The fight for affordable housing in New York City has reached a major breaking point. Affordable housing is vanishing as landlords exploit a broken system, pushing out rent-regulated tenants and catapulting apartments into the free market.

The Safety Net Project (SNP) at the Urban Justice Center is seeking attorneys who are looking for a creative and non-traditional environment working with passionate and dedicated professionals in the fight against unchecked gentrification and unaffordable housing.

SNP operates legal clinics at food pantries, soup kitchens, community health centers, and City Council offices throughout New York City to help ensure that New York City’s most under-served communities have access to safe and secure housing and fundamental resources like food and cash assistance. SNP combines direct legal services, policy advocacy, and community organizing to reduce poverty and homelessness.

SNP seeks applicants for the position of Housing Staff Attorney. The Staff Attorney will provide direct legal representation to tenants in the area of landlord-tenant law, including civil proceedings in NYC Housing Court, affirmative litigation and New York City Housing Authority Administrative (NYCHA) hearings and appeals.

Primary Responsibilities

Provide advice, counsel, and direct representation to clients in civil proceedings primarily in NYC housing courts on non-payment, holdover, HP Proceedings, and NYCHA administrative proceedings
Conduct legal intake and evaluate clients’ legal needs at SNP’s various legal clinics, including its Right to Counsel/Universal Access days at Bronx Housing Court
Provide training and technical assistance to community partners on topics related to landlord-tenant law
Coordinate and collaborate with other groups and organizations
Qualifications

Admitted to the New York State Bar
At least 2-3 years of litigation experience in landlord-tenant law preferred
Excellent research, analytical, written, and oral communication skills
Familiarity with New York City Housing Authority administrative hearings preferred
Experience working with diverse populations
Ability to coordinate and collaborate successfully with other groups and organizations
Sound strategic judgment and the drive to originate and effectuate new campaigns
A demonstrated passion for social justice and commitment to working with low-income communities and communities of color to advance equality
Spanish fluency preferred
Benefits
Salary and compensation: A competitive salary and excellent benefits package is available, with generous vacation, personal, and sick time, along with industry leading medical and dental coverage. SNP’s staff attorneys are on a fixed salary scale, and the salary for this position will be determined based on years of relevant experience in accordance with the scale.

The Safety Net Project is an equal opportunity employer. SNP encourages applications from people with diverse backgrounds, including women, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, people from low-income backgrounds, and people with personal experience with the criminal justice system. We strongly encourage applications from people with lived experiences in the communities we serve.

How To Apply

Interested applicants should send a resume and cover letter by e-mail to SNPhiring@urbanjustice.org. The subject line of the email must include: “Housing Attorney Position.” Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

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