Immigration Supervising Attorney; Temporary​/Remote

The Bronx Defenders (BxD) – an innovative, progressive, holistic indigent defense office in the South Bronx – seeks a passionate immigration attorney with a commitment to public defense to fill a position as a Temporary/Remote Supervising Attorney in our Immigration Practice.

Founded in 1997, The Bronx Defenders is a public defender nonprofit that has developed a nationally recognized model of representation called holistic defense, which provides people with teams of lawyers, social workers, and advocates to defend them zealously in court as well as to address the underlying drivers and enmeshed penalties of legal system involvement.

Since opening our doors, we have grown into an organization of more than 400 staff members defending nearly 20,000 New Yorkers each year in criminal, family, civil, and immigration proceedings who face incarceration, family separation, eviction, and deportation, among other devastating consequences.

Today we are reimagining the role of public defense even further, using community organizing and engagement, legislative advocacy, and impact litigation to partner with the communities we represent to bring about long-lasting systemic change.

We also share our model and lessons learned with current and future public defenders. We run two legal clinics at NYC law schools and train public defenders from one end of the country to the next on how to move to a holistic model of representation.

Immigration Practice

Nearly a third of the residents of the Bronx were born outside the United States, and many face the unprecedented threat of detention and deportation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Our attorneys help people facing criminal, family, and civil proceedings make informed and strategic decisions to protect their rights. We are also one of the three public defender organizations leading the nation’s first-ever universal representation program for detained immigrants facing deportation.

Reporting directly to the Deputy Director of the Immigration Practice, the Supervising Attorney will have the following responsibilities:

Client Representation

• Represent a reduced number of noncitizens on complex immigration matters, including detained and non-detained removal proceedings, applications before USCIS, and advisals regarding the consequences of pending criminal or family court proceedings.

• Collaborate with colleagues and external partners in developing and implementing defense strategies involving federal litigation, collateral appeals, policy advocacy, media engagement, and participatory defense

Attorney Supervision

• Conference cases with attorney supervises on a weekly basis

• Review and provide substantive feedback on supervises’ written work

• Provide in-court supervision for all unadmitted law graduates and for admitted attorneys, as needed

• Assist supervises with preparation for individual hearings in immigration court and other legal appearances

• Monitor supervisee caseloads to ensure equitable distribution of work

• Oversee entries into our case management system to ensure that data and outcomes are accurately recorded

• Monitor and provide guidance to staff attorneys regarding docket management

• Encourage and support the professional development of supervises

Performance Evaluations

• Formally conduct annual performance evaluations of attorneys and advocates

• Provide continual year-round feedback to attorneys to promote the continual development of their practice and skills, particularly after trials and the submission of written work

Practice Leadership

• Attend immigration practice leadership team meetings to discuss ongoing issues impacting the practice and create and enact solutions

• Collaborate with the practice directors and other supervisors to meet practice goals

• Represent the practice at cross-practice and external meetings

• Lead and/or assist with external and internal trainings and presentations

• Demonstrate a commitment to anti-oppression work, and support marginalized supervises directly harmed by oppressive patterns in the office and work-related spaces

• Train and mentor interns

To be eligible, candidates must have:

• At least three (3) years…