Staff Attorney, Mental Health

The Criminal Defense Practice seeks to fill the position of the Mental Health Staff Attorney for the Manhattan Trial Office. The Mental Health Attorney is responsible for providing legal expertise and advocacy to clients with mental health issues. The Mental Health Attorney must be able to work well with other defense attorneys, medical professionals, experts, social workers, prosecutors, judges, hospitals, corrections staff, and court staff.

The attorney will work as part of an interdisciplinary team with other specialized practice attorneys and forensic social workers to provide holistic services from the earliest stages of a case, including representation on competency issues, bail applications, and community based non-incarcerative program disposition issues and other relevant mental health trial litigation in Criminal and Supreme Court.

The Criminal Defense Practice is the primary public defender in New York City, providing holistic, client centered representation to over 200,000 people facing misdemeanors, felony, and homicide charges.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Represent clients being arraigned while admitted to New York City hospitals
• Advise and co-represent all clients undergoing 730 exams and 390 exams
• Work in conjunction with social workers to find programming, present diagnoses and treatment plans, present client histories to judges and prosecutors to argue for the client’s release and advocate for appropriate dispositions for clients living with a mental illness
• Training support on mental health issues for staff and community
• Responding quickly and effectively to client emergencies and problem situations
• Assist staff attorneys to identify clients with mental health issues and appropriately advocate for treatment and services
• Advise on possible defenses related to mental health
• Screen clients to determine fitness and/or criminal responsibility
• Assist other attorneys in obtaining psychiatric experts
• Conduct or second seat 330.30 hearings, 730 hearings, retention hearings and Jackson hearings
• Working with clients who have been committed to psychiatric facilities as unfit
• Other duties as related to our representation of the relevant client population

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

• Admission to NYS Bar
• Must have full felony certification and a minimum of 5 years’ experience in criminal defense or the equivalent in terms of expertise
• Working knowledge of mental health law and insight into the workings of the mental health system
• Demonstrated interest in working with a challenging client population
• Interest in working in an interdisciplinary team model
• Excellent writing and organizational skills

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range: $84,000 - $152,500

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Click here to read more about benefits.

Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF:

• Cover Letter
• Resume

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email TalentAcquisition@legal-aid.org.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.