Record Cleaning Supervising Attorney

Root & Rebound seeks a social-justice minded attorney to lead our California record cleaning work.

About Root & Rebound:
Root & Rebound (R&R) is a national reentry advocacy nonprofit, whose mission is to help
people navigate reentry and reduce the harms perpetuated by mass incarceration. We
provide holistic reentry legal services across all of California, with physical offices in
Oakland (HQ) and Fresno. We provide legal know-your-rights information, and individual
services on a wide variety of collateral consequences of a conviction including getting
ID and voting, conditions of parole and probation, and employment and housing rights
as they relate to an arrest or conviction history. Learn more at
www.rootandrebound.org.

Root & Rebound fills a vital gap in reentry legal services in the California legal services
ecosystem. We have even lower barriers to legal services than many other organizations
in the area. Given the state’s high cost of living, a person may not qualify for reentry legal
services from the public defenders or an IOLTA funded organization, but they will with
Root & Rebound. Similarly, our state-wide services fills another gap by serving clients with
convictions in under-resourced counties and communities. We pride ourselves on
meeting our clients where they are, and working with them to overcome reentry-related
barriers to achieve their self-directed goals. The positive outcomes we see from this
empowerment work are immense. One client explained the impact of this work: “Record
cleaning allowed me to feel confident in myself again and embark in the professional
world.”

Although most of our work is remote, our CA legal team has a strong emphasis on
collaboration and communication. We meet weekly to share successes and learnings, as
well as discuss new and challenging situations. We are team focused and our entire team
takes a mentoring and supportive approach to solving problems with and for our clients
and supporting our fellow staff members.

Employment Status: This is a full-time, exempt role, reporting to the Deputy Director of
California Programs.

Location: Oakland-Hybrid. The RC Supervising Attorney will work from our Oakland
office two days a week or as needed (hybrid).

About the RC Supervising Attorney Position:
R&R seeks an attorney to lead our record-cleaning reentry legal support. Record
cleaning–a relatively uniform process for removing prior convictions from view on
certain records in California–can have huge impacts on the collateral consequences of a
conviction, from housing to employment and occupational licensing and more. After
record cleaning, one client explained, “I no longer have to worry about a new employer
running my background. I can also find another apartment to live in that can run my
record and see nothing, I have had problems in the past and have to live in other places
because I [have a felony conviction].” This work changes lives in fundamental and
profound ways.

Root & Rebound currently has a record cleaning workflow that integrates various staff
and volunteer team members throughout the record cleaning process in order to lighten
the load of the process. This is a high caseload position, where the attorney will be
leading a team of staff and volunteers to achieve high impact outcomes for a large
number of clients. We are looking for an attorney who is excited about working in a
team and coaching law students, Americorps VISTAs, volunteers and pro bonos to
support every step of the record cleaning process to achieve client impact for a large
number of clients.

Responsibilities & Duties:

Direct Legal Services:

● Lead record cleaning case work to ensure efficient and high quality record
cleaning legal services (large caseload, but with support of additional staff and
volunteers);
● Staff the hotline, and occasional legal clinics with an emphasis in record cleaning
cases;
● Provide court representation for other record cleaning cases as needed, based on
factors including: staff capacity, budget, legal complications, and client and
conviction factors; and
● As needed, provide Know-Your-Rights trainings on topics including record
cleaning.

Record Cleaning Program Management:

● Lead the “record cleaning” team of volunteers and staff members to ensure
efficient and high quality record cleaning services for R&R’s clients across CA;
● Supervise paralegal and two attorneys (also focused primarily on record cleaning);
● Train and supervise, legal volunteers to support the record cleaning program, with
strong logistical and administrative support from our program specialist;
● Supervise clerks and volunteers as needed;
● Over time, expand record cleaning team to assist with CORs, arrest sealing, &
pardons;
● Elevate the barriers faced by our clients in reentry to create structural and policy
change to our policy team; and
● As needed, support public relations, development, communications, and
storytelling projects.

Qualifications:
● Licensed attorney, and in good standing, in California;
● At least 2 years of experience practicing, preferably in public interest law;
● Ability to delegate and manage a high caseload;
● Ability to communicate openly and work effectively with diverse individuals,
organizations, and communities;
● Demonstrated dedication to social, racial, and economic justice.

Preferred Qualifications:
● Project management training or experience;
● Proficiency in Spanish;
● Experience working with system-impacted individuals.

Compensation & Benefits: This role is a full-time, exempt position, with a salary between
$80,000-$90,000 commensurate with experience. Employees who are fluent in Spanish
receive an additional $2,000/year.
Employment benefits at R&R include:
● Medical, vision and dental care;
● Employer-sponsored 403(b) retirement plan;
● Internal and external professional development opportunities;

● Three (3) weeks of paid time off per year, plus holiday closures, which includes
additional office closure around the December holidays and seven (7) federal
holidays, Juneteenth, and Indigenous Peoples’ Day; and
● Sabbatical Program for eligible employees after five (5) years of service.

Application Instructions:
To apply for this position, please email your resume, cover letter, writing sample (max. 10
pages), and at least three references (explaining your professional relationship and
including their contact information) to [email protected]. Applications sent by
January 8th, 2023 will be highly prioritized. Incomplete applications will not be
reviewed. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. No
phone calls, please.

Conflict of Interest Notice: R&R encourages current and former clients to apply to join
our team. However, it is a conflict of interest for R&R to provide legal services to our own
employees. We will do our best to ensure that any current clients who are hired by R&R
have other legal representation prior to beginning employment.

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Root & Rebound is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including formerly incarcerated and/or system-involved individuals. We look at each applicant’s full experience and consider each applicant. We encourage people from all backgrounds and experiences to apply. Individuals with lived experience of the criminal justice system and its impacts are strongly encouraged to apply. We depend on a diverse team to accomplish our mission!