Attorney, Transgender Rights

Position: Attorney, Transgender Rights

Department: Legal Services

Reports to: Director of Legal Services

Compensation: $90,060 Annually

Status: 100%, Full-Time, Regular, Exempt

Probation: 180 Days

Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision; also including Life Insurance, Long-Term Disability, Employee Assistance Program, and a 403(b) Retirement Plan

Center’s Mission:

Building a world where LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society.

DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: The Legal Services Department provides trauma-informed and client-centered holistic services, including consultations, representation, legal advocacy, and safety planning to members of the LGBTQI+ communities, with a focus on serving transgender, non-binary and intersex adults, immigrants at-risk of deportation, and youth and seniors at risk of homelessness. Our clients are predominantly BIPOC survivors of violence and discrimination, including domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, hate crimes/incidents, and police/government misconduct. We have 4 inter-related projects: Community Legal Clinics, Legal Advocacy Project for Survivors/Anti-Violence Project, Immigration Law Project, and Homeless Youth and Housing Rights Project. Each project serves clients at multiple locations, including: the Trans Wellness Center in Koreatown, Mi Centro in Boyle Heights, Center South in Leimert Park, and the Village and the Youth Center—across from each other in Hollywood.

JOB SUMMARY: The Attorney, Transgender Rights, based at the Trans Wellness Center, will meet with transgender, non-binary and intersex community members seeking direct legal services, provide intakes and consultations, provide legal advice, answer questions, and triage urgent issues. The Attorney will coordinate/unify/expand all Trans legal services at the Center, including but not limited to name and gender marker changes, by collaborating with the 4 projects of the Legal Services Department and all other Center projects providing Trans legal services through internal and external service providers; this includes all volunteer attorneys, clinics and pro-se workshops. Policy and Outreach components of the position will be informed by the experiences of our clients and the need for systemic change and will be in coordination with the Policy and Community Building Department. Presence on- site and/or at community partner locations 4 days a week is required.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Meet with transgender, non-binary, and intersex community members seeking direct legal services, provide intakes and consultations, answer questions, and triage urgent issues.

• Coordinate/unify/expand all Trans legal services at the Center, including but not limited to name and gender marker changes, by collaborating with the 4 projects of the Legal Services Department and all other Center projects providing Trans legal services through internal and external service providers; this includes all volunteer attorneys, clinics and pro-se workshops provided by the projects of Legal Services and other Center departments.

• Referring community members to Legal Services Department projects, clinics, pro-se workshops, volunteer attorneys, and external service providers entails collaboration with and utilization of the on-call expertise of core department projects (Legal Advocacy Project for Survivors (LAPS)/Anti-Violence Project, Immigration Law Project, and Homeless Youth and Housing Rights Project), and following the service protocols of these projects.

• Prioritize responses to client inquiries, phone calls, and emails.

• Policy and Outreach components of the position will be informed by the experiences of our clients and the need for systemic change and will be in coordination with the Policy and Community Building Department to:

- Support and participate in the strategy and campaign development of the Center’s transgender policy priorities.

- Serve as a Center liaison and build and maintain relationships with coalitions of grassroots, service providers, and policy organizations related to these priority areas.

- Engage in advocacy activities to reach local, state, and national decision-makers.

• Input and track data, maintain current client paperwork, and prepare monthly reports.

• Participate in meetings within the Legal Services Department, throughout the Center, and with external entities.

• Other duties as assigned.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Knowledge of or experience working with the LGBTQ community and familiarity with issues of particular relevance to LGBTQ people.

• A passion for the Center’s work and its mission to make the world a better place for LGBTQ people.

• Active California State Bar License.

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in providing culturally responsive direct legal services to members of LGBTQI+ BIPOC communities in a non-profit setting.

• Experience in providing survivors of violence with services that are trauma-informed and empathetic.

• Experience in building successful workplace relationships, demonstrated organizational and time management skills, and the ability to balance and prioritize multiple responsibilities, including providing direct legal services, data reporting, and other administrative tasks that require attention to detail.

• Experience in ensuring client safety, autonomy, agency, choice, and empowerment.

• Experience in being part of, creating and sustaining inclusive and engaging workspaces.

• Emotional intelligence and empathy necessary to build and maintain positive interactions, trust and collaborations with clients, team members, and volunteers of varied backgrounds, needs and capacities.

• Demonstrated commitment to self-care.

• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to effectively convey complex information to non-attorneys.

• Flexibility for occasional evening and community-based weekend work.

• Bilingual skills, a plus (English/Spanish fluency required).

• Access to reliable transportation and ability to be insured.

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with people of diverse races, ethnicities, nationalities, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expression, socio-economic backgrounds, religions, ages, English-speaking abilities, immigration status, and physical abilities in a multicultural environment.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to fostering diversity within its staff. Applications are encouraged from all persons regardless of their race, color, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, sex, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, religion, disability, age, military or veteran status, including status as a victim of domestic violence, assault or stalking, genetic information (including family medical history), political affiliation or activities, medical or health conditions, and marital status.

The Center has implemented a policy requiring all staff to be up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment, subject to applicable federal, state and local laws. For more information, please contact jobs@lalgbtcenter.org