Job Opportunity: Staff Attorney

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Employer: The Indian Law Resource Center
Position Title: Staff Attorney
Salary: $70,000 to $105,000
Location: Helena, Montana, Washington, D.C., or remote
Department:
Application Deadline: Open until filled

Job Overview: The Indian Law Resource Center seeks a Staff Attorney with a demonstrated, serious commitment to protecting and advancing indigenous peoples’ rights, including particularly indigenous women’s rights. The attorney must be licensed to practice law in at least one state within the United States. Knowledge and experience in United States federal Indian law and experience in working with indigenous peoples’ rights are required. Ideally, the attorney will have the ability to work in both Spanish and English or Portuguese and English, but this is not required.
The Indian Law Resource Center is an American Indian nonprofit organization providing legal help without charge to indigenous peoples in the United States and throughout the Americas. The Center is known for its leadership in winning the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Center recently received an eight-year, $20 million grant from the Kellogg Foundation to support our new project to expand and strengthen indigenous collective land ownership in Mexico and Central and South America. Further information about the Center is on our website, www.indianlaw.org.

Key Responsibilities:

The attorney’s job will include work on our project for ending violence against indigenous women and girls. In our Safe Women, Strong Nations project, we:

  • Raise public awareness to gain strong federal action to end violence against Native women and children;
  • Provide legal advice to Native women’s organizations and Indian and Alaska Native nations on ways to restore tribal criminal authority, to preserve tribal civil authority, and to prevent violense against Native women and girls;
  • Advocate at the United Nations and the Organization of American States to attack violence against indigenous women as a human rights violation; and
  • Build alliances with indigenous and indigenous women’s organizations and indigenous communities and peoples in the United States and in Mexico and Central South America to help them address all forms of violence and discrimination against indigenous women and children.

The attorney will also participate in carrying out other legal work of the Center including providing legal assistance to Indian and Alaska Native nations and indigenous organizations in the United States and Canada in matters relating to self-determination, lands and resources, international human rights, and environmental protection and providing assistance to indigenous peoples in Mexico and Central and South America to title or secure legal ownership of their lands.

Qualifications:

  • Demonstrated commitment to indigenous rights;
  • Superior speaking, reading, and writing skills in English, and, ideally, Spanish or Portuguese as well;
  • Strong research and analytical skills
  • Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate both with Center staff and with our partner organizations;
  • Familiarity with indigenous communities and cultures and with the rights of indigenous peoples;
  • Ability to travel regularly in the United States and to indigenous communities in other countries;
  • Understanding of international human rights and advocacy before the United Nations and Organization of American States;
  • At least three years of experience practicing law;

The position is open immediately. Interested attorneys should apply or contact the Center as soon as possible. There is no closing date for applications. Applications will be considered as soon as they are received.
This is a full-time, salaried position. The attorney will work in the Center’s headquarters in Helena, Montana or in the Center’s Washington, D.C. office. Working remotely will be considered but is not favored. The salary range is between $70,000 to $105,000, depending on location, the experience and skills of the applicant, and other factors. The Center provides generous benefits including health insurance and retirement. All employees enjoy 120 hours of paid vacation annually, paid holidays, paid sick and personal leave, and other benefits.

To apply:
submit a cover letter, resume, writing sample (or multiple samples to demonstrate ability to work in Spanish or Portuguese), and two professional references combined in one PDF document to: Melanie Dayton, mt@indianlaw.org