Trial Attorney - YAD Springfield

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

Courage 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 equityand 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

CPCSis 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

Springfieldis a city in Massachusetts and theseat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of theConnecticut Rivernear its confluence with three rivers: the westernWestfield River the eastern Chicopee River and the eastern Mill River. As of 2020 the citys population was 155929 making it the third-largest city in Massachusetts and the fourth-most populous city in New England. Founded in 1636 as the first Springfieldin the New World today the city is the urban economic and media capital of Massachusetts section of the Connecticut River Valley colloquially known as thePioneer Valley. Springfield has several nicknamesThe City of Firsts due to themany innovations developed there such as thefirst American dictionary thefirst American gas-powered automobile The City of Homes due to its Victorian residential architecture and Hoop City asbasketball 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.

MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

• ATrialAttorney must be committed to serving a culturally diverse low-income population and must be eligible to practice law in Massachusetts either as a memberof 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

Trial Attorneys provide zealous legal representation on delinquency and youthfuloffender cases using the Positive Youth Development Approach as well as using all the same criminal defense skills needed to practice in district and superior also provide post-dispositional advocacy and support to DYS committed youth as well as school-based Attorneys also work on projects related to improving legal representation and outcomes for court involved 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