Lead Removal Defense Attorney

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Job Description:

Job Summary: 

The Lead Attorney owns legal outcomes and quality control for an assigned region within the Removal Defense Department. The role carries a reduced personal caseload to preserve capacity for case-strategy leadership, quality control, mentorship, and escalation support across the regional team. The Lead Attorney serves as the first point of contact for complex or high-risk case decisions and works closely with the Director of Legal Strategy on legal matters.

Key Responsibilities:  

• Carry a reduced, region-specific caseload sized to allow capacity for legal leadership, quality control, and escalation support.
• Provide day-to-day case-strategy guidance and legal direction to assigned Associate Attorneys, including shared or cross-region attorneys supporting the team.
• Serve as the regional escalation point for complex legal issues, case-strategy changes, and matters presenting elevated professional-responsibility risk.
• Perform quality-control review of case files and filings prepared by Associate Attorneys to ensure compliance with firm standards and applicable professional-responsibility requirements.
• Provide functional legal oversight and direction over assigned attorneys, paralegals, and legal assistants, including case strategy, work-product review, and legal guidance.
• Coordinate with regional Paralegals and the Lead Paralegal regarding caseload distribution, staffing needs, and workflow issues affecting the region.
• Escalate operational gaps or overlapping issues to the VP for Strategic Initiatives and legal-strategy questions to the Director of Legal Strategy, consistent with the department’s dual reporting structure.
• Monitor case aging, deadlines, and caseload balance across the region and escalate resourcing concerns before they become compliance risks.
• Support onboarding, mentorship, and firm-wide training initiatives for newly assigned and existing Associate Attorneys.
• Represent the region in regular leadership meetings alongside other members of leadership.
• Maintain clear communication and collaboration across the regional case team to support consistent legal strategy, timely escalation, and high-quality representation.
• Perform other legal leadership and case-related duties as assigned consistent with the scope of the position.

Required Qualifications and Skills: 

• J.D. from an accredited law school and an active bar license in good standing in a jurisdiction relevant to the assigned region.
• Substantial experience in removal defense and immigration court practice, including direct EOIR litigation experience.
• Working knowledge of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the categorical approach to inadmissibility and deportability, and related removal-defense doctrine.
• Demonstrated ability to manage an active caseload while reviewing and directing the work of other attorneys.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to provide direct, constructive case-strategy feedback and legal guidance.
• Sound professional judgment and the ability to identify, assess, and appropriately escalate complex or high-risk legal issues.
• Ability to work effectively within a distributed leadership structure and collaborate across attorney, paralegal, legal assistant, and operational teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience in a lead, supervising, or managing attorney role.
• Experience working across a distributed, multi-time-zone team; familiarity with SIJS, VAWA, T-visa, U-visa, or other humanitarian relief pathways as they intersect with removal defense.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

The Lead Attorney delivers functional, operational, and managerial legal oversight for assigned Associate Attorneys.