The Criminal Defense Practice seeks to fill the position of Mental Health Attorney for the Kings County Trial Office. The Mental Health Attorney is responsible for providing legal expertise and advocacy to clients with mental health issues. The attorney hired for this role will provide holistic services for clients through various stages of proceedings including representation on competency issues, bail applications, retention of experts, client assessments, and other relevant mental health trial and hearing litigation.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Represent clients being arraigned while admitted to New York City hospitals
• Assist other attorneys in assessment of fitness during the pendency of client cases
• Advise and co-represent all clients undergoing 730 exams and 390 exams
• Advocate for the rights of clients as outlined in Jackson v. Indiana and conduct all related proceedings
• Provide periodic training to all staff concerning mental health issues and policies
• Monitor observation orders and the timely transference of clients found unfit
• Travel to hospitals and other facilities to meet with clients found unfit
• Communicate with doctors on a consistent basis to review client status
• Advocate in court for programming, release, and appropriate dispositions for mental health clients
• Assist in arraignments to screen clients with potential mental health issues
• Assist and advise in the retention of psychiatric experts
• Advocate with external agencies on behalf of clients
• Advise on possible defenses related to mental health
• Conduct 330.30 hearings

• New York State Bar admission
• Felony Trial certification and a minimum of five years experience in criminal defense or the equivalent in terms of expertise
• Working knowledge of mental health law
• Demonstrated interest in working with a challenging client population
• Interest in working in an interdisciplinary team modelExcellent writing and organizational skills

SALARY TRANSPARENCY

The posting reflects the range of potential salaries for the role. The specific salary offers will be dependent on candidate qualifications, including collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range/ Salary: $81,755 to $142,218

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The leadership of The Legal Aid Society believes in attracting and retaining exceptional talent committed to serving our clients. We offer a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Salaries for our unionized jobs are governed by our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please visit our Careers page for additional information. Salary and benefits information will be available to applicants, when and if, an offer is made.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The leadership of 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, to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us.

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online. We do not accept paper submissions. Please visit our Careers Page to review all current job postings, and instructions on the application process. For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email .

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.

Please submit these documents as a single combined PDF when you apply via the LAS (Legal Aid Society) Recruitment Portal.

• Cover Letter
• Resume