Positions
Legal Manager (April 2024)
***Recruitment for the Legal Manager position to resume April 2024***
About Justice in Motion:
Justice in Motion, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the rights of migrants across borders, seeks nominations and applications for a Legal Manager.
In the face of overwhelming legal and practical barriers, many migrants who have suffered exploitation or abuse at the hands of employers or government officials give up their rights after leaving the United States. Other migrants who flee abuse, violence, and persecution are unable to remain in safety due to lack of evidence to support their claims.
These migrants need “portable justice” - the right and ability to access justice across borders. Justice in Motion is dedicated to ensuring portable justice through legal, educational, and policy initiatives in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Essential to this transnational model is our Defender Network, a unique partnership of on-the-ground human rights organizations in Mexico and Central America. Justice in Motion makes sure that wherever migrants go, their rights will follow.
About the Legal Manager Position:
The Legal Manager will join the legal action team and ensure projects run smoothly and in alignment with Justice in Motion’s theory of social change and program work goals, with the guidance and under the supervision of the Legal Director. While the initial focus of the position will be implementing legal action program objectives that support access to justice for migrant workers whose rights are violated while working in the U.S., specifically temporary foreign workers under the H-2 visa programs, over time the areas of concentration will shift as needed. The ideal candidate is a lawyer with at least 3-5 years of experience representing migrant clients in federal employment or civil rights litigation and who is also an effective and proven project manager. Because the Legal Manager will regularly interact with lawyers in the U.S. and with members of the Justice in Motion Defender Network in Mexico and Central America, the candidate we seek must have professional-level Spanish fluency (written and spoken), which will be assessed as the first step of our hiring process.
Note: Justice in Motion does not represent clients directly. This position does not include client
representation or direct legal services.
Details:
The Legal Manager is a full-time, exempt position that reports to the Legal Director and begins as soon as possible. This is a union position and will be covered by Justice in Motion’s collective bargaining agreement. Union employees are represented by the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW Local 2325.
Location and Travel:
This is a remote position and can be based anywhere in the U.S., with set work hours aligned with the Eastern Time Zone. This position will require occasional travel to Central America, Mexico and within the U.S.
Salary and Benefits:
Salary is based on the scale in the collective bargaining agreement, with a range of $69,200 (step 5) to $81,000 (step 12), depending on experience. Justice in Motion provides a comprehensive benefits package including health care, a retirement plan, and a generous amount of leave.
The Position
A successful candidate for this position will meet these requirements:
1. An experienced litigator ready to move away from representing clients: This person has a JD or
LLM from an accredited law school in the U.S., and at least 3-5 years of experience practicing law in the U.S., including in federal civil litigation on behalf of migrant clients. Relevant experience also includes project management, client representation focusing on employment and civil rights
claims, or immigration law practice, including petitions or representation for humanitarian relief. This is someone who has appreciated their time practicing law but is eager to “zoom out” to work on broader issues related to access to justice and migration policy at a project-level.
2. Spanish and English fluency in a professional setting: This person is either a native Spanish speaker, or has significant experience using Spanish professionally, and can communicate across all dimensions (reading, writing, listening, speaking) and who can easily switch back and forth
between English and Spanish, picking up nuances accurately, with comprehension consistently nearing 100%.
3.Tech-savvy: This is someone who easily picks up and adapts to new technologies and systems, can quickly figure out their way around a database, and knows how to use video and chat apps to find the best way to connect. Must be great with Excel and Word, GSuite, Adobe Acrobat, and basic document management. Salesforce or a comparable case management database experience is a plus.
4. An organizational whiz. This person loves the administrative side of program implementation- preparing for and handling lots of details and multiple initiatives running in parallel, methodically using task management systems to keep track of projects, and to help their colleagues to know what the priorities are so that deadlines are met.
5. Natural collaborator: This person demonstrates emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and patience, and can work with stakeholders from a variety of cultural backgrounds, with different paradigms and visions for how social change happens.
6.Proactive communicator: This person excels at confirming what’s being requested, checking for understanding, communicating progress regularly, and raising potential issues before they become major problems. They welcome feedback and are oriented toward the larger success of
the work, employing patience and finesse to meet people where they are.
7. Patience and adaptability: This is someone who knows people operate in different ways, and takes the time needed to work with each individual, and follows up appropriately. They can adapt to and thrive amidst changing circumstances and have a demonstrated ability to learn new concepts. This person appreciates creative planning and adjusting to meet new needs.
8.Cross-cultural awareness and ability to travel internationally: This is someone who has lived or worked with people from many cultures and within diverse communities and thrives in those environments. They enjoy being able to connect with a wide variety of people, and easily
demonstrate curiosity and empathy. As this job will require periodic in-person collaboration building to advance portable justice, the candidate must be willing and able to travel
internationally.
Responsibilities
The primary responsibility includes project management supporting Justice in Motion’s collaborative work to ensure portable justice for migrants. Projects address cross-border challenges in the migrant rights and immigration landscape and elevate international collaboration within civil society to advance access to justice for migrants, harnessing the added value of Justice in Motion’s collaborative model and
Defender Network in specific cases. This is an important position on a small team and duties may shift over time depending on strategic vision, opportunity, and the legal action team’s composition and capacity.
Specific job responsibilities include:
1. Project Management: Engage in special project implementation and evaluation as needed resulting from successful funding requests. This may include workflow development, program administration, data entry and outcome reporting, narrative writing, case collaboration
management, advice and referral services for lawyers based in the U.S. and members of the JiM Defender Network, meeting facilitation, and evaluation.
2. Relationship Management: Initiate and sustain collegial working relationships with members of the Justice in Motion Defender Network in Mexico and Central America and with the Advocates in US and Canada who represent migrants needing JiM Defenders’ assistance.
3. Legal Research and Knowledge Base: Maintain knowledge of civil litigation and procedures specific to representing clients from Mexico and Central America, solutions to cross-border legal issues, temporary foreign work visas, employment and civil rights laws related to migrants in the U.S., immigration law and procedure, US migration and labor policy towards migrants from Mexico and Central America, particularly as it relates to employment and civil rights violations faced by migrants and humanitarian migration benefits for migrants seeking protection. Share
knowledge with the team as needed.
4. Legal Training and Writing: Develop and deliver training (virtual and in-person) in Spanish and English to constituencies as needed and draft legal practice and advisory publications in both Spanish and English regarding migrants’ employment and civil rights, immigration, and access to justice.
5. General Support for the Organization: On an as needed basis, participate in JiM’s Policy program initiatives throughout the region related to migrant rights and protection, JiM’s Defender Network program capacity building related to cross-border collaboration serving migrants who need access to justice, and with Communications, Development, and Justice in Motion administration activities.
To Apply:
Justice in Motion values diversity in our workforce and encourages candidates of all backgrounds to apply. Please email a resume and cover letter that describes how you meet the requirements of this position to apply@justiceinmotion.org in the subject line, please write: “Legal Manager-- [Your Name].” Candidates will be considered on a rolling basis. No phone calls please.
Justice in Motion is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race,
ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital
status, or any other applicable status protected by state or local law.