Career Center

About The Second Chance Justice Collaborative:
The South Carolina Second Chance Justice Collaborative (SCJC) is a partnership between Soteria Community Development Corporation and Root & Rebound that provides access to legal advocacy, education, and policy advocacy to support communities across South Carolina impacted by mass incarceration.

The goals of the SCJC are to advocate for the rights of people who have been harmed and marginalized by mass incarceration, to increase access to justice and opportunity for people with records, and to fight poverty and create second chances in Greenville and more broadly across SC. With approximately 10,000 people released from prison and jail each year in SC, the demand for resources, opportunities, and access to justice will continue to increase as
more impacted people need support to restore rights and access opportunities.

The Second Chance Justice Collaborative Partners:
Root & Rebound (R&R) is a national reentry advocacy 501(c)(3) organization that addresses racial, economic, and social inequities within the criminal justice system and the reentry process by restoring and protecting rights, dignity, and opportunities for people directly impacted by the criminal justice system. Our mission is to support people navigating reentry and reduce the harms perpetuated by mass incarceration.

Soteria Community Development Corporation, based in Greenville, SC, has a mission to advocate for economic and social justice for those individuals and their families impacted by the criminal justice system. Soteria was founded by Jerry Blassingame, a JustLeadershipUSA Leading with Conviction Fellow, and works to create opportunities for previously incarcerated men to reenter society through transitional housing, life skills, and job training.

Commitment: Full-time

Location: Based in Greenville, South Carolina (with travel statewide)

About the South Carolina State Director & Managing Attorney:
With Root & Rebound and Soteria’s support, the SC State Director & Managing Attorney will spearhead and direct a legal initiative to serve individuals who have been involved in the criminal justice system, formerly incarcerated and preparing for their reentry across South Carolina.

Based out of Soteria’s offices in Greenville, SC, the SC State Director & Managing Attorney will be employed R&R and trained, managed, and supported by R&R’s Deputy Director of Programs & Executive Director. The attorney will receive a strong orientation and ongoing training from R&R on its model of education, advocacy, policy reform, and narrative change. This will include training from the R&R Deputy Director, senior attorneys,and leadership team, and a high level of ongoing learning, professional development opportunities, and support. The State Director & Managing Attorney will also receive strong on-site support from Soteria’s Executive Director, who has strong local knowledge of South Carolina’s reentry, criminal justice, and policy landscapes.

The State Director & Managing Attorney will carry out a broad range of advocacy strategies including but not limited to impact litigation, policy reform efforts, direct legal services, legal clinics, legal trainings, reentry legal resource development and other programming across South Carolina. This person will manage the SCJC legal and policy team, direct and execute on strategic programming, and support Soteria’s Executive Director and policy staff in carrying out policy initiatives that increase second chance opportunity and reduce barriers for people with criminal records and people in reentry.

Working with R&R and Soteria’s Executive Leadership Teams, the State Director & Managing Attorney will inform a strategy that considers all legal tools available including impact litigation, legal clinics and direct services, public education and training, and policy advocacy—with the goal of producing a 3-year strategic plan for the SCJC. As our team grows in SC, the state Director will support in hiring and will manage attorney(s), paralegal(s) and potentially a policy advocate on the SCJC team.

The ideal candidate is a highly capable self-starter, team-oriented, excited about managing an initiative, and committed to expanding reentry services, partnerships, and impact across South Carolina. The ideal candidate is enthusiastic to work in a startup environment with dynamic needs, and is a lifelong learner who strives to improve service delivery year after year. The ideal candidate is also excited about building and leveraging relationships across the state of South Carolina to improve the lives of people impacted by mass incarceration and living in poverty.

The State Director & Managing Attorney must be highly communicative, structured, excellent at time management, organized and responsive, and open to regular check-ins via virtual meetings, email, conference calls, text, etc., as well as training and orientation periods in R&R’s Oakland, CA headquarters office. The State Director & Managing Attorney will also play a critical role in sharing learnings, strategic planning documents, and work plans to help other R&R sites launch across the country in which legal staff are embedded within social services organizations.

Responsibilities & Duties:

• Management & Administration:
  
  • Recruit and manage staff attorneys, law clerks interns, and volunteers to support the legal program
  • Oversee program administration across South Carolina 
  • Work with Root & Rebound Development team to program activities and outcomes, engage in/supporting with grant reporting
  • Work with R&R development team to ensure strong data tracking and evaluation 
  • Maintain high levels of communication with the R&R HQ Office in Oakland, CA

• Planning and Partnerships:
  • Build relationships with statewide partners including reentry and social service providers, faith-based communities, government and elected officials, media, employers, schools, and with lawyers and law students to advance the mission of Root & Rebound
  • Work closely with R&R and Soteria's Executive Leadership Teams to inform strategy that considers all legal tools available including impact litigation, legal services, know-your-rights education and training, and policy advocacy
  • Recruit and create a panel of pro bono attorneys to assist with legal clinics and take on direct representation 

• Community Legal Clinics, Individual Legal Services and Representation (as appropriate)
  • Work on-site at Soteria CDC as reentry barrier removal and legal navigation specialist for Soteria CDC's participants and housing residents
  • Building on the landscape assessment groundwork of R&R and Soteria's staff, continue to assess key stakeholders and identify needs and gaps in reentry and civil legal services
  • Develop and lead the execution of scalable reentry legal services for system-involved people across SC, working in partnership with other legal organizations and pro bono lawyers and law students across the state, including community legal clinics for people with records and their family members, and a statewide reentry legal hotline
  • Proactively seek out and creatively implement a strategic impact litigation strategy that advances key civil liberties.
  • Coordinate and lead know-your-rights and legal trainings on key reentry topics for
    system-involved individuals both at Soteria CDC and within the broader community.
  • Legal administrative tasks as needed.

• Know-Your-Rights Education: 
  • Lead know-your-rights trainings on key reentry topics for system-involved individuals and their family, including Fair Chance hiring, Education, Housing, Expungement, and other areas of law.
  • Represent R&R and the Collaborative at community events and public forums, and serve as an ambassador for reentry advocacy issues more broadly.

• Policy Reform and Impact Litigation:
  • Spearhead the South Carolina Justice Alliance (SCJA) – Root & Rebound
  • Develop both impact litigation and legislative strategies with R&R and Soteria’s Executive Leadership teams, and drive systems change and policy reform through both avenues.
  • Elevate the issues and barriers that system-involved South Carolinians experience to create structural and policy change that advance second chance opportunities and social justice, and utilize a community lawyering/grassroots approach that creates space for people with records to fully participate in policy-making, political and civic processes.
  • Work with and support Soteria CDC’s Executive Director in policy reform initiatives t by providing legal expertise, client outreach and storybanking, and other contributions as appropriate.

• Development & Communications:

  • Support fundraising efforts in South Carolina that will sustain and grow the program, including meetings with local institutional partners, foundations, government agencies, and individual donors

  • Drive and support PR, development, communications, and storytelling projects about R&R’s work and collaboration with Soteria in South Carolina.

  • Participate in the grant application and grant reporting process, providing on-the-ground knowledge and information, as needed by R&R’s Development Team.
  • Support PR, development, communications, and storytelling projects as needed.

Application Instructions: To apply for this position, please send a resume, cover letter, two short writing samples (max. 5 pages), and at least three references (explaining your professional relationship and including their contact information) in an email with “South Carolina State Director & Managing Attorney” in the email subject line to Carmen Garcia(Executive Director) at info@rootandrebound.org. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. No phone calls, please.

Qualifications:

• Licensed to practice law in the state of South Carolina, active and in good standing.
• 7+ years of practicing law.
• Experience working directly with clients and in court representation. Direct experience working with people with records and/or in reentry preferred.
• Knowledge of the criminal justice system and collateral consequences of a criminal record.
• Demonstrated commitment to racial equity and social justice.
• Eagerness to take initiative, solve intricate problems, work on multiple projects simultaneously, and prioritize and organize in a deadline-driven environment.
• Positive, professional, and humble attitude.
• Strong work ethic, resilience, and determination.
• Proactive communicator and team builder.
• Flexible and able to prioritize work effectively with excellent time-management
• Creative, enthusiastic, and willing to learn and try new things.
• Eagerness to travel as needed, and to spend time at R&R's HQ offices in Oakland for training/orientation. 
• Driver's license required