Positions Available:
Staff Attorney on the Matrimonial Unit
Staff Attorney on the Housing Unit
Staff Attorney on the Family Law Unit
Benefits:
We provide training and free CLE programs. Staff Attorneys join AFSCME’s defined benefit pension plan (vesting after five years of service) and a 401(k), and receive employer-paid health, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage, along with generous paid leave. We are also an eligible employer for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
Job Description:
DC 37 represents the workers who keep New York City running. They maintain bridges, parks, roads, and subways; care for the sick and elderly; guard schoolchildren at crossings; staff hospitals, schools, libraries, social service centers, and city colleges; and perform IT and clerical work across many agencies. Our state workers enforce rent regulations and serve as interpreters and reporters in the courts. All of these workers are united in District Council 37, part of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). DC 37’s mission is to improve members’ lives on the job and in their communities, and we believe in social justice.
Municipal Employees Legal Services (MELS) is a benefit offering free legal services to employees and retirees covered by the union’s collective bargaining agreement. Funded by employer contributions to DC 37’s Health and Security Plan, MELS is the largest union legal service plan of its kind. It represents members in a variety of matters, including landlord-tenant disputes, bankruptcies, consumer debt actions, foreclosures, divorces, family law, immigration, real estate transactions, and life planning documents.
Staff Attorneys assigned to specialized areas are expected to develop proficiency in them. Under the direction of Supervising Attorneys, every Staff Attorney is directly responsible for all legal aspects of assigned cases, from initial intake through conclusion. Where paraprofessional help is appropriate, Staff Attorneys delegate certain tasks and ensure they are completed properly.
We currently have staff attorney positions open on the Housing Unit, the Family Law Unit, and the Matrimonial Unit.
Staff Attorneys must follow established case-handling systems and office procedures and keep thorough records of all activities, including accurate case notes. They meet regularly with the team’s Supervising Attorney to review the progress of each assigned case and, once a case concludes, to examine how it was handled overall.
In serving clients’ legal interests, Staff Attorneys must remember that each client is more than an abstract legal problem to be analyzed and solved. Legal problems are often closely tied to personal, family, or work problems, which must be addressed to give clients effective, lasting help. MELS attorneys must therefore be sensitive to clients’ non-legal concerns and work with staff social workers to serve them.
