Staff Attorney - Medical-Legal Partnerships

Description

For over 50 years, Legal Aid Chicago has provided free civil legal assistance to people living in poverty in metropolitan Chicago. Each year our attorneys, volunteers, and staff help resolve civil legal problems, including domestic violence, consumer fraud, and unfair evictions. Legal Aid Chicago was founded on the philosophy that all individuals are entitled to quality civil legal representation, regardless of their income. We work to ensure that poverty is not an impediment to justice.

Legal Aid Chicago offers a hybrid work environment. This role has a minimum expectation of one (1) day per week in office and an on-site hospital rotation once every three weeks. Our offices, located in downtown Chicago at 120 S. LaSalle Street, are ADA accessible and have convenient access to public transportation and local expressways.  This position requires travel to the UChicago medical campus and may occasionally include travel to court or educational or outreach events.

Position: Legal Aid Chicago seeks a full-time Staff Attorney to join our Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLP) Group, which brings together legal, medical, and public health professionals to address the social determinants of health and interrupt cycles of inequity for vulnerable populations.

Legal Aid Chicago’s Medical-Legal Partnerships work directly with hospitals and health care providers to address social determinants having the greatest negative consequences for client-patients’ health and well-being. We have two active partnerships:

• Health Forward/Salud Adelante with the Cook County Health and Hospitals System to integrate legal, medical, and public health services in Chicago’s most health-challenged neighborhoods
• Recovery Legal Care with the University of Chicago Hospital to serve victims of violent crime

This position will predominantly support Recovery Legal Care, based in the Level 1 Trauma Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The staff attorney will be a Legal Aid Chicago employee while also being credentialed by the hospital. They will make bedside rounds to meet with patients recovering from community violence and intimate partner violence. This role offers a unique opportunity to provide empathetic legal support in a hospital setting, where unmet legal needs often intersect with health crises and structural harm.

The MLP team handles a broad scope of legal issues related to public benefits, such as:

1. Advocating for crime victims’ compensation from the State of Illinois
2. Challenging wrongful denials, terminations, and other issues concerning benefits from the Department of Human Services including SNAP, TANF, AABD Cash, and Medicaid through administrative and court proceedings
3. Navigating SSI and disability benefits issues with the Social Security Administration with appeals to Federal Court, if necessary  

The MLP staff attorney will collaborate with other Legal Aid Chicago attorneys to provide clients with more holistic legal services by also addressing housing, employment, personal safety, immigration, criminal records, and financial issues.

Responsibilities:

• Maintain a caseload of individual cases with an emphasis on representing clients before the Social Security Administration, Illinois Department of Human Services, Office of the Attorney General (Crime Victims’ Compensation), and other agencies that oversee public benefits
• Advocate for clients in administrative law proceedings and in appellate proceedings in state and federal court
• Maintain and grow knowledge in a specialized area of law, and competence in related and additional areas of law 
• Develop expertise concerning health harming legal issues affecting our patient/client population 
• Interview eligible clients on a wide range of legal issues and provide advice and brief services in appropriate cases, including on-site at hospitals or health clinics 
• Integrate advocacy with other Legal Aid Chicago practice groups to provide comprehensive legal services and engage in a holistic approach to client service 
• Partner and collaborate with physician/medical team and emotional health team to support the MLP service model 
• With supervision, manage complex litigation or advocacy to address systemic issues designed to have a lasting, measurable effect on our client community 
• Participate in community outreach, provide legal training and education for our health partners, and assist with data collection and reporting to those partners 
• Participate in other activities and speaking engagements related to poverty law including publication, permissible legislative and administrative advocacy, media relations, and fundraising as needed 
• Maintain case files and accurate timekeeping in electronic case management system 
• Handle other duties as determined by the Supervisory Attorneys and leadership team

Salary and Benefits:

This position is part of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW Local 2320. The Collective Bargaining Agreement sets employment terms and compensation is determined by the CBA salary scale, based on paid experience.

The budgeted salary range for this position is $69,433-$77,090, which reflects 0-10 years of paid, credited experience.

Legal Aid Chicago offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Bilingual Staff Attorneys are eligible for an additional stipend
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, effective the first day of employment
• Time Off: 15 vacation days and 18 sick days accrued within the first year of employment
• 19 paid holidays, including four (4) floating holidays
• Twelve weeks of Paid Parental Leave at 100% of the salary after six months of employment
• 403(b) retirement plan with an employer contribution after one year of employment
• $50,000 Basic Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment insurance, at no cost
• Access to Employee Assistance Program resources, at no cost
• Monthly internet reimbursement
• Legal Aid Chicago is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and is an eligible employer for the federal public service loan forgiveness program 

Requirements

Legal Aid Chicago encourages applications from individuals with relevant experience, particularly those who have direct experience with communities we serve or perspectives that help us understand and serve our clients better.

• Applicants must meet one of the following criteria:
       – Licensed to practice law in Illinois;
       – Licensed to practice law in another state and eligible to waive into the Illinois bar;
       – A law school graduate who has taken or will take the July 2025 Illinois bar exam and is eligible for a 711 license while awaiting results. 
• Strong oral and written communication skills, highly developed organizational skills, and trauma-informed client counseling skills 
• The successful applicant will be collegial and demonstrate a commitment to and experience with our client communities and/or people living in poverty, and applicants are encouraged to share that experience in their cover letter 
• Applicants must have the ability to work well under pressure and manage self-care and vicarious trauma to engage effectively with victims of violent injury, particularly firearm injury 
• Spanish language proficiency is a plus and will allow for additional compensation if fluency is demonstrated

To Apply: Submit a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and the contact information of two primary professional references and one alternative professional reference. For applicants with previous work experience, at least one reference must be a former supervisor. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position will remain open until filled.

Legal Aid Chicago is firmly committed to creating a diverse workplace and is proud to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and therefore does not discriminate on the basis of creed, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, marital or parental status, alienage, disability, political affiliation or belief, military or military discharge status, ex-offender status, family responsibilities, reproductive health decisions or any other protected status.

If an accommodation is needed to complete this application, contact Human Resources at [email protected].

Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to respond to individual inquiries regarding an application status. We will contact candidates who are selected for the next stage of the hiring process.