Staff Attorney - Farmworker Legal Services of Michigan, Bangor Office

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 our Bangor office, which is located 20 miles west of the college town of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and ten miles from Lake Michigan.

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 the division of LSSCM that provides legal advice, referrals, direct representation and systemic advocacy 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 outreach staff. Our bilingual advocates provide a full range of civil legal services to Michigan’s eligible population of 90,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their dependents. Michigan’s migrant workers harvest a diversity of 45 crops, including asparagus, strawberries, blueberries, cucumbers, cherries and apples. The majority of workers include Spanish-speaking family groups from the southern U.S. and Mexico. Case priorities address their critical legal needs in employment, civil rights, housing, public benefits, consumer and immigration law. Because FLS is recognized as “the law office of first resort” for farmworkers in Michigan, services we provide 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 effective legal services to enforce farmworkers’ rights. Advocacy tasks will include field investigation and camp outreach, legal research and writing, negotiation, community task force participation, training, document preparation, policy analysis, and direct representation in administrative hearings, as well as state and federal litigation and appeals. The Staff Attorney will focus on developing cases for farmworker clients within FLS' priority areas, including:

• employment law cases: federal cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; state wage and hour cases, including minimum wage violations and non-payment of wages
• housing cases: representation of farmworkers being threatened with eviction; responding to sub-standard housing conditions in migrant labor camps
• worker health and safety: assisting workers who lack basic field sanitation in the workplace (drinking water, hand-washing facilities, and bathrooms) as well as pesticide exposure
• unemployment insurance benefits, including protests and appeals

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.

QUALIFICATIONS: Applicants must be licensed to practice law in Michigan or qualified to be admitted by waiver. Spanish proficiency is required (speaking, reading, and writing). Applicants must possess excellent communication, analytical and problem-solving skills as well as a demonstrated commitment to protecting the rights of workers, immigrants or other persons in poverty. Early applications will be given priority. LSSCM is an equal opportunity employer. Minority and disabled persons and women are encouraged to apply. Send a cover letter confirming your qualifications, including a description of your level of Spanish fluency, your current resume, and a list of three professional references to:

Date Posted: 2008/11/17