Supervising Staff Attorney, Pitsfield – CPCS

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MISSION STATEMENT

CPCS is committed to protecting the fundamental constitutional and human rights of its clients by providing zealous advocacy, community-oriented defense, and excellent representation. In fulfilling its mission, CPCS is committed to fostering diversity at all levels of the agency. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients, to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. In striving always to achieve those goals, CPCS embraces diversity and inclusion as core values and is steadfast in our commitment to: (1) ensuring that CPCS management and staff members represent a broad range of human difference and experience; (2) providing a work climate that is respectful and that supports success; and (3) promoting the dignity and well-being of all staff members. CPCS’s leadership is responsible for ensuring excellence, diversity, and inclusion. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us.

Overview:

The Public Defender Division of CPCS, Lowell District & Superior Court Office, is seeking a Supervising Staff Attorney, with a minimum of five years of experience providing criminal defense representation. Under the direction of the office’s Attorney in Charge, the Supervising Attorney will assist in the supervision of Trial Attorneys, and will also have his or her own reduced caseload. Clients are indigent persons charged with criminal offenses within the final jurisdiction of the respective court office.

– client interviews;
– arraignment and bail advocacy;
– legal research and writing;
– pretrial investigation including visiting crime scenes, locating and interviewing witnesses, collecting and reviewing
documentary evidence;
– preparing and arguing pretrial motions, affidavits and legal memoranda;
– dispositional investigations and advocacy;
– jury and bench trials of criminal cases; and,
– representation of clients in interlocutory proceedings.

The supervisory duties of the Supervising Staff Attorney include, but are not limited to, the following in accordance with the CPCS Guidelines for Supervision of Public Defender Trial Attorneys in District and Superior Court Offices:

– regular one-on-one meetings with individual supervisees to review case files, as well as group meetings, to review
case preparation and performance;
– in-court supervision, including second-seating of trials and significant pretrial hearings;
– preparation of annual performance evaluations;
– presentation of in-office training sessions; and
– supervision of other staff, such as investigators and student interns, as delegated by the office’s Attorney in
Charge.

– Eligible to practice law in Massachusetts either as a member of the Massachusetts bar in good standing or as the
member of the bar of another jurisdiction eligible to engage in limited Massachusetts practice under Supreme
Judicial Court Rule 3:04;
– A minimum of five years of experience providing criminal defense representation in District and Superior Court;

Qualifications/Skills:

– significant jury trial experience as lead counsel in criminal cases; including Superior Court cases;
– ability and commitment to complete annual performance evaluations in a timely and comprehensive manner;
– a demonstrated commitment to the principle of zealous advocacy in the representation of indigent persons in
criminal cases;
– strong interpersonal and analytical skills;
– ability to work in a community and defense-oriented capacity, both independently and collaboratively;
– commitment to working with a culturally diverse, low-income population, and;
– Access to an automobile in order to travel to courts, clients, and investigation locations that are not easily
accessible by public transportation
– foreign language skills, Spanish in particular, are desirable.

• Resume
• Cover Letter