This is a full-time permanent on-site position with remote work opportunities. The exact mix of in-person and remote work will depend on the needs of the Division and assignments that must be performed in person (e.g., court hearings, client visits in detention facilities). For this position, it will be the responsibility of the attorney to ensure that any remote work they perform complies with the ethical and practice requirements of the remote jurisdiction. Currently, attorneys in the Civil Division are permitted to work remotely not more than two days each week. Even when a court’s practice allows counsel to appear remotely, the presumption and expectation is that PDS attorneys will appear in person for all court hearings.

The Civil Division’s general civil practice is both sophisticated and complex, and includes every phase of litigation, including discovery, use of experts, pretrial motion practice and trial work. It is sophisticated because of the level of attention, trial preparation, and resources the Division is able to bring to bear on each case that it handles. Team defense is practiced at PDS. Depending on the nature of the criminal matter and its posture, there is frequently close coordination with the criminal defense attorney. PDS’s resources allow us to staff even complex civil cases.  For example, the Civil Division has utilized the services of medical experts, drug addiction experts, housing experts, psychologists, forensic experts (in the area of cell phone and tower data analysis), DNA experts, fingerprint experts, child abuse/pediatric medical experts, and even a cultural anthropologist in a child abuse and neglect case. Our Civil Division attorneys have ready access to the Trial Division’s Forensic Practice Group to assist with certain types of scientific evidence. 

Beyond being interdisciplinary, the Civil Division’s general civil practice is also made complex because many cases generate questions that affect a client’s criminal procedure protections. Fifth Amendment concerns are implicated in any case where the client has a parallel criminal case pending or potential criminal exposure. As an initial matter, this means in many cases clients are not available to testify in the civil case. More broadly, what is done in the civil case, for example in discovery, implicates the Sixth Amendment’s Assistance of Counsel and Right to Present a Defense Clauses, each of which strongly protect against requiring the defense to disclose its evidence, strategies or theories to the government. Because these constitutional safeguards can be adversely impacted by how the civil case is handled, these concerns necessarily drive many tactical and strategic decisions in the Division’s civil cases. This dynamic adds a layer of complexity to discovery. Thus, civil discovery and work-product issues abound in many of our cases. The cases are intellectually challenging and require the highest level of skills to navigate these issues and achieve good outcomes for our clients. 

Civil Division generalists must be able to work on a broad array of civil issues and be comfortable lawyering in unfamiliar areas of the law, often with short notice or on an emergency basis. Further, the attorney must be able to work well with clients and work collaboratively with colleagues in the Civil Division and across PDS’s other Divisions. Other responsibilities include assisting in the preparation of practice guide materials on civil issues for use by PDS’s other Divisions and advising PDS attorneys in other Divisions on a wide array of civil legal issues. 

J.D. and minimum of two years of general civil litigation experience. A federal or state court appellate or trial court level clerkship that was primarily served on a civil docket may substitute for one year of the general litigation experience.

• Excellent research, writing, and oral advocacy skills.

•       A demonstrated commitment to serving low-income populations, and preferably to serving criminalized populations as a public defender, civil rights attorney or Legal Services attorney         

• A willingness to practice in a holistic team defense model of advocacy.

• Membership in the District of Columbia Bar or eligibility to practice pursuant to either D.C. Court of Appeals Rule 49(c)(8) or 49(c)(9)(B). Bar membership and eligibility to practice in D.C. should be specifically addressed in the cover letter. Successful applicants are required to make a three-year commitment to the Civil Legal Services Division.

Preferred qualifications include work in one or more of the following areas: family law, abuse and neglect, public and subsidized housing eviction defense work, administrative law, civil asset forfeiture, civil rights, public benefits, disability rights, and disability benefits. Fluency in a language other than English, particularly Spanish. 

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PDS AD 12-1 to PDS AD 13-2 (GS 12-1 to GS 13-3 Equivalent)

$94,199 - $119,482

Applicants must submit : (1) a cover letter; (2) a resume that includes a list of three references (name, address, telephone number, and a statement of how each reference is able to evaluate your skills); (3) a legal writing sample, preferably a trial level legal work product; and (4) an unofficial law school transcript or list of courses and grades. Please submit your application materials as a consolidated PDF below.