Lead Removal Defense Attorney

Accountabilities:

Oversee legal strategy and case outcomes for an assigned region, maintaining a reduced personal caseload to prioritize leadership, quality control, and attorney support.
Provide day-to-day legal guidance, case-strategy direction, and constructive feedback to Associate Attorneys, including attorneys supporting the region from other teams.
Act as the primary regional escalation point for complex legal questions, significant case developments, strategic changes, and matters involving elevated professional-responsibility risks.
Review case files, legal documents, and court filings prepared by Associate Attorneys to ensure accuracy, consistency, compliance, and adherence to professional standards.
Provide functional legal oversight and direction to assigned attorneys, paralegals, and legal assistants, including work-product reviews and case-management guidance.
Coordinate with regional Paralegals and the Lead Paralegal on workload distribution, staffing requirements, and workflow challenges.
Collaborate with senior leadership, escalating operational concerns to the appropriate strategic leadership team and complex legal matters to the Director of Legal Strategy.
Monitor case progress, deadlines, caseload distribution, and aging files to identify potential bottlenecks and address resourcing or compliance concerns proactively.
Contribute to attorney onboarding, ongoing mentorship, professional development, and firm-wide legal training initiatives.
Represent the assigned region in leadership meetings and foster effective communication and collaboration across distributed legal teams.
Requirements:
Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school and an active bar license in good standing in a jurisdiction relevant to the assigned region.
Substantial experience in immigration removal defense and immigration court proceedings, including direct litigation experience before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
Strong working knowledge of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the categorical approach to inadmissibility and deportability, and other relevant removal-defense legal doctrines.
Proven ability to manage an active legal caseload while simultaneously supervising, reviewing, and directing the work of other attorneys.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to deliver clear legal guidance, constructive feedback, and effective case-strategy recommendations.
Strong legal judgment, analytical thinking, and decision-making skills, particularly when assessing complex cases and identifying professional-responsibility risks.
Demonstrated ability to work within a distributed leadership structure and collaborate effectively with attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants, and operational teams.
Ability to balance competing priorities, manage deadlines, and maintain high standards of legal quality and client representation.
Preferred Qualifications:
Previous experience in a lead attorney, supervising attorney, or legal management position.
Experience working with geographically distributed teams across multiple time zones.
Familiarity with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petitions, T visas, U visas, and other humanitarian immigration relief pathways, particularly where they intersect with removal defense.
Benefits:
Opportunity to take on a senior legal leadership position with meaningful influence over case strategy and legal outcomes.
Reduced individual caseload, allowing greater focus on attorney mentorship, quality assurance, and regional legal oversight.
Opportunity to contribute to the professional development and success of a growing legal team.
Collaborative leadership environment with opportunities to work closely with senior legal and operational leaders.
Remote work opportunity within the United States.