ICS is hiring: Supervising Attorney
Immigration Counseling Service has been dedicated to defending the rights of immigrants for 40 years. We are a group of diverse individuals committed to providing high-quality immigration advocacy and representation to over 90 low-income immigrant communities throughout Oregon and Southern Washington. Our staff have extensive experience in immigrant and refugee communities (many being from immigrant families themselves) and trauma-informed care and are bilingual in English and Spanish. ICS encourages collaboration and is a supportive environment where our attorneys and staff constantly learn and grow.
ICS seeks a General Program Supervising Attorney based in our Portland location. The Supervising Attorney is responsible for the supervision of the General Program Legal Staff and Client Coordinators which encompasses both our Portland and Hood River locations, works collaboratively with the Managing Attorney and the Sr. Paralegal on the day-to-day legal operations of the office and provides legal services to individuals in a wide variety of immigration matters.
Why Oregon? With offices in gorgeous Hood River and vibrant Portland, a career with ICS will offer you an environment of stunning natural beauty, quirky neighborhoods with plenty of character, and no sales tax! These Oregon cities have become destinations for young professionals, families, and world travelers alike for good reason. From rent to groceries, Portland offers a more affordable cost of living than other cities on the west coast. Worried about the rain? Portland’s annual rainfall is only slightly above the national average, and your patience on rainy days will be repaid by sunny summer days that aren’t scorching hot. ICS operates across Oregon, so you’ll have the opportunity to experience the state’s diverse natural scenery—from coast to desert, valley to mountaintops.
Responsibilities and Duties:
Provide strategic management and works collaboratively with the Managing Attorney and the Sr. Paralegal on the day-to-day operations of the General Program, including ensuring operational controls are followed; and providing the legal expertise to the casework through the preparation and review of the cases in the General Program.
Supervise the case work of legal workers and support staff to ensure ICS is providing exceptional legal representation.
Perform client screening and intake. Duties include reviewing requests for assistance and providing initial client consultations to determine eligibility for relief.
Direct Representation with USCIS, the NVC and Consulates. Duties include representing clients including but not limited to: humanitarian forms of relief such as U Visas, VAWA self-petitions, T Visas, and affirmative asylum as well as other forms of relief including Adjustment of Status, Naturalization, family-based petitions, inadmissibility waivers, consular processing, DACA, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Representation at EOIR. Duties include performing legal research, establishing case strategy, preparation of applications for relief, attending hearings, writing briefs, working with expert witnesses. Appellate work at the BIA may also be required.
Communicate with clients. Duties include following up with clients through texts, telephone calls and letters.
Expert on U.S. Immigration Law. Continuously develop knowledge of case law, statutes, regulations, agency policies. Be able to impart your expertise to the legal staff to develop an institutional knowledge base. Attending conferences and CLE’s.
Conduct educational seminars, perform community outreach.
Qualifications/Skills:
Graduate of U.S. ABA-accredited law school, Juris Doctor
Admitted to practice and in good standing in any US state bar, Oregon State Bar preferred
Minimum five (5) years’ experience practicing immigration law
Experience in public speaking, education or media
Extensive experience working with diverse cultures and underserved and underrepresented communities
Experience working with survivors of trauma
Experience supervising staff and volunteers
Strong written and oral advocacy skills
Strong client communication skills
Strong public presentation skills to a variety of audiences
Proficient legal research skills
Highly organized and strong time management skills
Ability to work independently
Basic computer skills (Word processing, email), and ability to write using proper grammar and spelling
Fluency in spoken and written English and Spanish preferred
Experience with database and software
Salary and Benefits:
ICS offers an excellent total compensation plan. Salary is commensurate with experience with salary starting at $88,000 annually. ICS offers an excellent benefit package. Our attorney positions are covered by the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF).
Working Conditions:
Hybrid Work: We have been utilizing and evaluating a Hybrid Work Model. Employees not in Operations or in an Administrative Support role are required to come into the office at least 3 days a week on a scheduled basis to be pre-arranged with the supervisor. Friday’s we are closed to the public and work from home on this day of the week. We provide a laptop, software and printer to each employee to facilitate a home office. We are a collaborative office environment and pride ourselves in not only providing high-quality legal representation to the Oregon community but also learning from one another.
May require occasional driving of a motor vehicle and requires a valid insurable Driver’s License.
May require evening or weekend work; working with challenging clients; driving to centers where clients are located, immigration offices, immigration court, and state courts and clinics in various parts of Oregon and southern Washington.
ICS is committed to creating a diverse workforce to strengthen our organization and is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. At ICS, we welcome and value applicants from all backgrounds, including marginalized and disenfranchised communities. We encourage applications from individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latina/Latino/Latine, people of color, immigrants (including people who were formerly detained, undocumented, or who have navigated the immigration legal system), women, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and individuals with rich cultural backgrounds and diverse language abilities. The individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, self-expression, and talent that our employees invest in their work help shape the culture here at ICS. We strive to have a workforce that represents the communities we serve.
All employment decisions at ICS are based on job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, genetic information, age (18 and over), veteran status, uniform servicemember status, unemployment status, sexual orientation, gender identity (including gender-related identity and gender expression), marital status, family status, or an individual having been a victim of sexual abuse, including domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking. However, being human isn’t about checking every box on a list. It’s about the experiences we have, people we meet, and the perspectives we share. So, if you feel you have the skills but are hesitant to apply because you’re not sure if your exact background or years of experience are applicable, apply anyway. We need amazing people like you to help us challenge the conventional and think differently about the problems that we’re solving. We’re in this together. Come be human, with us.
Reasonable Accommodation: Any employee who needs accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job should communicate with the Executive Director. We will work with an employee to evaluate whether there is reasonable accommodation that does not pose an undue hardship to the organization. Any proposed accommodation that creates an undue hardship on the organization, that does not allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the job, or that poses a serious safety risk to others that cannot be mitigated, is not a reasonable accommodation.
Position is: Management and Exempt
Reports to: Managing Attorney
Number of Employees Supervised by this position: Eight (8)
HOW TO APPLY: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Please send to admin@ics-law.org a cover letter including your level of Spanish language ability, a current resume, contact information for 3 references, and a writing sample addressed to:
ICS Hiring Committee Immigration Counseling Service (ICS)
519 SW Park Avenue, Suite 610
Portland, OR 97205