POSITION TITLE: Senior Attorney
REPORTS TO: Legal Director
HOURS: Full Time
WORKSITE: Lincoln or Omaha, Nebraska
COMPENSATION- Salary of $85,000 - $95,000, dependent on experience
EMPLOYEEBENEFITS - Unlimited paid time off (including employee birthday); 9 paid holidays with year-end holiday break
- Medical, dental, vision, life, and AD&D insurance; 403b retirement plan with an automatic 5% contribution; and FMLA
- Employee Wellness Program (including enriching snacks, support groups, and engaging activities)
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) (includes life event referral program, 5 free counseling sessions, financial and legal resources, and employee discount/savings program)
- Yearly stipends for employee development opportunities
- Relocation assistance; travel and expense reimbursement
POSITION DESCRIPTION A Senior Attorney is an integral part of CIRA's legal department. Senior Attorneys do not supervise direct reports, but they are expected to cultivate expertise in a particular subject matter area and/or manage a particular project or program, in addition to working a direct service caseload. Senior Attorneys are leaders within the Legal Department by virtue of their advanced practice experience in one or more areas of immigration law, their institutional knowledge and influence, and/or their assumption of responsibility for an organizational project. Each Senior Attorney develops a particular focus of their position in consultation with CIRA's legal directors.
For the Immigration Medical-Legal Partnerships (IMLP) Senior Attorney, this includes collaborating with Legal Team leaders to identify trends in patient referrals, develop consistent legal analysis and strategies, and strengthen service delivery. The IMLP Senior Attorney is also expected to identify broader needs and opportunities beyond individual cases and proactively collaborate with other CIRA departments to develop creative, coordinated approaches to serving IMLP patients holistically. The core functions of the Senior Attorney position, detailed below, are 1) direct legal representation; and 2) project management of subject matter expertise.
CORE FUNCTIONS OF THE POSITION Direct Representation - Balance a full direct-service caseload with independent responsibility for managing and advancing the Immigration Medical-Legal Partnerships (IMLP), including managing project priorities and strengthening external partnerships.
- Provide high-quality legal screening, advice, and representation to patients referred through CIRA's IMLPs, ensuring timely case progression, diligent representation, and clear, prompt, and candid legal guidance; including when no viable form of immigration relief is available or available options are limited or difficult to pursue.
- Represent clients before Nebraska state courts; the Omaha Immigration Court and Board of Immigration Appeals; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and other U.S. Department of Homeland Security subagencies; the U.S. Department of State; and potentially United States District Courts and Courts of Appeal.
- Prioritize direct representation work that corresponds with the attorney's area of subject matter specialization or project of focus.
- Maintain complete and accurate case records in physical and digital files and within CIRA's legal case management software, as described in the Legal Procedures Manual.
- Maintain regular contact with clients and promptly return client communications in compliance with the Legal Procedures Manual.
Specialization - Provide legal leadership for CIRA's IMLP work by collaborating with Legal Team leaders to identify trends in patient referrals and potential eligibility for particular forms of immigration relief, promoting consistency in legal analysis, strategy, and service delivery.
- Maintain a program-level perspective on the needs of IMLP patients, identifying opportunities for collaboration across CIRA's Legal, Social Work, Resettlement, and other teams to develop coordinated approaches that support patients as holistically as possible.
- Establish and oversee systems for tracking IMLP referrals, services, case outcomes, and the impact of CIRA's legal interventions, working closely with the Legal Director and Data Team to ensure the information needed to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of IMLP partnerships is collected and maintained.
- Lead CIRA's education and training efforts for IMLP partners, including developing and delivering recurring immigration-related education responsive to the needs of healthcare providers and other IMLP stakeholders.
- Serve as a primary legal representative of CIRA in ongoing IMLP partner meetings, actively engaging in discussions regarding referrals, patient needs, partnership operations, emerging trends, and opportunities to strengthen coordination and service delivery.
- Identify and communicate trends, gaps, and emerging needs among IMLP patients, sharing observations with Legal Team leadership and IMLP partners to inform legal strategy, partner education, program development, and resource allocation.
- Evaluate and advance opportunities to sustain and strengthen IMLP partnerships, working with the Legal Director and Executive Director to deepen collaboration with existing healthcare partners and assess opportunities for new partnerships based on agency capacity and community needs.
QUALIFICATIONS - Dedication to CIRA's Mission and Vision
- Licensed to practice law in Nebraska or able to obtain a license to practice law in Nebraska.
- At least two years of immigration law practice experience is strongly preferred.
- Spanish language ability is strongly preferred.
- Ability to take initiative and make difficult decisions when necessary.
- Exceptional interpersonal communication and people skills.
- Excellent organizational and multitasking skills.
- Ability to collaborate in team environment.
- Impeccable integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed.
- Ability to think strategically, problem-solve, exercise good judgment, and lead change.
WORKING CONDITIONS - This role consists of regularly sitting at a desk and using a computer and phone.
- This is not a remote position.
- This is a full-time, salaried position with regular hours of Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Flexibility, including work beyond regular hours or 40 hours per week, may be necessary to fulfill the responsibilities and professional obligations of the position.
- Occasional travel to other regions of Nebraska may be required.
TO APPLY Please upload a cover letter, resume, and three professional references all in PDF format to the job application link.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by individuals assigned to this job. They are not an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities associated with it. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
