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Jobs and Internships at Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP)

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project is excited to announce – We are Hiring Staff Attorneys! Two New Positions …

Read more about our mission, the positions, work, compensation, and qualifications below.

SRLP’S Mission

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence. SRLP is a collective organization founded on the understanding that gender self-determination is inextricably intertwined with racial, social and economic justice. We seek to increase the political voice and visibility of low-income people and people of color who are transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming. SRLP works to improve access to respectful and affirming social, health, and legal services for our communities. We believe that in order to create meaningful political participation and leadership, we must have access to basic means of survival and safety from violence.

SRLP’s Direct Services Team

SRLP provides legal services with the understanding that real improvements in our community members’ lives will not come within a legal system that intentionally perpetuates wealth disparity, racism, hetero-normativity, and ableism. This system can only thrive when those people at the margins – poor people, people of color, immigrants, transgender people, gender non-conforming people, intersex people, queer people, and people with disabilities – are under surveillance, manipulated, imprisoned, and killed by people in power.  Therefore, the legal remedies that are available in our current system can only have limited impact and more often than not, serve more to legitimize and perpetuate the legal system than to actually help people survive.

Legal services are a means to that end – building the capacity of our community to survive, resist marginalization, organize, build community, shift power and thrive.

Job Opening: Director of Legal Services 

SRLP is hiring a Director of Legal Services to support our Direct Services Team in providing zealous advocacy for our clients and communities. The Director of Legal Services will be one of two staff attorney positions on the collective. Both staff attorneys will practice movement lawyering as they ensure members’ survival needs are met while also using impact litigation to remove barriers and change policy and institutions. The position is full-time offering some remote work along with COVID safety informed practices.

Job Description

The Director of Legal Services will be responsible for providing general direct legal services, advocacy, and training and public education. The Director of Legal Services will report to all members of the Direct Services Team, Staff, and Collective. The Director of Legal Services will have to balance the various aspects of working as an attorney on a collective which includes client work, organizational work (such as budgeting), and collaborative projects within the collective (such as political education campaigns). A willingness to be flexible and deconstruct the inherent power dynamics of being an attorney is of most importance. Positions responsibilities include, but are not limited to: 

Legal:

  • Provide full robust  direct legal services to a caseload of 20 low-income TGNC clients per fiscal year for our Survival and Self Determination Project and Immigrant Justice Project which includes representation in a number of courts and administrative fora, primarily name change court, Social Security hearings, Fair Hearings, immigration court, Supreme Court, and the Commission on Human Rights.
  • Regularly meet clients in their homes or, when necessary, in hospitals, jails and prisons; 
  • Participate in external coalitions with agencies or advocacy to change policies impacting our low-income, people of color, immigrant and/or incarcerated TGNC community members;
  • Conduct client intake and provide appropriate referrals or advice when appropriate; 
  • Provide KYR trainings to community members and legal trainings, speaking engagements to service providers and institutions;
  • Maintain complete and organized case files and input into legal dept database in a timely manner; 
  • Adhere to all grant reporting requirements as directed by the collective.  

Collective:

  • Attend weekly co-supervision meetings with staff;
  • Attend weekly case-list meetings with the Direct Services Team;
  • Participate in Anti-Oppression work;
  • Attend weekly all staff meetings;
  • Co-create and participate in DST and organizational budgeting and work plans;
  • Joining two of our collective teams; 
  • Attend monthly collective meetings and quarterly retreats. 

Project-related 

  • Co-direct robust internship and pro bono projects with Movement Building Team;
  • Co-supervise the Director of Litigation and the Director of Client Services to brainstorm and develop impact litigation strategies to remove barriers to TGNC liberation;
  • Work directly with our Director of Client Services to conduct intake clinics as well as return calls, emails, and other inquiries from community members.  

Collaborative Projects:

  • Drafting “Know Your Rights” materials and conduct trainings for community members and service providers; 
  • Provide legal observising at various SRLP events and actions.

Experience and Qualifications

Applicants must have:

  • Law degree and admission to the New York State Bar;
  • At least six years as an attorney or legal advocate working within immigration law, prisoner’s rights, civil litigation, and/or administrative law;
  • A demonstrated commitment to gender self-determination, transformative justice, abolition, movement litigation, racial, economic, and disability justice;
  • Extensive experience working with low-income TGNC communities of color;
  • Experience and commitment working with organizers and within movements;
  • Excellent legal research and writing skills; 
  • Ability to create public education materials centered in SRLP’s values and mission;
  • Strong verbal communications skills and experience in working in collaborative environments; 
  • Strong interest in implementing creative litigation strategies; 
  • Excellent time management skills and the ability to manage complex cases and competing deadlines. Must be able to communicate boundaries effectively and clearly;
  • The ability to communicate effectively and compassionately with individuals from diverse backgrounds—including transgender and gender non-conforming people, people living with HIV/AIDS, people with mental illness, and people who have experienced significant trauma;
  • Strong supervision skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Fluency in Spanish;
  • Bar admission in the Southern and/or Eastern District of New York;
  • Experience in drafting and filing on a state or federal level;
  • Experience in criminal defense;
  • Experience with legal strategic planning;
  • Experience working in non-hierarchical settings;
  • Knowledge and practice in collective decision making processes. 

Hours and Compensation: 

This position is a full-time, salaried position with medical, dental and optical benefits as well as three weeks paid vacation and a monthly healthcare affirming reimbursement stipend. 

40 hours/week, some evenings and weekends. 

$100,000/year.

Consistent with our values as a collective, all staff receive salaries based on the same hourly rate.  An increased salary is possible based on need, such as for people supporting family members.

How to Apply:

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume and three references to the Hiring Committee at hiring@srlp.org.

Applications without a cover letter, resume, and references  will not be considered. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

***People of color, trans people, women, people with intersex conditions or DSDs, people who have lived in poverty, people with disabilities, immigrants, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer people are strongly encouraged to apply*** 

SRLP is an equal opportunity employer. Trans, gender non-conforming and intersex people and people of color, people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated people, and people from low-income backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

No phone calls please.  We will only contact applicants we intend to interview.

 

Job Opening: Director of Litigation 

SRLP is hiring a Director of Litigation to co-direct our Direct Services Team in providing zealous advocacy for our clients and communities. The Director of Litigation will be one of two staff attorney positions on the collective. Both staff attorneys will practice movement lawyering as they ensure members’ basic survival needs are met while also using impact litigation to remove barriers to TGNC liberation. The position is full-time offering some remote work along with covid safety informed practices.

Job Description

The Director of Litigation will be responsible for providing impact litigation, advocacy, and membership outreach and education. The Director of Litigation will report to all members of the Direct Services Team, Staff, and Collective. The Director of Litigation will direct and be in charge of all impact litigation at SRLP which will cover all aspects of SRLP’s work, including Survival and Self Determination, Immigrant Justice Project, and the Prisoner’s Justice Project. In addition, the Director of Litigation will be expected to provide direct legal services to a limited number of clients in our Prisoner’s Justice Project. Positions responsibilities include: 

Legal:

  • Provide direct legal services to a caseload of 10 low-income TGNC clients per fiscal year as part of our Prisoner’s Justice work which includes representation in a number of courts and administrative fora,  mainly in grievance hearings, Supreme Court, and the City and State Commission on Human Rights; 
  • Prepare all aspects of your clients cases, assess viability of case, prepare and file court pleadings and responsive papers, prepare client for court appearances, appear with your client and advocate during trial, interview or motion practice; 
  • Regularly meet clients in their homes or, when necessary, in hospitals, jails and prisons; 
  • Advocate with agencies to change policies impacting our low-income, people of color, immigrant and/or incarcerated TGNC community members;
  • Drafting “Know Your Rights” materials and conduct trainings for community members and service providers; 
  • Develop litigation strategies by following the lead of directly impacted people and organizers.

Collective:

  • Attend weekly co-supervision meetings with staff;
  • Attend weekly case-list meetings with the Direct Services Team;
  • Participate in anti-oppression work;
  • Attend weekly all staff meetings;
  • Co-create and participate in DST and organizational budgeting and work plans;
  • Joining two of our collective teams; 
  • Attend monthly collective meetings and quarterly retreats. 

DST-related 

  • Co-direct robust internship, pro bono projects, and advocacy campaigns with Movement Building Team;
  • Co-supervise the Director of Legal Services, Director of Client Services, and the Movement Building Team to brainstorm and develop impact litigation strategies to remove barriers to TGNC liberation; 
  • Work directly with our Director of Client Services to conduct intake clinics as well as return calls, emails, and other inquiries from community members.  

Collaborative Projects:

  • Drafting “Know Your Rights” materials and conduct trainings for community members and service providers; 
  • Provide legal observing at various SRLP events and actions.

Experience and Qualifications

Applicants must have:

  • Law degree and admission to the New York State Bar;
  • At least six years as an attorney or legal advocate working within immigration law, prisoner’s rights, civil litigation, and/or administrative law;
  • A demonstrated commitment to gender self-determination, transformative justice, abolition, movement litigation, racial, economic, and disability justice;
  • Extensive experience working with low-income TGNC communities of color;
  • Experience and commitment working with organizers and within movements;
  • Excellent legal research and writing skills; 
  • Ability to create public education materials centered in SRLP’s values and mission;
  • Strong verbal communications skills and experience in working in collaborative environments; 
  • Strong interest in implementing creative litigation strategies; 
  • Excellent time management skills and the ability to manage complex cases and competing deadlines. Must be able to communicate boundaries effectively and clearly;
  • The ability to communicate effectively and compassionately with individuals from diverse backgrounds—including transgender and gender non-conforming people, people living with HIV/AIDS, people with mental illness, and people who have experienced significant trauma;
  • Strong supervision skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Fluency in Spanish;
  • Bar admission in the Southern and/or Eastern District of New York;
  • Experience in drafting and filing on a state or federal level;
  • Experience in criminal defense;
  • Experience with legal strategic planning;
  • Experience working in non-hierarchical settings;
  • Knowledge and practice in collective decision making processes. 

Hours and Compensation: 

This position is a full-time, salaried position with medical, dental and optical benefits as well as three weeks paid vacation and a monthly healthcare affirming  reimbursement stipend.  

40 hours/week, some evenings and weekends. 

$100,000/year.

Consistent with our values as a collective, all staff receive salaries based on the same hourly rate.  An increased salary is possible based on need, such as for people supporting family members.

How to Apply:

To fill our the application with your cover letter, resume, and three references to https://driwaterstonehc.com/position/director-of-litigation-sylvia-rivera-law-project/

Applications without a cover letter, resume, and references  will not be considered. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

***People of color, trans people, women, people with intersex conditions or DSDs, people who have lived in poverty, people with disabilities, immigrants, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer people are strongly encouraged to apply*** 

SRLP is an equal opportunity employer. Trans, gender non-conforming and intersex people and people of color, people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated people, and people from low-income backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

No phone calls please.  We will only contact applicants we intend to interview.

SRLP is Seeking Interns

Intern with the Movement Building Team!

The Movement Building Team is a collaboration of SRLP members who identify as low income trans, intersex, gender non-conforming folks and trans, intersex, gender non-conforming people of color along with SRLP staff. The MBT was designed to build and grow the leadership skills while developing and coordinating community workshops, discussions, celebrations and events for low income trans, intersex, gender non-conforming folks and trans, intersex, gender non-conforming people of color. Interns at SRLP work on a range of issues affecting low-income transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming people of color.

Prisoner Advisory Committee (PAC)
Interns with MBT would primarily be supporting the work of the Prisoner Advisory Committee. Learning and engaging with SRLP’s prison work to help advance the work of PAC, working closely with the Director of Outreach and Community Engagement and other staff  in assisting with tasks related to the Prisoner Advisory Committee (PAC), including but not limited to;

  • Participating in outreach, coordination and logistics related to PAC card writing events and other MBT related events.
  • Review and update publication materials.
  • Co-facilitate, skill shares and participating in workshops around abolition and SRLP’s PIC work.
  • Conducting research and building workshop materials around the impact that trans and gender non-conforming folks experience within the prison industrial complex.
  • Supporting the development and production of our bi-annually newsletter “In Solidarity” that goes out to PAC members on the inside.
  • Design and layout production and design of our annual calendar.
  • Distribution of correspondence, mailing updates and member certificates to PAC members.
  • Responding to PAC member correspondence submissions.
  • Processing new PAC member forms, support with legal and non-legal volunteer mailing parties, envelope stuffing, other required tasks to support the program.
  • Maintaining addresses and release dates for all PAC members and tracking them in excel and other databases.
  • Processing new PAC member forms, supporting with legal and non-legal volunteer mailing parties, evelope stuffing, and other required tasks to support the program.

Internship skills needed

Applicants must have a commitment to working towards self-determination for gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence as SRLP is a collective organization founded on the understanding that gender self-determination is inextricably intertwined with racial, social and economic justice. People of color, trans people, gender non-conforming people and people with intersex conditions are strongly encouraged to apply. Must be willing to work individually and in a team setting. Fluency in Spanish is preferred but not at all a requirement. Microsoft Publisher, InDesign and other graphic design platforms preferred.

Work hours:

Internships are 15-20 hours/week during the summer and usually last twelve weeks. Internships are unpaid. Please indicate hours of availability and date available to start in the cover letter. The office is open from 10-6pm M-F. Dress code; Casual

How to Apply:
To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to kimberly@srlp.org