Position: Oregon Law Center (OLC) seeks a bilingual (Spanish/English) supervising attorney to provide civil legal services to low-income individuals on employment and employment-related matters, housing, health and safety, and civil rights, as well as assist the managing attorney. The position is based in Woodburn, Oregon and serves farmworkers statewide. The OLC Farmworker Office has been serving clients in Woodburn for over forty years and is intricately connected to many community partners serving farmworkers. Woodburn, with one of the highest migrant farmworker resident populations in Oregon, is a vibrant historic town situated between the state’s capital, Salem, and the City of Portland. Woodburn is an easy drive to many emerald hiking trails and breathtaking waterfalls in the Willamette Valley and the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area.

About Us: OLC is a legal services program committed to achieving justice for the low-income communities of Oregon by providing a full range of the highest quality civil legal services. OLC operates eleven regional offices, a state support unit, legislative advocacy unit, and statewide farmworker program.

OLC’s Woodburn Farmworker office is part of the larger Farmworker Program and comprises three attorneys and one community educator/paralegal; the Gresham Farmworker Office has two attorneys, one community educator/paralegal, and one attorney and one community educator/paralegal who work on the Farmworker Program’s statewide Cannabis Partnership with several other organizations. There is one managing attorney for the Woodburn and Gresham offices, and one Farmworker Program director. The Farmworker Program sets priorities according to client need; current priorities include employment, occupational safety and health, housing, and civil rights. Most of our clients speak Spanish or one of the indigenous languages native to Mexico and Central America, such as Mixteco, Triqui, Zapoteco, Mam, and Akateco. Our clients experience a wide variety of legal problems, including unpaid wages, inadequate housing, unsafe work conditions including excessive heat, hazardous chemicals, violence, and sexual harassment. The most common form of discrimination they face is retaliation for asserting their legal protections.

OLC is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive organization and a healthy work environment for all staff. We strongly encourage people from diverse backgrounds and communities to apply for a job with us. Many of our employees come from backgrounds that have not always been represented in the legal field or have not been socially or economically privileged. This helps them be more effective advocates for our clients and contributes to our strength as an organization. Even if you don’t believe you meet every one of the qualifications described, we hope you will consider applying, and we welcome your application.

Responsibilities: The supervising attorney will be responsible for supervising assigned staff and/or other responsibilities such as creating and maintaining systems, maintaining community relationships, updating and providing onboarding, facilitating case and other meetings, and other critical tasks. This position will require a close working relationship with the Managing Attorney to assure compliance by staff with internal and external procedural requirements. The person in this position would carry their own caseload and handle all phases of litigation in state and federal courts including intake, investigation, filing complaints, engaging in discovery, making, and defending dispositive motions, alternative dispute resolution, and trial. Farmworker Program staff work some irregular hours, with some travel during the daytime and occasionally overnight, and some outreach to clients in the evenings. This position allows for gradual and expanding opportunities to lead within the Farmworker Program.

Position Qualifications:

• Demonstrated proficiency in spoken and written Spanish.
• Desire and ability to work successfully as part of a team.
• Demonstrated commitment to justice for low-income communities.
• A high degree of initiative and ability to manage a litigation caseload.
• Experience with or demonstrated interest in complex, impact litigation.
• Excellent written and verbal advocacy skills.
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to mentor individuals and facilitate effective team interactions.
• Member of Oregon State Bar, or reciprocal eligibility for admissions.
• Experience representing low-income clients, especially farmworkers communities.
• Leadership and supervision training and/or experience and/or willingness to gain experience in these areas.
• Proficient use of Microsoft Office Suite (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), Adobe, and web-based video conferencing and learning platforms (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams).
• Demonstrated ability to take direction and guidance from low-income clients and their self-identified priorities and work for solutions within the legal process.

Salary/Benefits: $74,500 to $111,250, based on years of experience as an attorney. Additional compensation for bilingual ability. Competitive benefits package includes individual and family health, vision and dental insurance coverage, employer retirement contribution, generous paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave, paid moving expenses and bar study leave, among others.

Application: Resume review to begin June 2, 2024. Position open until filled. To apply, please submit your resume, cover letter, a description of your Spanish proficiency, and list of three references to Julie Samples, Managing Attorney, Gresham and Woodburn Farmworker Offices, jsamples@oregonlawcenter.org.

As part of your cover letter, please address the following:

OLC is committed to achieving justice for the low-income communities of Oregon. Our client communities include people of color, farmworkers, LGBTQIA people, immigrants, seniors, people with lived experiences of homelessness, veterans, people with disabilities, and people from other underrepresented groups. It is essential to our work to serve clients and we also work to create an inclusive and respectful workplace in which differences are acknowledged and valued.