Trial Attorney - YAD Springfield

Overview

The Youth Advocacy Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), the Massachusetts public defender agency, is seeking to fill a Trial Attorney position in its Springfield Office.

We fight for equal justice and human dignity by supporting our clients in achieving their legal and life goals. We zealously advocate for the rights of individuals and promote just public policy to protect the rights of all.

Our Values

C ourage • Accountability • Respect • Excellence

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MISSION STATEMENT

CPCS is committed to protecting the fundamental constitutional and human rights of our assigned clients through zealous advocacy, community-oriented defense, and the fullness of excellent legal representation. We are dedicated to building and maintaining strong professional relationships, while striving to accept, listen to and respect the diverse circumstances of each client, as we dedicate ourselves to meeting their individual needs. It is our CPCS mission to achieve these goals, and in furtherance thereof, we embrace and endorse diversity, equity and inclusion as our core values as we maintain a steadfast commitment to: (1) Ensure that CPCS management and staff members represent a broad range of human differences and experience; (2) Provide a work climate that is respectful and supports success; and (3) Promote the dignity and well-being of all staff members. CPCS leadership is responsible for ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion. The ability to achieve these goals with any level of certainty is ultimately the responsibility of each member of the CPCS community.

AGENCY OVERVIEW

CPCS is the state agency in Massachusetts responsible for providing an attorney when the state or federal constitution or a state statute requires the appointment of an attorney for a person who cannot afford to retain one. The agency provides representation in criminal, delinquency, youthful offender, child welfare, guardianship, mental health, sexually dangerous person, and sex offender registry cases, as well as in appeals and post-conviction and post-judgment proceedings related to those matters.

The clients we represent are diverse across every context imaginable and bring many unique cultural dimensions to the matters we address. This reality creates a critical need for CPCS staff to be culturally competent and able to work well with people of different races, ethnicities, genders and/or sexual orientation identities, abilities, and limited English proficiency, among other protected characteristics.

DIVISION OVERVIEW

The Youth Advocacy Division (YAD), the juvenile defender division of CPCS, is committed to ensuring that every indigent child in Massachusetts has access to zealous legal representation in delinquency, GCL Revocation, juvenile murder, juvenile appeals, and youthful offender cases from a diverse and ever improving community of juvenile defenders consisting of both private assigned counsel and staff public defenders. YAD provides leadership, training, support, and oversight to the indigent juvenile defense bar in Massachusetts. As youth in Massachusetts have a right to jury trials, an Attorney in Charge (AIC) oversees a trial office which integrates the work of Trial Attorneys, a social service advocate (SSA), and an administrative assistant (AA) to fully address the legal and developmental needs of our clients.

OFFICE OVERVIEW

Springfield is a city in Massachusetts and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern Mill River. As of 2020, the city's population was 155,929, making it the third-largest city in Massachusetts, and the fourth-most populous city in New England. Founded in 1636 as the first Springfield in the New World, today the city is the urban, economic, and media capital of Massachusetts' section of the Connecticut River Valley, colloquially known as the Pioneer Valley. Springfield has several nicknames—"The City of Firsts,” due to the many innovations developed there such as the first American dictionary, the first American gas-powered automobile, “The City of Homes,” due to its Victorian residential architecture, and "Hoop City,” as basketball was invented in Springfield in 1891 by James Naismith.

The YAD Springfield office covers juvenile courts in the four most western counties in the state: Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire. This attorney position will potentially handle duty assignments in each of these counties. Thus, applicants must be willing to travel distances and be flexible with court assignments.

Qualifications

MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

• A Trial Attorney must be committed to serving a culturally diverse, low-income population and must be eligible to practice law in Massachusetts, either as a member of the Massachusetts bar in good standing, as a law school graduate under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03, or as the member of the bar of another jurisdiction eligible to engage in limited Massachusetts practice under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:04;
• Access to an automobile in order to travel to courts, clients, and investigation locations that are not easily accessible by public transportation; and,
• Access to home internet access sufficient to work remotely.

QUALIFICATIONS/SKILLS

• Experience with criminal, especially youth defense;
• Experience with a community-oriented defender practice;
• Ability to provide trauma informed and culturally competent representation;
• Knowledge of adolescent development;
• A demonstrated commitment to social justice issues and experience working with individuals of diverse backgrounds;
• Knowledge of positive youth development;
• Knowledge of state and local resources of use to juvenile defendants;
• Understanding of juvenile justice practice and policy issues;
• Experience with educational system advocacy;
• Experience with the child welfare system;
• Experience working with children and youth;
• Fluency in Spanish is strongly preferred; and,
• Lawyers with four or more years of experience are encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

RESPONSIBILITIES

Trial Attorneys provide zealous legal representation on delinquency and youthful offender cases using the Positive Youth Development Approach, as well as using all the same criminal defense skills needed to practice in district and superior courts. They also provide post-dispositional advocacy and support to DYS committed youth, as well as school-based advocacy. Trial Attorneys also work on projects related to improving legal representation and outcomes for court involved children. In addition, Trial Attorneys play a leadership role in working towards reducing the racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile legal system.

EEO Statement

The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran or military status, genetic information, gender identity, or sexual orientation as required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other applicable federal and state statutes and organizational policies. Applicants who have questions about equal employment opportunity or who need reasonable accommodations can contact the Chief Human Resources Officer, Sandra DeBow-Huang, at [email protected]