Staff Attorney - Housing

Description

Who We Are 

The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley (“Law Foundation”) is dedicated to advancing the rights of historically excluded individuals and families throughout Santa Clara County. Through our legal services, strategic advocacy, and educational outreach, we empower over 15,000 individuals and families each year. Our Housing, Children & Youth, Health and Pro Bono Programs use legal advocacy as a catalyst for social change, creating innovative solutions to the legal challenges facing low-income communities in our region. With a dedicated team of over 75 employees, we are the largest provider of free legal services in the South Bay region of the Bay Area. Learn more at https://www.lawfoundation.org . 

The Opportunity 

We are excited to offer an opportunity for a Staff Attorney to join our Housing Program at the Law Foundation. The Housing Program at the Law Foundation is a team including attorneys, community advocates, a social worker, and support staff.  The Housing Program seeks to blend direct services, systemic advocacy, and organizing to create impactful change for our community members including tenants, vehicle residents, and unhoused people.  Our current policy priorities include strengthened residential code enforcement, right to counsel in eviction cases, tenant anti-displacement policies, and decriminalization of homelessness policies.    

In this role, you will leverage litigation, policy advocacy, and organizing strategies to prevent housing loss and community displacement. You will fight housing discrimination, preserve healthy and affordable housing, and bring access to justice to marginalized community members. Your practice will draw from direct services to advocate for systemic advocacy to advance community goals. The exact composition of work will depend on a variety of factors including departmental needs, grant requirements, and the experience and interest of team members. All attorneys are expected to have or gain competency in unlawful detainer representation. 

What You’ll Do 

As Staff Attorney you will: 

• Provide zealous representation to clients in eviction court and administrative proceedings. Case load expectations are designed to allow time for systemic advocacy and/or project-based work.  
• Lead pro per legal clinics and/or assist pro per tenants in navigating eviction court. 
• Support tenants, vehicle residents, and/or unhoused community organizing strategy development, legal research, advice, and/or legal representation. 
• Engage in community-driven policy advocacy.   
• Factual investigation, assisting in development of legal theories and strategy, legal research and briefing, discovery review, depositions, and client communication. 
• Participate in tenant association meetings, policy coalition meetings, community events, and government hearings as needed.  
• Support program and organization-wide initiatives, including building race equity;  
• Provide legal support to non-attorney staff and pro bono volunteers in their work assisting clients. 
•  Collaborate with other Law Foundation departments, including our pro bono department, to provide seamless service delivery to our clients. 

Who You Are 

To be successful in this roll, you will have: 

• Commitment to community lawyering and social justice  
• Strong litigation skills, including research, writing, and oral advocacy skills, or a desire to build those skills 
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced and dynamic environment 
• Ability to work effectively in a team with diverse stakeholders 
• Compassionate and effective communication with individuals in crisis 
• Ability to identify, investigate and resolve client problems 
• Ability to analyze, write and present ideas and legal concepts clearly and concisely 
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to multi-task  
• Ability to adapt to client and departmental needs  
• The ability to work on a team of lawyers and nonlawyer staff on cases and projects. 
• Willingness to take risks and think outside the box 

Requirements

• Current member in good standing with the California State Bar 
• Some weekend or evening work may be required. 
• Awareness of how race and other identities shape our work with communities; commitment to
  inclusion and belonging. 
• Alignment with the mission and values of LFSV. 
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 or similar, with openness to learning new tools 
• Ability to perform the essential functions of the position, including use of standard office equipment, with or without reasonable accommodation 
• A valid driver’s license or other reliable transportation (to travel locally as needed for case work and court appearances) 

You’ll especially stand out if you have: 

• Experience or demonstrated interest working with unhoused communities 
• Experience in policy advocacy and/or organizing 
• Experience in community lawyering 
• Spanish or Vietnamese proficiency 

Don’t meet every qualification listed above? We still encourage you to apply. We know great advocates come from many different paths.   

What We Offer 

This is a full-time, exempt position, reporting to a Supervising Attorney. The annual salary range for this role is $82,000.00 to $110,000.000, determined by the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between SEIU Local 521 and Law Foundation. Placement on the wage table will be based upon an applicant’s experience in comparable roles.   

We are committed to supporting the well-being, growth, and professional development of our team members. To that end, we offer a comprehensive and competitive benefit package, which includes: 

• 19 paid holidays per year 
• 3-5 weeks of vacation per year 
• 12 days of sick leave per year 
• Up to 6 months of parental leave 
• Fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums 
• Free/discounted mental health therapy and wellness services for employees and their dependents through our Employee Assistance Program 
• A 401(k)-retirement plan with employer contributions 
• A sabbatical after 5 years of employment 
• An additional monthly stipend for those who are bilingual and utilize their language abilities in the course of their job 
• An annual budget for professional development 
• Employer paid CA Bar license and/or social work license fees 
• The flexibility to work a hybrid schedule 
• An office building that offers a fully equipped gym, outdoor terrace, convenient on-site parking, bike storage, lounge areas, and 24/7 security 

Workplace Expectations 

The Law Foundation is a hybrid workplace. Please note that you may be expected to work in our San Jose office a minimum of 2 days/week.    

Employees must be California State residents. Due to logistical challenges regarding taxes, insurance, and time zones, we are not able to consider staff in other states at this time. 

Working at the Law Foundation 

The Law Foundation is a unionized workplace, and members of the bargaining unit are represented by SEIU Local 521. This position is part of the bargaining unit.  

We are committed to building a culturally diverse workplace centered on equity, and to creating an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment for our staff, volunteers, clients, and partners. We continually work to strengthen our communications, community engagement, systems, and office culture so that differences are acknowledged and valued.  

We strongly encourage individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply.  

Application Process 

We aim for the application process to be fair, reasonable, and prompt. We will review applications on a rolling basis starting on October 30, 2026 until the position is filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.  Please note that our interview process includes interviewing by phone, video, and/or in-person.  

Application materials must include: 

• A cover letter that addresses the following: How has your personal background or experiences, professional or otherwise, prepared you to contribute to social justice, race equity and diversity among our staff? 
• A resume 
• Contact information for three professional references. We will always ask for your consent and inform you before contacting any of your references.  

If you need a reasonable accommodation at any stage of the application or interview process, please contact [email protected]. 

If you’re passionate about making a difference and want to join a team that values people, trust, accountability, creativity, joy, and fun, we’d love to hear from you! 

Equal Opportunity Employment 

The Law Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Employer. We encourage people of color, womxn, people living with disabilities, older people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to apply. It is the policy of the Law Foundation to prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type and to afford equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants, without regard to race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, reproductive health decision-making, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, prior contact with the criminal legal system, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law. The Law Foundation will conform to the spirit, as well as the letter, of all applicable laws and regulations. 

We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with the California Fair Chance Act. 

ADA Accessible Facility - Equal Opportunity Employer - Drug-Free Workplace