Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO) is seeking a full-time Staff Attorney for its Salem office.

Background

LASO is a non-profit organization that represents low-income clients in civil cases. LASO’s eight regional offices serve the general low-income population throughout the state and two specialized statewide programs provide services to farmworkers and representation on Native American issues. LASO is an effective, high-quality legal services program committed to advocacy strategies that will have a demonstrable effect on community problems. LASO is actively working to build an inclusive organizational culture that centers on racial equity. LASO is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a welcoming and culturally responsive environment for our staff and clients.

The Salem office serves the civil legal needs of low-income residents in Marion and Polk counties.

Responsibilities

The staff attorney will be responsible for maintaining a varied caseload, including family, housing, and public benefits cases. The staff attorney will be expected to spend significant time working on cases or projects designed to achieve broad impact on significant problems in the client community.

Qualifications

Zero to five years of legal experience. Juris doctor degree required. Proficiency in speaking and writing Spanish preferred. Oregon State Bar membership preferred. Proven interest in and commitment to advocacy for the legal rights of low-income and other vulnerable populations. Good judgment, initiative, and willingness to work collaboratively. Understanding of and commitment to anti-bias principles, cultural competency, and addressing systemic racism and other forms of oppression.

Salary/Benefits

Compensation is based on a 35-hour work week. Salary range is $61K – 68.5K for 0-5 years’ experience; $70K – 76K for 6-10 years’ experience and $77.5K – $100K for 11-30 years’ experience annually; salaries are determined by relevant work experience and our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Additional compensation for bilingual ability. Full benefits package including individual and family health, vision, and dental insurance coverage; 6% employer retirement contribution; generous paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave; and paid moving expenses.

Closing Date

Open until filled. Review of resumes to begin on August 1, 2023. Start date negotiable.

Applications

Send resume and letter of interest to: salemjobs@lasoregon.org.

As a part of your letter of interest, please address the following: LASO Salem is committed to building a culturally diverse workplace centered on equity and providing an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment for our staff and clients. How have your personal background and experiences, professional or otherwise, prepared you to contribute to our commitment to cultural responsiveness and diversity?

We celebrate diversity

LASO is committed to being an organization that reflects the communities we serve and is diverse in race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, national origin, or sensory, mental and physical abilities, work background, experience, and education. We believe that the outcome of such diversity is our greatest strength and a matter of basic human fairness. It is to this end that we strongly encourage applications from people of color and people from any other underrepresented and historically marginalized group to apply for this position.