Litigation lawyer
Justice for Children and Youth
Justice for Children and Youth works to protect and advance the legal rights and dignity of children and youth. We are a specialty clinic funded primarily by Legal Aid Ontario, and one of the only organizations in Canada focused exclusively on the legal practice of child and youth rights across a range of legal subjects.
JFCY is looking for a litigation lawyer to fill a permanent position. This lawyer will respond to telephone inquiries from across Ontario and provide direct representation to young people, and will be involved in the clinic’s test case litigation, public legal education, community outreach and law reform initiatives.
The successful candidate will demonstrate an ability to work well in a team environment with a commitment to anti-oppression and social justice issues and values, and a commitment to the protection and advancement of child and youth rights.
Essential Qualifications:
- Lawyer Licensee of the Law Society of Upper Canada
- Commitment to social justice and anti-oppression, and respect for the rights of children and youth
- Strong legal and advocacy skills, and demonstrated skill providing trauma informed services
- 3 years of litigation experience and a demonstrated ability to learn new areas of law
- Demonstrated skill in one or more of: youth criminal justice, education, human rights, constitutional, health, child welfare, family, or poverty law as they relate to the rights of children and youth
- Interest in all areas of law practised by the clinic
- Strong written and oral communication skills, organizational and administrative skills
Assets:
- Experience with youth outside of legal practice
- Ability to provide legal services in French
- Ability to communicate in a language other than English
- Policy development / law reform experience
JFCY believes in giving each and every applicant an equal opportunity to succeed on their own merit and we strive to hire staff that reflect and support the diverse perspectives, experiences and needs of our clients and our communities. We remain committed to upholding the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion in our work environment. We know that diversity underpins excellence, and that we all share responsibility for creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive organization. Therefore, in pursuit of our values, we seek employees who will work respectfully and constructively with differences and across the organizational hierarchy in actualizing the Clinics’ priorities, goals and principles.
We are strongly committed to diversity and employment equity and we actively encourage applications from members of groups with historical and/or current barriers to equity, including, but not limited to:
- First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, and all other Indigenous peoples;
- members of groups that commonly experience discrimination due to race, ancestry, colour, religion and/or spiritual beliefs, or place of origin;
- persons with visible and/or invisible (physical and/or mental) disabilities;
- persons who identify as women; and
- persons of marginalized sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.
Salary and benefits are in accordance with funding from Legal Aid Ontario, based on year of call. Applications, accompanied by a writing sample, must be submitted to: Karien Gibson, Office Manager at Justice for Children and Youth by email only to: gibsonk@lao.on.ca
Deadline: by noon on Friday September 18th, 2020.
No phone calls please, only candidates selected for an interview will be notified.