Staff Attorney, Medical Legal Community Partnership, Einstein

Staff Attorney, Medical Legal Community Partnership, Einstein Medical Center

Full-Time Position 

Anticipated Start date: January 30, 2024 

Hiring Timeframe: Rolling 

Application requirements: Cover letter, resume, references, and a five-page legal-writing writing sample 

BACKGROUND: Philadelphia Legal Assistance’s Medical-Legal-Community Partnership (MLCP) integrates legal advocates into public health settings to meet the health-harming legal needs of patients. Core to the model is the co-location of an inter-professional team of healthcare providers, social workers, and legal staff, who collaborate in a hands-on, consistent manner to meet the complex, interrelated needs of underserved populations. 

The MLCP Attorney will work in collaboration with the healthcare team to address the legal aspects of patients’ medical and social service needs that so often undermine access to care. The MLCP Attorney will provide generalist legal services, in the areas of health insurance access and income support, Public Benefits (Medicaid denials, etc), housing safety and security, utility shutoff prevention, family stability and child welfare issues, domestic violence and other health-harming legal issues. This position includes work with a pediatric patient population that frequently presents legal needs in the areas of children’s SSI, special education, and housing conditions. 

Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA) currently operates an MLCP to provide collaborative, free legal assistance to patients on-site at locations throughout the city.  We are currently seeking an attorney to work as part of a two-person attorney/paralegal team to work at Einstein Medical Center at 5501 Old York Road. The Einstein team works with Health Partners Medicaid patients in the Pediatric and Adolescent Ambulatory Care Clinic and the Community Practice Center. The team is on-site Monday-Thursday with the option of remote work on Fridays, and works closely with a team of community health workers, social workers, education specialists, and nurse navigators.  

Applicants will need access to a phone and internet connection for remote work; a laptop will be provided. MLCP staff who are working on-site have all received COVID-19 vaccinations. 

QUALIFICATIONS: PLA seeks a candidate for the position of MLCP Attorney with the following qualifications: 

  • Law degree and admission to a PA Bar, or a willingness to take the PA bar exam (when available). Candidates of all levels will be considered. 
  • Fluency in Spanish is a plus. 
  • Flexibility to work in multiple physical locations and a variety of workspaces 
  • Demonstrated commitment to providing sensitive, respectful, culturally competent, trauma-informed appropriate legal aid to patients of diverse backgrounds. 
  • Demonstrated passionate commitment to providing high-quality legal advocacy and representation for low-income, culturally diverse populations. 
  • Demonstrated collaborative approach to legal service delivery, including delivery of legal services in conjunction with other types of professional services. 
  • Very strong communication skills. 

 

RESPONSIBILITIES: PLA seeks a candidate for the position of MLCP Attorney, who will assume the following responsibilities: 

  • Provide legal consultation and direct representation to patients referred by health center staff (physicians, nurses, social workers, public benefits counselors, and other staff). 
  • Research rights and available benefits for clients. 
  • Collaborate with Health Center administrators, providers, and staff to: 
  • Work toward achieving full integration of legal staff into the healthcare team through consistent contact, communication, and collaboration to advance patient health, using a team-based approach; 
  • Identify health patterns that warrant policy change and advocate to change to improve the patients’ and community’s health; 
  • Help plan and coordinate trainings for health center staff on substantive medical-legal issues; 
  • Participate in all health center staff activities, including staff meetings and retreats. 
  • Supervise paralegals and National Health Corp volunteers as needed. 
  • Engage in systems advocacy efforts with other legal aid and public health organizations. 
  • Track cases through a web-based legal case management system and ensure entry of data necessary for program evaluation. 
  • Communicate and collaborate regularly with the MLCP Supervisor about case acceptance, case strategy, and operational and other programmatic issues. 

SALARY AND BENEFITS:  Salary is commensurate with years of experience based on union scale. For example, a Law clerk (less than 1 full year practicing law without bar passage) salary is currently $59,000 annually. Attorney 1 (less than 1 full year practicing law with bar passage) salary is currently $68,500 annually. Attorney VI (five years practicing law) salary is $81,800 annually. PLA offers a generous benefits package in addition to salary: health insurance premiums paid in full for employees and family, cash incentives for health insurance opt-out, vacation, personal, and sick leave, thirteen (13) paid holidays, 403(b) retirement plan with employer contribution based on years of service, paid parental leave, life insurance and short and long- term disability benefits. 

 

 Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA) is an equal-opportunity employer. 

PLA values a diverse work environment and strongly encourages women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ, people with disabilities, people who have experienced poverty or homelessness, and people who have had prior contact with the juvenile, criminal, or child welfare systems to apply. PLA invites all applicants to include in their cover letter a statement about how your unique background and/or experiences might contribute to the diversity, cultural vitality, and perspective of our staff and legal services practice. Interested applicants should email a cover letter and resume, preferably in one PDF document, to: work@philalegal.org .  

Application deadline is January 30, 2024. However, the position will be filled as soon as an appropriate candidate is identified.