Part Time Staff Attorney

Project Citizenship is in need of a part-time staff attorney to oversee its naturalization practice.  The ideal candidate will be able to work 3 days per week for a total of 20 hours per week.  This is a temporary position for three months with the potential for continued employment.

 

Project Citizenship seeks to increase the naturalization rates in Massachusetts and beyond.  Project Citizenship has 12 community partners in 2016 throughout New England. Partner agencies provide a range of support services for LPRs seeking citizenship, including civics instruction, application assistance, legal services, and referrals for ESOL classes. Project Citizenship relies heavily upon trained volunteers to provide cost-efficient services to citizenship applicants.  Project Citizenship is proud to count several prominent Boston law firms as pro bono partners, including Goodwin, Morgan Lewis, Ropes and Gray, and WilmerHale.  Project Citizenship has more than 150 active attorney pro bono volunteers who have contributed more than 1,000 pro bono hours.  In addition, the Boston area law schools (Harvard, BU, BC, Northeastern, and Suffolk) provide more than 75 law student volunteers for Project Citizenship’s workshops, screenings, and referrals.

 

Massachusetts’s immigrant population – the 7th largest in the nation – is one of the most diverse in the U.S. Our foreign-born population drives and invigorates our local economies. At Project Citizenship, we are committed to working with community-based, city, state, and corporate partners to help as many eligible, legal permanent residents as possible overcome barriers to become U.S. citizens.

 

Project Citizenship offers free workshops providing eligibility screening, application assistance, legal referrals and all materials needed to apply for U.S. citizenship. In addition, Project Citizenship partner agencies provide a range of support services, including civics instruction, application assistance, and English for Speakers of Other Languages classes.

 

The Part-Time Staff Attorney will assist the organization to meet growing demand for citizenship services in 2017.  The Staff Attorney’s responsibilities include:

 

  • Complete screening intakes to assess eligibility and potential legal issues for naturalization applicants;
  • Complete and file numerous USCIS applications, including the N-400, I-912, N-600, I-90, and FOIA/PA requests;
  • Review criminal records;
  • Schedule, oversee, and complete in-office consultations and appointments;
  • Thoroughly review completed applications for quality and accuracy prior to mailing, and conducting follow-up for submitted and pending applications;
  • Conduct follow up with applicants to ensure completion and submission of applications;
  • Enter appearances on behalf of and represent clients during naturalization interviews before USCIS;
  • Develop and deliver training materials for partner organizations, volunteers, and pro bono attorneys on naturalization-related topics;
  • Assign and manage case referrals to pro bono attorneys;
  • Supervise law school and undergraduate interns on legal research, projects, and applicant cases; and
  • Research and compose memoranda on a variety of legal topics, including immigration, criminal, tax, marriage, etc. for in-house clients and to support partner agencies.

 

Requirements:

  1. D. from an accredited law school;
  2. Licensed to practice law in Massachusetts or another state;
  3. Experience in immigration law, and naturalization is preferable.
  4. Available to work three weekdays;
  5. Some evening and Saturday hours may be required;
  6. A valid driver’s license and access to a car; and
  7. Ability to speak Spanish or Haitian Creole is desired.

The ideal candidate will have immigration experience and experience handling naturalization cases in particular.

To apply, please submit the following to info@projectcitizenship.org.

  1. Resume
  2. Writing sample
  3. Three references
  4. Cover letter

Project Citizenship employer is an “equal opportunity employer.” The employer will not discriminate and will take “affirmative action” measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, creed, color, national origin, or sex.

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