U.C. BERKELEY LAW SCHOOL is hiring a Director for the Consumer Justice Clinic in its East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC).

The EBCLC is a non-profit legal services organization, the community-based clinical program for U.C. Berkeley Law School, and one of the Bay Area’s largest and most effective systems disrupters.  With a dual service and teaching mission, EBCLC is a racial justice organization committed to building a culturally diverse workplace, centered on equity. With about 80 staff, 150 law students a year, and a nearly $9 million annual budget, EBCLC is the largest provider of free legal services in Alameda County, providing multimodal, collaborative, and holistic legal services to over 8,000 clients annually and engaging in legislative and policy advocacy at the state and local level.

EBCLC’s Consumer Justice Clinic (CJC) team includes a Director, 3 Staff Attorneys and 1 Program Coordinator. Together, our team represents and advocates for low-income consumers in a broad range of consumer-related legal problems and helps develop explicitly racial justice focused policy solutions, while simultaneously supervising and training law students. EBCLC is excited to recruit a CJC Director who can supervise and support this incredible team, ensure progress towards program goals and objectives, while also maintaining a reduced caseload and supervising law students.

Primary Responsibilities

·       Manage the Consumer Justice Clinic, providing vision, planning and implementation of the work within the context of EBCLC’s larger racial justice mission;

·       Supervise a five-person team providing support on: cases, professional development, performance evaluation, workload management, and wellness; 

·       Teach, supervise, and mentor law students enrolled in CJC, including designing curriculum, providing highly interactive legal and skills training, and facilitating weekly individual and group supervision meetings;

·       Participate in ongoing professional development to improve management skills, client services and student supervision;

·       Manage a reduced caseload of consumer-related cases;

·       Engage in policy advocacy in close collaboration with community partners;

·       Work with Executive Director, Deputy Director and Development Director to attract financial support for CJC, oversee grants management, and provide general administrative oversight;

·       Serve on EBCLC’s management team, providing input and support for the broader organization;

·       Serve as the primary contact with the community and media, including responding to press and service provider inquiries, making presentations to the public, community and other professional groups, and overseeing staff to whom these tasks have been delegated; and

·       Other tasks as assigned by the Deputy Director.

Minimum Qualifications

• J.D. degree required, member of the California State Bar in good standing
• Strong understanding of the role of consumer law in addressing economic and racial inequities
• Experience with, or strong interest in, supervision, including a commitment to cultivating a collaborative, non-hierarchical, and playful team culture
• Excellent time management, priority-setting and organizational skills
• Ability to work effectively with a diverse range of groups, including people of color, homeless clients, immigrants, non-English speakers, clients with mental disabilities, law students, government employees, elected officials and law school faculty
• Adept at public relations, including speaking engagements and media requests

Salary and Benefits

Starting salary for this exempt position is $70,000 - $100,000 based on number of years of prior legal experience, as dictated by the EBCLC salary scale.

Benefits include fully paid health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) for employees and their dependents, life and disability insurance, and generous paid leave (vacation, sick, and holidays); EBCLC also offers flexible spending accounts for qualified health, dependent care, and commute expenditures; and retirement options.

Professional development support includes membership in the relevant local, statewide and/or national associations, attendance at relevant conferences, as determined by EBCLC’s professional development policy and budget.

Workplace Expectations

Due to COVID19, all EBCLC employees are working remotely. The Consumer Justice Clinic Director and all EBCLC employees will continue to work remotely as long as California’s Shelter in Place remains in effect. The expectation is that the Director will work in our office in Berkeley, California when it is safe to do. EBCLC will provide the necessary equipment to fulfill the job responsibilities of working from home.

Working At EBCLC

EBCLC is strongly committed to advancing justice through education and advocacy, and the need to transform legal services and legal education. Please take time to review EBCLC’s mission, vision, programs, and website, and ensure that your cover letter reflects how your background, experience, and expertise have prepared you to be successful in performing the responsibilities of the position.

Additionally, EBCLC is committed to building a culturally diverse workplace centered on equity and providing an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients. To achieve this goal, EBCLC works actively to improve our office climate, systems and structures, communications and community engagement to create an inclusive and respectful workplace where differences are acknowledged and valued.  In your cover letter, please address how your personal background and experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to contribute to our commitment to cultural responsiveness and diversity amongst our staff.

We strongly encourage individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply. EBCLC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior contact with the criminal legal system, or any other basis prohibited by law.

Application Process:

Interested applicants should submit application materials by email to jobs@ebclc.org (include “Consumer Justice Clinic Director” in the subject line) no later than Friday, February 19, 2021. EBCLC will review applications on a rolling basis. Application materials should include a cover letter, resume, short writing sample, and names/contact information for two professional references.