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Disability Rights California is seeking a creative, bold, and experienced litigator for our Youth Practice Group.
SALARY RANGE: Litigation Counsel: $107,757
– $157,814 annually We base salary and position offers on experience and internal equity analysis.
Application Deadline: Open until filled.
Applications should be received by June 25, 2021, to be considered for the first round of interviews.
Locations: Sacramento, Oakland, San Diego, Los Angeles, or Remote (California only) WHO WE ARE Disability Rights California (DRC) is the Protection & Advocacy (P & A) system for the state of California.
We are a nonprofit agency with a mandate under federal and state law to defend, advance, and strengthen the rights of people with disabilities.
DRC works to create a world where all people with disabilities have power and are treated with dignity and respect by being included in their communities, afforded the same opportunities as people without disabilities, and respected to make their own decisions.
In order to be effective advocates for people with disabilities, we address systemic discrimination in all its forms and we acknowledge the unique challenges faced by people who experience the intersection of multiple types of discrimination.
The Youth Practice Group We are a statewide team of passionate attorneys who enforce and expand the rights of children and youth with disabilities.
We strive to pursue litigation and advocacy that strikes a balance between responding to pressing needs, proactively anticipating future needs, and identifying innovative ways to affirmatively expand the law on behalf of children and youth with disabilities.
Much of our current work is devoted to protecting and advancing special education and anti-discrimination rights of children and youth with disabilities, including access to inclusive services and equal access to educational opportunities.
Our work also aims to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, including advocacy to eliminate the use of restraint, seclusion, and segregated placements; reform the juvenile justice system, and advance community-based mental health and behavioral services.
We work to ensure that services are provided in a manner that is trauma-informed and culturally congruent and to address the intersectional needs of children and youth with disabilities and their families.
The Youth Practice Group engages in individual and systemic litigation, investigations and monitoring, and policy advocacy.
Our team works collaboratively on lawsuits and projects.
We are also adopting community lawyering and identity-conscious approaches to our advocacy in order to ensure that our advocacy seeks out and responds to the voices of people of color with disabilities and members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community with disabilities.
A few of the Youth Practice Group’s recent advocacy projects include: Black Parallel School Board et al.
v.
Sacramento City Unified School District et al., Case No.
2:19 CV 01768 TLN KJN (E.D.
Cal.
filed Sep.
6, 2019) (lawsuit alleging systemic, school district-wide discrimination against students based on disability and race, including segregation, failure to provide necessary services and supports, discipline, disability, and race-based bullying and harassment, especially of Black students with disabilities) C.B.
et al.
v.
Moreno Valley USD et al., No.
5:21-cv-00194 (C.D.
Cal.
filed Feb.
2, 2021) (Lawsuit seeking injunctive relief and damages for an 11-year-old Black child with disabilities who was handcuffed and forcibly detained by Moreno Valley campus security officers and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department) Various Complaint against Bakersfield City Elementary School District, Case No.
S-0080-2021 (CDE Compliance Complaint filed Aug.
7, 2020) (Complaint filed with California Department of Education (CDE) on behalf of students with disabilities in Bakersfield City Elementary School District.
The state found that the school district failed to implement special education services to the greatest extent possible since distance learning began amid the COVID-19 pandemic.), and T.G.
et al.
v.
Kern County et al.
Case No.
(E.D.
Cal.
filed Feb 21, 2018) (Class Action case on behalf of youth with disabilities held within the Kern County juvenile detention facilities.
Under the settlement terms, Kern County agreed to transition from a corrections model to a treatment model) Litigation Counsel Position The Litigation Counsel plays a significant role in shaping DRC’s litigation and advocacy vision, including working with the Youth Practice Group, the Litigation Counsel Team, and other DRC teams and staff to identify complex legal and policy challenges to create and drive forward our systemic work.
The Litigation Counsel also helps to ensure the excellence of DRC’s legal work by providing leadership, mentorship, and supervision to Practice Group attorneys and other DRC staff.
We value lived experience and experience working with people with disabilities and who are low income.
We also value experience integrating disability justice, race equity, and community lawyering principles into advocacy efforts.
Please discuss such experiences in your cover letter, especially if they are not reflected in your resume.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES Essential functions are the job responsibilities an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Litigation Counsel essential functions include the following: Litigation and Leadership Identifying and addressing complex legal challenges through impact litigation and policy advocacy efforts; Leading teams in litigation or major policy advocacy which may include targeted representation, complex litigation and/or appeals, or major policy advocacy at the state level; Mentoring and training attorneys in the practice group in litigation and policy advocacy work; Identifying and developing substantive and skills-based training for staff; Monitoring, summarizing, and analyzing case law, legislation, and administrative policy and practices for staff and other organizations.
Management/Administrative Participating as a member of the DRC legal management team to assist in the development and advancement of the Legal Advocacy Unit’s strategic direction; Collaborating with other Litigation Counsel to fulfill various administrative and litigation-related responsibilities; and Co-reviewing and approving Practice Groups’s requests to commence new litigation.
Community-Based Advocacy Engaging in community-based advocacy and community leadership, representing the agency as the voice of our clients.
Preparing training materials, publications, reports, or prepare presentations about legal work, which may include reports to funding entities and the Board of Directors.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES Litigation Counsel provide leadership, training, mentoring, and possible direct supervision to Practice Group staff on litigation and advocacy.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Juris Doctor degree (J.D.) or equivalent and membership in the California State Bar.
This position requires a minimum of ten years of practicing law including substantial civil litigation experience or internal candidates who have worked at DRC for four continuous year and have 9 years of experience practicing law.
Demonstrated commitment
– through lived experience and/or employment history
– to working with people with disabilities and low-income clients, and incorporating race equity and community lawyering principles into their work; Expertise in one or more substantive areas of law related to the practice group (such as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, etc.); Expertise in two or more of the following: class action litigation, motion practice, discovery, trial advocacy, appellate practice, structured negotiations, and/or systemic policy advocacy; 5 years of exemplary results in litigation; 3 years of successfully leading, training, mentoring, and developing attorneys and advocates; Excellent advocacy skills (such as research, writing, analytic, oral); Demonstrated results from mentorship, leadership, and supervision of multiple attorneys or advocates; Demonstrated ability to support and develop multiple junior staff in their leading litigation efforts such as systemic policy advocacy, administrative proceedings, writs, eviction defense, or single plaintiff / single defendant lawsuits; Demonstrated ability to lead or co-lead complex litigation; and Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with other lawyers and support staff.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS Litigation or advocacy experience in: special education (administrative hearing, federal and/or state court litigation), institutional settings (juvenile detention facilities, immigration detention facilities, psychiatric facilities for children and youth with disabilities), Olmstead and ADA matters, writs of mandate or administrative mandamus.
Proficiency in Spanish, an Asian language, or American Sign Language (ASL); Experience in the disability rights/justice movement; Extensive contacts in the disability community; Experience developing impact strategies through community lawyering; Experience with and/or extensive contacts in ethnic or language distinct communities; Familiarity and/or extensive contacts with one or more of the following: homelessness, criminal justice, substance abuse or Gay/Lesbian/Bi-Sexual/Transgender/Intersex communities; Fearlessness and a deep commitment to zealous client-centered advocacy.
TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS Ability to travel (when it is safe to do so) for activities such as out-of-town meetings, client visits, and hearings up to 25