Legal Director

Company: American Civil Liberties Union, Inc
Location: Sioux Falls
Posted on: September 15, 2020

Job Description:

The ACLU seeks a full-time position of Legal Director  in the ACLU of North Dakota, South Dakota & Wyoming  of the ACLU’s National office in South Dakota, North Dakota, or Wyoming.

Reporting to the Executive Director of the Chapter Office, the Legal Director will lead and expand the ACLU legal program across South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wyoming, including developing and litigating high-impact cases and managing the legal department. The Legal Director will be responsible for setting the overall legal strategy to advance the ACLU of SD/ND/WY mission, as well as handling the day-to-day management of legal staff and cooperating attorneys. As a critical member of the office's senior management team, the Legal Director will provide strategic leadership on both litigation and non-litigation legal advocacy in priority areas. Our current campaign priorities include indigenous justice, immigrants’ rights, LGBTQ and two spirit rights, voting rights, and smart justice reform for prison systems.

We are taking our organization to the next level by strengthening our legal firepower, building legislative strength, expanding communications methods, and creating winning issue campaigns. To meet these objectives, the ACLU of South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wyoming has adopted a “campaign” approach for its work. Work is focused on pursuing specific integrated advocacy campaigns to achieve measurable goals that will expand civil liberties and civil rights while building the long-term power of the ACLU and the civil liberties’ movement.

RESPONSIBILITIES Maintain and develop our aggressive impact litigation and advocacy docket, which advances the ACLU of SD/ND/WY strategic priorities and responds to civil rights and civil liberties threats

Manage all aspects of the litigation program, including coordinating the selection of cases, overseeing the investigation and development of cases before commencing litigation; building litigation teams with in-house lawyers, private lawyers, and nonprofit partners; directly engaging in litigation in federal and state court; and overseeing ongoing litigation

Maintain an individual caseload of developing and active litigation and amicus briefs, including overseeing and directing pre-litigation investigations, discovery, motion practice, brief writing, hearings and trials, and appellate work, and work with staff attorneys and cooperating attorneys on all work within the ACLU SD/ND/WY legal program

Supervise a staff attorney and occasionally law student and undergraduate interns; handle recruiting and hiring of additional legal staff (budget permitting); and foster an organizational culture within the legal program that encourages staff development through internal and external resources

Broaden and deepen relationships with volunteer attorneys and other lawyers in the community to ensure the visibility of the ACLU SD/ND/WY in the legal community (and beyond) and to help build our legal docket, including by engaging lawyers in pre-litigation investigations, amicus briefs, litigation, and other ACLU SD/ND/WY activities

Coordinate and collaborate with other ACLU SD/ND/WY departments on cross-departmental projects and serve as a resource on legal matters for staff, partners, and other ACLU of SD/ND/WY constituents

Serve as a highly visible spokesperson for the ACLU, working closely with our outreach and communications team to regularly engage in strategic public forums, advocacy discussions, and media opportunities

Provide systemic and strategic planning and reporting, including developing budgets, providing regular reports on legal department activities, and supporting reporting on grants with legal department deliverables

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Trial and appellate litigation experience in state and federal courts, including class actions, with a strong interest and experience in constitutional law and civil rights

Admitted to the South Dakota, North Dakota, or Wyoming Bar or eligible for admission on motion

Excellent organizational skills and a creative and strategic approach to problem-solving and litigation

Creative, persuasive, results-oriented, self-starting, persevering, and willing to learn

High ethical standards and genuine interest in developing authentic relationships

Team player who inspires collaboration, lifts up the work of others, and maintains balance and perspective with patience and a sense of humor

Commitment to the mission of the ACLU

Demonstrate a commitment to diversity within the office using a personal approach that values all individuals and respects differences in regards to race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, disability and socio-economic circumstance

Commitment to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and/or conflicts

ABOUT THE ACLU For 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBT community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach.

The ACLU is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. The ACLU encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

The ACLU makes every effort to assure that its recruitment and employment provide all qualified persons, including persons with disabilities, with full opportunities for employment in all positions.

The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please e-mail benefits.hrdept@aclu.org . If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.

At the ACLU, we deeply value diversity, inclusion, and belonging. We actively work to ensure that we are addressing everyone appropriately and that we’re acknowledging their identity as they would like. Examples of common pronouns are 'she/her/hers,' 'he/him/his,' and 'they/them/theirs.' This is optional, but if you’re comfortable, please share your pronouns.

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If you already work for us, your answer will not be used against you in any way. Because a person may become disabled at any time, we are required to ask all of our employees to update their information every five years. You may voluntarily self-identify as having a disability on this form without fear of any punishment because you did not identify as having a disability earlier.

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You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition.

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Deafness

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Schizophrenia

Muscular dystrophy

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Major depression

Multiple sclerosis (MS)

Missing limbs or partially missing limbs

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Impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair

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A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

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Keywords: American Civil Liberties Union, Inc, Sioux Falls , Legal Director, Other , Sioux Falls, South Dakota