Kinship Care Unit Staff Attorney

Job Description

Job Description

Kinship Care Unit Staff Attorney

Atlanta Legal Aid Society (“Legal Aid”) seeks a Staff Attorney to work in its Kinship Care Unit located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Our non-profit law firm represents low-income people in a variety of civil legal matters, including family, housing, consumer, public benefits, education, and health law. The Kinship Care Unit’s primary goal is to stabilize family relationships for children living with a non-parent caregiver (relative or fictive kin). We assist with adoptions, minor guardianships, custody, and a variety of other issues affecting the family unit. We serve the five-county Metro area, and also provide some state-wide assistance. The Kinship Care Unit staff currently consists of a managing attorney, four staff attorneys, one client navigator, and two paralegals.

Responsibilities :

• Handling a variety of issues related to stabilizing children in the home of kin (relative or non-relative, but not birth parents), including adoption, guardianship, custody, name change, birth certificate establishment and amendment, guardianship, dependency, domestication of foreign decrees, school enrollment and other education issues, social security, SSI, and other public benefit issues.
• Employing a variety of methods, including advice and referral, brief service, transactional work, negotiation, mediation, and litigation in various courts throughout our five-county service area.
• Supporting a learning environment for interns and externs.
• Preparing and presenting professional education programs for staff, volunteer attorneys, and others as needed.
• Participating in community education, task forces, committees, social service organizations, national and local bar associations.
• Other tasks as assigned.

Qualifications :

• Active membership in good standing with the State Bar of Georgia.
• Minimum of three years of relevant legal experience.
• Excellent legal writing, analysis, advocacy, and work ethic are required.
• Demonstrated commitment to public service, participation in law school clinics or trial advocacy courses, familiarity with poverty law, previous work with low-income people, and an appreciation for diversity are strongly preferred.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, listening, and organizational skills.
• Ability to balance compassion and pragmatism.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and in a collaborative, hybrid team model.
• Eagerness to learn and openness to feedback.
• Proficiency in languages other than English, particularly Spanish, is highly valued.

Salary and Benefits:

• This position offers a salary of $70,250 , but may vary (up or down) depending on work experience. Salaries are reviewed annually and may be adjusted based on available funding.
• Generous fringe benefits, including 16 paid holidays in 2026, 6 weeks of paid time off (accruing at 2.5 days per month), and 6 weeks of parental leave (12 weeks after one year).
• Individual health insurance, including optional dental and vision coverage, with partial payment for dependent health insurance.
• Life, long-term, and short-term disability insurance.
• Salary reduction option for a flexible spending account.
• Educational loan reimbursement up to $600 per month (after a set off of other loan reimbursement amounts).
• Voluntary tax-sheltered annuity with a 3% match.
• This position may be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness through the U.S. Department of Education.
• State Bar of Georgia dues and CLE expenses.
• A hybrid work schedule that allows staff to work 2 days remotely, subject to management approval.

Application Requirements : Submit a letter of interest, resume, writing sample (advice letter, legal memorandum or brief), official law school transcript (a copy is acceptable pending your order of an official transcript), and the names, phone numbers and email addresses of three professional references (preferably individuals who have supervised or managed your work) as one (1) PDF using our online application system at atlantalegalaid.org/jobs. Only applications with all of the requested documents will be considered for an interview.

Your application will be acknowledged. No phone calls please. For technical difficulties in submitting your application, please email [email protected] .

Atlanta Legal Aid Society considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other legally protected status.