8177-Attorney (Civil/Criminal) - City and County of San Francisco

Department: Public Defender's Office
Job class: 8177- Attorney
Role type: Temporary Exempt What does this mean?
Hours: Full-time

This is a full-time grant position, which has been funded for one year. The Public Defender’s Office is planning to seek permanent funding for the position, but there is currently no guarantee beyond one year. 

• Application Opening:  October 15, 2024
• Application Deadline: November 5, 2024 by 11:59pm 

The Public Defender’s office provides legal representation to persons charged with a crime in San Francisco who do not have the financial means to retain their own counsel. Each year, the office serves approximately 20,000 people. Over 70% of our clients are Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC).

The Freedom Project (TFP) within the Office of the Public Defender is dedicated to decarceration, successful reentry, and post-conviction systemic change. In the last four years, the FP has helped free 92 people from California prisons, mostly representing folks at resentencing in the trial court (PC 1172.1, 1172.6, 1172.75), and also through Heard petitions for minors given life sentences, parole hearings when resentencing applications do not go as hoped, and by strategic use of petitions to document youth factors for future parole hearings. TFP helped draft and pass legislation that significantly strengthened “second look” resentencing law (PC 1172.1). With this and other grant positions, TFP has also launched a robust habeas practice, including innocence Racial Justice Act and immigration-related claims.

The 8177 duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job, 8177- Attorney, in the Public Defender’s office as a whole and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

1. Fiercely and creatively represents individuals accused of crimes at all stages of criminal proceedings, including but not limited to, arraignments, pretrial motions and preliminary hearings, court and jury trials, sentencing hearings and/or various post-conviction proceedings. 
2. Identifies and understands complex legal concepts and issues, keeps up with rapidly-evolving decisional and statutory law, applies critical thinking skills to gathering and analyzing evidence and information, and formulates client-centered arguments and solutions.
3. Utilizes outstanding organizational skills to independently prioritize and manage multiple ongoing cases, clients, and loved ones, and maintains an ability to work effectively under pressure, challenge, or adversity.
4. Maintains effective client relationships to ensure that clients’ needs are thoroughly identified and handled in a manner consistent with the principles and practices of the Public Defender’s Office.
5. Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication and advocacy skills, and the ability and interest in working on behalf of a diverse client population and collaboratively with Public Defender staff, including investigators, paralegals, social workers, and administrative teams.
6. Performs other related duties as required.

The Freedom Project attorney responsibilities include but not limited to: handle petitions to address Racial Justice Act violations, applications for resentencing under PC 1170(d), 1172.1, 1172.6, and 1172.75, and parole hearing advocacy. The position requires solid understanding of criminal law and felony practice, solid legal writing skills, and an advanced ability to absorb and assimilate large amounts of material.

Desirable Qualifications:

• at least four years of criminal legal and/or crimmigration practice
• strong interpersonal and communication skills, including with those incarcerated for years or decades and their loved ones, and a deep empathy for their experiences alongside the need to objectively analyze the possibility of a successful legal claim
• a demonstrated commitment to using the law to increase freedom for marginalized individuals and communities
• a sincere openness to incorporate feedback and edit written work to maximize effectiveness
• the diligence and self-motivation to work well independently and the emotional intelligence to work well with a small team
• Lived experience in the criminal punishment system

These minimum qualifications establish the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license(s) which are required for employment in the classification. Please note, additional qualifications (i.e., special conditions) may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the exam/job announcement.

License and Certification:

Active membership in good standing with the State Bar of California.

Note: Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted. 

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

·  Select the Announcement: 8177- Attorney

·  Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen

Reminder to include your resume and cover letter with your application. 

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Stephanie Aquino,  Stephanie.aquino@sfgov.org

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams [required for Combined, Promotive, Entrance
• (CPE) Exams only]
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.