Staff Attorney - Farmworker Legal Services - Michigan

Job Type: Legal Services

POSITION: FARMWORKER LEGAL SERVICES (FLS), a statewide division of Legal Services of South Central Michigan (LSSCM), is seeking outstanding applicants for a Staff Attorney position in its Bangor office, which is located just west of the college town of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and ten miles from Lake Michigan, just two hours from Chicago.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM: LSSCM is a non-profit law firm providing free legal services to very low income and senior persons in 13 counties in south central Michigan. FLS is a division of LSSCM that provides legal advice, referrals, direct representation and systemic advocacy services to Michigan’s migrant and seasonal agricultural workers, as further described at www.FarmworkerLaw.org.

    FLS has a staff of five attorneys, one legal assistant, and numerous seasonal interns and support staff. Our bilingual advocates provide a full range of civil legal services to Michigan’s annual population of over 90,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers and dependents, who harvest a diversity of 45 crops, including asparagus, strawberries, blueberries, peppers, cucumbers, cherries and apples. The majority of the migrants are Spanish-speaking family groups from the southern U.S. and Mexico. FLS priorities address their critical legal needs in the areas of employment, civil rights, housing, public benefits, consumer issues and immigration law. Because FLS is recognized as “the law office of first resort” for farmworkers in Michigan, services provided include basic legal advice, community education and referrals, and direct representation of individuals and groups in the full spectrum of local, state, and federal forums.

RESPONSIBILITIES: The Staff Attorney will provide high quality legal services to enforce farmworkers’ rights. Advocacy tasks will include field investigation and outreach, legal research and writing, negotiation, community task force participation, training, document preparation, policy analysis, and direct representation in administrative hearings, state and federal litigation and appeals.

QUALIFICATIONS: Applicants must be licensed to practice law in Michigan, qualified to be admitted by waiver, or able to take the next available bar exam. Applicants must possess excellent communication, analytical and problem-solving skills as well as a demonstrated commitment to protecting the rights of workers, immigrants or persons in poverty. Fluency in Spanish is strongly preferred.

BENEFITS: This is a unionized position; the union salary range is $37,000 to $55,000 based on years of relevant public interest law experience, with an excellent health, disability and fringe benefit package.

LSSCM is an equal opportunity employer. Minority and disabled persons and women are encouraged to apply.

Send a cover letter confirming your qualifications, your current resume and a list of three references by May 31, 2008 to ensure full consideration to:

      Managing Attorney
      Farmworker Legal Services
      P.O. Box 219
      Bangor, MI 49013
      Email: flsattorney2008@umich.edu

PLEASE POST OR CIRCULATE -- DATED APRIL 24, 2008

URL:  http://www.mplp.org/Members/scoellis/FLS_Staff_Attorney_4-24-08.pdf

Date Posted: 2008/04/24