Director of Legal Advocacy

About the Organization:

National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) is a progressive 501(c)3 organization that works to secure the rights and human dignity of all women, particularly pregnant and parenting women and those who are most vulnerable including low income women, women of color, and drug-using women.

Our work encompasses litigation, litigation support and legal advocacy, local and national organizing, and public policy development, public education and outreach. Two principles guide all NAPW activities: to build bridges and align agendas across diverse public health and social justice movements, and to leverage and connect local organizing and activism with national advocacy and policy work. To that end, NAPW is actively involved in ongoing court challenges to punitive reproductive health and drug policies and provides litigation support in cases across the country. NAPW engages in local and national organizing and public education efforts among the diverse communities that are stakeholders in these issues, including the women and families directly affected by punitive policies, as well as public health and policy leaders.

Core Responsibilities

The Director of Legal Advocacy will oversee all litigation and legal advocacy activities for the organization including:
• Determining which cases NAPW takes on directly, as an amicus, or in an advisory role;
• Prioritizing which policy issues NAPW addresses;
• Developing and managing NAPW’s legal resources including our brief bank and on-line resources;
• Supervising all staff attorneys and legal interns;
• Contributing to NAPW reports, publications, proposals and practice manuals;
• Participating in planning, implementing and carrying out of conferences and meetings; 

• Integrating legal advocacy work with organizing and education efforts

Reports To: Executive Director

Qualifications:

• Applicants must have a minimum of five (5) years of relevant legal experience;

• A minimum of five (5) years management experience;

• Excellent legal research and writing skills and an ability to do creative legal research, writing, and advocacy;

• An ability to read, understand and synthesize medical and social science research material;

• Commitment to civil rights, and human rights, reproductive justice, and drug policy, criminal justice and child welfare reform; 

• Commitment to collaborative cross cultural work, including the ability to work well with people in diverse settings, and the ability to connect litigation and legal advocacy with local and national organizing and education efforts.

Salary and Benefits: Commensurate with Experience

To Apply: Interested applicants should send a cover letter explaining your interest in and qualifications for the position, a resume, including names of three references with phone numbers; and one legal writing sample to:

• om@advocatesforpregnantwomen.org
• Please put “Attn: Search Committee (Director of Legal Advocacy)” in the subject box.
• Finalists will be required to participate in a legal writing test.

Please note that this is an open-ended search without a specific hiring timeline.
National Advocates for Pregnant Women is an equal opportunity employer.