Staff Attorney

Under policies and procedures established by SCLS, attorneys provide a wide of high-quality legal services, from advice and brief services to full representation, advocacy, legal outreach, and legal education to protect the rights and represent the interest of the low-income community.

The areas of civil legal practice include, but are not limited to, community economic development, consumer, education, employment, family, federal income tax, housing, probate, public benefits, and migrant farmworkers.

• Ensures delivery of high-quality legal representation, advocacy, and legal education to low-income individual and families consistent with SCLS priorities and procedures
• Performs legal research and prepares memoranda, pleadings, discovery, motions, appeals, and interrogatories and keeps Managing Attorney advised of case statuses
• Appears in State and Federal courts for motions, trials, arguments, hearings, rules to show cause, pre-trial conferences, status conferences, roster / docket sounding and appeals.

Fills in for other attorneys as needed.

• Identify / analyze systemic issues through individual and impact cases.
• Participates in advocates, unit, program-wide, planning and strategy meetings with partners and statewide advocates
• Develop and maintain relationships with client groups, community-based service providers, and work with them to identify community lawyering opportunities

7. Performs all other duties as may be requested by the Managing Attorney.

Attorneys must possess and maintain valid membership to the South Carolina Bar Association.

Attorneys must complete all rules and requirements set by the South Carolina Bar and the South Carolina Supreme Court.

SCLS will pay the cost of continuing legal education (CLE) courses, the South Carolina Bar Dues, one County Bar Dues, and the CLE certification fees.

However, it is the responsibility of the attorney to keep abreast of CLE hours and to ensure that membership dues are forwarded to the accounting department in a timely fashion and prior to the deadlines imposed by the Supreme Court.

SCLS will not be responsible for late fees resulting from negligence of any attorney in reporting CLE hours or paying membership fees.

This description lists the major duties and requirements of the job and is not all-inclusive. Attorneys may be expected to perform job-related duties other than those contained in this document and may be required to have specific job-related knowledge and skills.