What are the responsibilities and job description for the Managing Attorney position at National Legal Aid & Defender Association?
Position Description
About AID
Aiding Survivors of Trafficking and Child Abuse (AID) is Arkansas’ unrestricted nonprofit law firm and the state’s only law firm accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice to serve low-income immigrants and refugees. Founded in 2015, AID provides pro bono legal services to survivors of human trafficking and child abuse. Most of our clients are children, many of them immigrants and refugees who do not speak English. We serve them with the goal of helping them build a life of lasting unexploitability. In short, our legal advocacy gives survivors life-saving access to systems not designed to serve them.
Last year, AID served 649 clients and filed 1,371 cases and applications. Over 80% of our clients are children. Over 95% have survived violent crimes like child abuse, abandonment, sex trafficking, or labor trafficking. Our staff is comprised of bilingual legal professionals, several of whom are survivors of violence.
Position Summary
AID seeks a Managing Attorney to join our Northwest Arkansas team. This is a hands-on role: the Attorney will carry an active caseload of humanitarian immigration and survivor-centered matters while also supervising one attorney along with DOJ-accredited representatives and paralegals. The right candidate brings a strong work ethic, sound judgment, and a genuine commitment to clients who are navigating some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
Prior immigration experience is preferred but not required. AID will train the right candidate and provide ongoing professional development, including support to attend conferences and trainings. What we cannot train is the willingness to show up every day and advocate hard for families who have very little margin for error.
Schedule and Location
This is a full-time, salaried (exempt) position based in our Springdale office. The schedule is four days per week in-office, with Fridays optionally remote.
Essential Responsibilities
Direct Legal Representation
About AID
Aiding Survivors of Trafficking and Child Abuse (AID) is Arkansas’ unrestricted nonprofit law firm and the state’s only law firm accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice to serve low-income immigrants and refugees. Founded in 2015, AID provides pro bono legal services to survivors of human trafficking and child abuse. Most of our clients are children, many of them immigrants and refugees who do not speak English. We serve them with the goal of helping them build a life of lasting unexploitability. In short, our legal advocacy gives survivors life-saving access to systems not designed to serve them.
Last year, AID served 649 clients and filed 1,371 cases and applications. Over 80% of our clients are children. Over 95% have survived violent crimes like child abuse, abandonment, sex trafficking, or labor trafficking. Our staff is comprised of bilingual legal professionals, several of whom are survivors of violence.
Position Summary
AID seeks a Managing Attorney to join our Northwest Arkansas team. This is a hands-on role: the Attorney will carry an active caseload of humanitarian immigration and survivor-centered matters while also supervising one attorney along with DOJ-accredited representatives and paralegals. The right candidate brings a strong work ethic, sound judgment, and a genuine commitment to clients who are navigating some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
Prior immigration experience is preferred but not required. AID will train the right candidate and provide ongoing professional development, including support to attend conferences and trainings. What we cannot train is the willingness to show up every day and advocate hard for families who have very little margin for error.
Schedule and Location
This is a full-time, salaried (exempt) position based in our Springdale office. The schedule is four days per week in-office, with Fridays optionally remote.
Essential Responsibilities
Direct Legal Representation
- Manage a caseload of immigration matters, including I-601 and I-601A waivers, asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), T-Nonimmigrant Status (T Visas), U Visas, VAWA self-petitions, and other relief for survivors of trafficking, abuse, and abandonment.
- Conduct client intake and interviews; develop case theory; prepare and file applications, petitions, motions, and supporting documentation with USCIS, EOIR, state courts, and other adjudicating bodies. Note: We only do defensive/EOIR work in the rarest of circumstances because the immigration court is 5 hours from our office.
- Represent clients at hearings, interviews, and court appearances as needed.
- Maintain ethical, trauma-informed client relationships and accurate case documentation in AID’s case management system.
- Serve as point person for legal matters in the CEO's absence, in coordination with the COO.
- Supervise one staff attorney and provide day-to-day guidance to DOJ-accredited representatives and paralegals on assigned cases.
- Review work product, provide substantive feedback, and support the professional growth of supervisees.
- Contribute to a collaborative, kind, and rigorous office culture that centers radical candor, a blend of directness and kindness.
- Track time contemporaneously and accurately across cases and tasks in support of grant compliance and organizational sustainability.
- Participate in case decision meetings, staff meetings, and other team gatherings.
- Represent AID with referral partners, courts, and community stakeholders as appropriate.