Legal Director

Muslim Advocates is a national legal advocacy and educational organization based in Oakland, CA that works on the frontlines of civil rights to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths. We do so through legal advocacy, policy engagement, and civic education, and by serving as a legal resource to promote the full and meaningful participation of Muslims in American public life.

We are seeking an exceptional attorney and leader to join our team. The legal director position currently focuses on impact litigation in Muslim Advocates’ three program areas: Ending Racial and Religious Profiling, Countering Anti-Muslim Hate, and Strengthening Muslim Charities. The roles and responsibilities of the legal director, as well as the skills and qualifications we are seeking, are described more fully below.

Roles & Responsibilities
• Plan and lead articulated legal strategies and promote systems for proactively identifying and carrying out high-quality, impact litigation and related advocacy in pursuit of our programs and mission.
• Lead all phases of litigation, including case development, client interviews, drafting pleadings and discovery, taking and defending depositions, briefing and arguing motions, trial, and appeals.
• Supervise, train and support the professional growth of staff attorneys and legal interns.
• Build, manage, and maintain relationships with outside counsel and other legal advocacy
and community organizations.
• Lead our team to identify, develop, revise and implement client intake, case management and litigation protocols and systems.
• Monitor legal developments and policies that affect American Muslim civil rights.
• Support deputy director and other staff in reviewing, analyzing and sometimes advocating on public policy issues, including federal legislation and regulatory and administrative matters.
• Develop and write advocacy, blogs, opinion pieces, and informational materials for lawyer and non-lawyer audiences.
• Speak and otherwise represent Muslim Advocates at public and community events and in the media, articulating our vision, mission, and programs.
• Support the executive director and development team from time to time with discrete development tasks.
• Develop and maintain relationships with external audiences and key stakeholders. Desired skills
• Extensive experience initiating, developing, and engaging in creative, high-impact litigation and other advocacy.
• Demonstrated leadership, good judgment, and a high level of initiative, reliability and strategic thinking.
• Strong leadership that inspires others and encourages professional growth of others on the team.
• Experience supervising and training less experienced lawyers and law students.
• Successful management experience in a civil rights, public interest, or legal services
organization.
• Outstanding legal research and writing, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent oral advocacy and communication skills, including the ability to translate complex legal information into easily understandable concepts and messages to lay audiences and media.
• Ability and desire to work cooperatively and collegially with coalition partners and diverse constituencies.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to effectively communicate with clients, colleagues, and allies, and demonstrated ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Familiarity with the human rights impact of national security policies and practices.
• Exceptional work ethic, strong organizational and time-management skills and a proven ability and desire to work efficiently and effectively to deliver high-quality results in a demanding, fast-paced, multi-tasking professional environment.
• Demonstrated commitment to public interest law and to our mission and values.
• Willingness to travel, as work requires.
• Personal enthusiasm, optimism, and a sense of humor. 

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have most or all of the following qualifications:
• Experience identifying legal challenges and opportunities, developing and bringing a case from beginning to end.
• Ten years of litigation experience, although exceptional candidates outside of that range may be considered. Experience in federal court appellate and trial courts preferred.
• Proven leadership ability and collaboration skills both within an internal team of advocates and among peer organizations.
• Demonstrated creativity in addressing complex legal and public policy challenges.
• Civil rights advocacy experience, particularly in one or more of our three programmatic areas: Ending Racial and Religious Profiling, Countering Anti-Muslim Hate, and Strengthening Muslim Charities.
• Experience cultivating relationships with law firm pro bono counsel.
• Passion about civil and human rights, especially addressing the needs of American Muslim communities.
• Media relations experience.
• Admission in good standing to the California bar, or to another bar and willingness to sit for the next California bar exam.

Compensation & Benefits
Muslim Advocates offers a generous and competitive salary and benefits package, commensurate with experience.

How to Apply
Muslim Advocates is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. To apply, candidates should submit a cover letter describing their interest, skills, and experience, a resume, three writing samples (at least one of which should be a legal brief, memo or article demonstrating excellence in legal and policy analysis), and three references. Please email your application to Administrative Assistant Fatima Azam at fatima@muslimadvocates.org.

Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to submit completed applications by April 15, 2016, although applications will be considered on a rolling basis and accepted until the position is filled.