Energy Unit Managing Attorney in Philadelphia - PA, Pennsylvania at Community Legal Services, Inc.

CLS is a non-profit public interest agency providing free civil legal services to low-income Philadelphia residents. As the largest provider of free civil legal services in the Philadelphia area (over 80 lawyers and 180 staff overall), CLS is both locally and nationally renowned as a premier legal services provider dedicated to ensuring access to justice for all low-income individuals and communities. We provide high-quality direct legal representation, engage in systemic policy advocacy with the goal of effectuating broad-based change, and conduct community education and outreach. CLS has multiple legal units working in three offices, covering a wide range of civil legal services. You can see more about our services at https://clsphila.org/services/.

The Energy Unit includes seven (7) staff working in two offices. The Unit advocates zealously so that people have access to affordable water, heat, and electricity in their homes. The Energy Unit uses a cutting-edge, varied toolkit to increase access to affordable utility service for low-income Philadelphians, engaging in client representation, strategic litigation, multi-party administrative litigation, administrative and legislative advocacy at all levels of government, and media outreach and strategic communications. We also serve as Philadelphia’s Public Advocate in some utility issues, protecting the interests of consumers in rate setting and other proceedings. And in a growing area of focus, the Energy Unit works with community groups and other stakeholders to ensure that the voices of low-income people are centered in the climate and environmental justice movements. Our innovative work promotes health, safety, and housing stability in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania.

The Managing Attorney of the Energy Unit will lead the Energy Unit’s advocacy and provision of legal services, overseeing intake, individual case representation, systemic policy work and litigation, communications, and community education and outreach. The Managing Attorney will also provide leadership support, supervision, and mentorship for Energy Unit members. The position requires a high level of visibility and engagement with a variety of stakeholders in the City of Philadelphia, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, utility agencies, advocacy groups, and communities that we serve.

Essential Functions of the Position:

• Advocacy and Issue Leadership:
• Use a wide array of legal tools, including policy and legislative advocacy, community education, and litigation to support multifaceted impact advocacy campaigns and racial justice advocacy.
• Engage with legal services leaders, programs, and the overall advocacy community to advance a policy advocacy agenda at the local, state, regional, and national levels.
• Collaborate with other CLS units around areas of substantive overlap (e.g., Housing, language access, income supports, etc.).
• Provide advice and representation to a small caseload of individual clients.
• Engage in and co-counsel policy work (administrative and legislative), appellate work, complex and major litigation, and other special projects with Unit members.

Team Leadership and Management:

• Work with the Director of Supervision and Professional Development and with supervisors within the Unit to strengthen supervision skills and to ensure opportunities for professional development for all Unit members.
• Directly supervise staff, including hiring, mentoring, completing performance evaluations, and supporting supervisees’ substantive legal work.
• Work collaboratively with Unit members and upper management to jointly develop, implement, and supervise litigation and/or advocacy strategies to address systemic legal problems.

Stakeholder and Partner Relationships:

• Build, strengthen, and maintain relationships with directly impacted community members and stakeholders, agency heads and elected officials.
• Work in coalition with other legal, non-profit, and community-based advocacy organizations to collectively advance the Unit’s and CLS’s advocacy objectives.