Senior Director, Legal Services

South Texas College of Law Houston (TX) · United States

SUMMARY The Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics at South Texas College of Law Houston seeks an attorney with leadership, initiative, experience and a demonstrated commitment to public interest law to fill a managing attorney position. The Senior Director, Legal Services (Senior Director) position entails supervision of the entirety of the clinical program. The Senior Director oversees the unit's legal representation of lower income clients in state court and before administrative agencies, as well as the Clinic's outreach, pro bono, and community awareness programs. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned. The Senior Director is expected to oversee the entirety of the Clinic's docket (and the quality of representation provided), to plan and implement community outreach, and to ensure compliance with grant and funding requirements. The Senior Director may also handle their own caseload proportionate to management and administrative duties. Providing direct supervision and mentorship of attorneys, clinic teaching fellows, support staff and student interns involved in client representation. Working with staff attorneys, clinic teaching fellows, and support staff to review and assign new client applications for assistance. Co-counseling, as appropriate, with staff attorneys and clinic teaching fellows on client representation, identifying appropriate training materials and programs to enhance the lawyering skills of clinic attorneys and fellows. Providing vision and leadership in developing and maintaining community outreach efforts, Networking and coordinating with local and statewide legal service providers in order to expand the clinic's reach as a force multiplier. Ensuring compliance with the requirements of various funding sources. Overseeing office administrative matters. Handling client complaints. Comply with all aspects of the law school's Customer Service Standards. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES The Senior Director is responsible for supervising and overseeing the entirety of the Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinic staff, including the staff attorneys, support personnel, and student attorneys. QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Must be professional and confidential of all department data and correspondence. The person must have a professional image; strong ability to multi-task and prioritize in a fast-paced environment, excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively and efficiently with all employees, visitors and students while projecting a positive image for the area and law school. Service oriented with ability to make all visitors feel welcome. Must be computer literate with proficiency in MS Office applications with ability to learn new programs as necessary. Must be detail-oriented and flexible with job duties and responsibilities. EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE Juris Doctor and licensure to practice in Texas (or eligible for admission to the Texas Bar by reciprocity). Five years' practice experience required. Prior family law, probate, and public benefits law experience strongly preferred. Three to five years of prior public interest or volunteer experience serving low- income people preferred. LANGUAGE SKILLS Proficient in both spoken and written English. Ability to interpret and explain complex data as necessary. Ability to effectively and professionally communicate in one-on-one and small group situations to students, alumni, clients, and other employees of the law school. Spoken and written proficiency in a language other than English, specifically in Spanish, is strongly preferred. MATHEMATICAL SKILLS Ability to perform basic math is essential. REASONING ABILITY Ability to define routine problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions and/or deal with a variety of variables in situations, especially when department head may be out of office or unavailable. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. CERTIFICATES AND/OR LICENSES Licensure to practice in Texas (or eligible for admission to the Texas Bar by reciprocity) is required. PHYSICAL DEMANDS The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee may be required to stand and walk based on the job duties. Ability to lift up to 5lbs. is required. Lifting from floor level, at waist, and above shoulders required. Infrequent bending and stooping necessary. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision in order to accurately input data and proofread; distance vision in order to recognize and assist visitors to the department. WORK ENVIRONMENT The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Fast paced, multi-tasking, non-smoking work environment. Must be able to work the general business schedule of the law school (9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) with flexibility for extended hours as needed. Occasional evenings and weekends as necessary.