Legal Director

1. Our Organization

Pegasus Legal Services for Children is a state-wide nonprofit legal aid organization based in Albuquerque, NM. Our mission is to promote and defend the rights of children and youth to safe and stable homes, quality education and healthcare, and a voice in decisions that affect their lives. We serve people aged 25 or younger with their civil legal needs and caregivers taking care of other people’s children who are in need of kinship guardianship. We advocate for children’s rights and partner with other organizations for system reform. Pegasus strives to work within an anti-racism, anti-oppression, and anti-colonial framework, and recognizes that systemic privilege and oppression have strongly shaped staffing patterns in the nonprofit sector. We encourage applications from racialized people, Indigenous people, migrants, people with marginalized sexual or gender identities, and people living with disabilities.

2. Role & Responsibilities

Pegasus seeks a Legal Director to lead, manage, and support Pegasus’s legal personnel who provide advice and counsel and direct legal representation to children and youth. The Legal Director will report directly to the Executive Director.

Objectives of this role include:

• Collaboratively develop, coordinate, and lead the strategic direction of Pegasus’s legal work, in alignment with Pegasus’s values, vision, and mission.
• Day-to-day support and oversight of the organization’s legal supervisors (1 supervising attorney & 1 supervising paralegal) and legal team (3 attorneys, 3 paralegals, 1 client advocacy manager), including ensuring the delivery of high-quality, trauma-informed legal services.
• Collaboratively expand tools and impact of Pegasus’s legal services program by exploring and developing trauma-informed, anti-racist & intersectional systems strategies.
• Building and cultivating partnerships and relationships that engage directly with Pegasus staff, youth & communities served by Pegasus, including partnering with local and national non-profit organizations.

Responsibilities include:

Leadership & Support

• Work collaboratively with the Executive Director and Controller, including assistance in budget development and stewardship of resources.
• Communicate and advocate for staff needs, concerns, and suggestions to the Executive Director.
• Make innovative recommendations for technology, planning, fiscal, and human resource policies and research appropriate partners for Pegasus internal work, such as DEI, to the Executive Director.
• Support in planning and applying for agency fund diversification, including supporting grant writing and other fund development activities, in collaboration with the leadership team.
• Prioritizes & demonstrates a healthy work-life balance for Pegasus employees and collaboratively works with the Executive Director to achieve policies that align with work-life balance and flexibility.

Legal Team Management

• Participate in and conduct annual job performance reviews, with the goals of building sustainable workloads and equitable opportunities for professional development with department directors.
• Participate in the Hiring Committee to recruit, hire, retain, and promote legal team members.
• Oversee legal training, onboarding, and professional development for the legal team, with the goal of increasing internal capacity to engage in trauma-informed and youth & community-driven advocacy.
• Collaborate with the application line team, including legal training, counsel on conflict checks, review of waitlist letters, oversight of attorney callback calendar, and Review procedures to transfer cases from the application line to an attorney intake.
• Maintain a small caseload of diverse cases. Maintain practical knowledge and application of each of the services that Pegasus provides.

Program Development and Evaluation

• Provide instrumental quality assurance monitoring of programs, including ensuring compliance with applicable Rules of Professional Conduct.
• Participates in relevant task forces, coalitions, and committees to address identified opportunities for advocacy and legal strategy.
• Collaborates with partner organizations to develop efficient and effective service delivery models, with the goal of engaging in collaborative and community-driven legal advocacy to protect children’s rights.
• Develops and edits written practice guides/manuals, template motions, and other legal material for internal use in accordance with Supreme Court rules and regulations.
• Reviews and updates public-facing legal information and resources produced by Pegasus.

3. Skills & Qualifications

Required skills and qualifications:

• Juris Doctorate degree from an accredited law school
• Admission to practice law in good standing in New Mexico, or eligible for reciprocity or willing to seek admission to the New Mexico bar
• A minimum of 5 years experience, children and family specific, handling litigation and direct client representation
• Demonstrated interest in building meaningful relationships with youth, young adults, and communities impacted by the systems Pegasus works in
• Strong legal advocacy and analytical skills
• Demonstrated excellence in child-related litigation, negotiation, clear and persuasive writing, and oral presentation
• Familiarity with and understanding of systemic oppression, including institutional racism, and demonstrated commitment to mitigating the harms of institutional racism and other forms of oppression
• Innovative problem solver and strategic thinker with a growth mindset
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to work effectively and collaboratively as a part of the leadership team

Preferred skill and qualifications:

• Experience providing legal aid or nonprofit representation to individual clients
• Demonstrated experience providing high-quality training, supervision, and interpersonal mentorship to attorneys and non-attorney legal advocates
• Established relationships with and accountability to the impacted communities Pegasus serves

1

Pegasus prioritizes staff well-being through our policies and culture. To this effect, we offer:

• A 4 day, 32-hour work week year-round (the office is closed on Fridays).
• Unlimited leave with a two-week suggested minimum, with an additional week off during the December holidays when our offices close.
• Twelve weeks of 100% paid parental leave after three-months of employment.
• 100% employer-paid employee health, dental, vision, long term disability, and life insurance.
• Employer-paid professional development and continuing education opportunities annually.
• A retirement plan with a 3% match that immediately vests (no waiting period).
• Monthly phone stipend of $40/month for full-time employees and a $500 home office supply budget per year.
• Hybrid work options with technology provided (hybrid work available after 1-month training period).
• Optional externally-facilitated support groups every 6 weeks to discuss how to prevent and mitigate the impacts of trauma exposure in our work.