GLAD, Legal Director
GLAD
Job Description
For more than 40 years, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) has been on the leading edge of advocacy for the rights of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV. GLAD’s next Legal Director will join a seasoned, groundbreaking and motivated organization and will lead and collaborate with a nationally renowned and esteemed team of legal strategists at a critical moment. The challenges are very real, with nearly 160 federal judicial appointments in the last three years, a precariously shifting balance on the U.S. Supreme Court, and coordinated efforts to reverse and erode our slow gains and hard-fought victories. However so too are the opportunities, with progress being made and sustained at the state level, new and innovative legal ideas being tested and developed, and a younger generation becoming invigorated and energized in broad-based advocacy that provides hope for short-term and long-term change. GLAD offers the opportunity for a strategic and creative thought leader to shape both affirmative and defensive legal efforts to make his/her/their mark on social change, the LGBTQ movement, and beyond.
The Position
Reporting to the Executive Director and serving as a member of the five-person Senior Management Team, the Legal Director will be instrumental in furthering GLAD’s vision for full equality and justice for LGBTQ people and people living with HIV across New England and nationally. Managing a 10-person Legal Department including Project Directors, Staff Attorneys and Legal Assistants, the Legal Director will oversee GLAD’s legal strategy and ensure excellence in the execution of its work. Primary responsibilities include:
Strategy
- Steer and refine GLAD’s affirmative strategies to expand equality for LGBTQ people and people living with HIV at the state, regional, federal and cultural levels;
- Support and shape GLAD’s litigation, legislative and policy, and legal education work;
- Oversee case docket and ensure it is aligned with organizational strategies and goals.
- Lead a team of high-performing lawyers;
- Establish consensus around departmental priorities and manage resources to meet those priorities, including management of the legal department budget;
- Manage departmental structures, individual workplans, and evaluation processes; support individual lawyers’ professional development;
- Facilitate weekly Legal Department meeting and guide decision-making;
- Oversee systems for promoting information flow, assessing priorities, driving decisions, and increasing efficiencies;
- Model and facilitate effective and open communication within the Legal Department and throughout the organization;
- Partner with the Executive Director and other members of the Senior Management Team on high level organizational management, a coherent strategic framework, and budget setting;
- Prepare and present reports to the Board of Directors.
- Represent GLAD at national roundtable meetings, conferences, in the media, the community, and at relevant events;
- Foster strong relationships with legal advocates in other LGBTQ, HIV, civil rights and social justice organizations and movements;
- Participate in fundraising activities including engaging with donors and funders.
- Demonstrated success building strong and effective teams working in cultures defined by excellence, professionalism, trust, and respect;
- A deep understanding of how impact litigation, policy and education strategies are employed to expand civil rights and change cultural norms;
- Appellate litigation experience;
- Knowledge of the histories and issues affecting LGBTQ people and people living with HIV;
- Abiding commitment to race and gender equity and economic justice in LGBTQ litigation and policy;
- Proven success leading diverse teams, developing equitable policies, and creating cultures of inclusion;
- Excellent interpersonal communication and public speaking skills, including the ability to distill complex legal issues into language accessible to a wide range of audiences;
- Exceptional listening and negotiating skills to facilitate conversation and drive decisions in a consensus-driven department;
- Capacity and enthusiasm for frequent travel and participation in events outside regular work hours.