case forward, including investigation, discovery, briefing, and courtroom advocacy, as well as any media strategy and engagement with community partners. It should also include details of how you supported others on the case team in their work.

The position is open until filled. Materials should be addressed to jobs@civilrightscorps.org. Please include your name and “DOL” in the subject line.

Civil Rights Corps is an equal opportunity employer. We greatly value a diverse workforce and management team and an inclusive culture. We are committed to hiring people with relevant lived experience with the criminal legal system and overlapping systems of oppression.  

Civil Rights Corps is committed to promoting an environment free of barriers and discriminatory practices for its clients, partners and staff.