Project Lawyer

Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) is a unique non-profit network and think tank of lawyers which provides creative legal assistance in fragile and conflict-affected areas and places national lawyers at the forefront of legal change. LAW uses advocacy, research, legal empowerment and strategies to bring about this change. LAW’s thematic focuses include: Addressing Sexual and Gender based Violence; Accountability; Natural Resource Exploitation/displacement; and Transitional Justice. LAW’s Advisory Council and Board are comprised of senior international lawyers who advise LAW on the development of innovative casework and legal strategies. LAW’s ground-breaking work has received international media coverage, including in the New York Times, the Times of London, the Guardian, Al-Jazeera, France24, Voice of America, Huffington Post and Foreign Policy.

BRIEF ABOUT THE PROJECT

“Beirut Blast victims” project, funded by Swiss Solidarity, focuses on providing legal aid to victims and survivors of the Beirut Port Explosion to addressing their needs for housing and shelter, civil documentation, protection, and accountability while enhancing civil society’s ability to respond to the needs of victims and survivors now and in the future.

Functions/ Key Deliverables:

The Project Lawyer has the following responsibilities:

•  Represent and assist clients in court and other legal institutions;
•  Oversee the work of Legal Information Officers;
•  Overall responsibility of the technical/legal work;
•  Overall responsibility of reaching programme targets;
•  Liaise with partners providing technical advice and services;
•  Organise and participate in regular workshops and panels related to project activities;
•  Organise, implement and assist with trainings on human rights, related domestic laws and other requested topics.

Management

• Supervise Legal Information Officers (LIOs) work and ensure accuracy, quality and efficiency of the legal assistance provided;
• Attend regular meetings with the LIOs to monitor progress and discuss observations and lessons learned;
• Organise outreach schedules of the LIOs on a weekly basis and ensure these are carried out accordingly;
• Deliver reports and ensure they are filled accurately;
• Ensure that the team is planning and organizing work so that targets can be reached.

    Legal

• Interview survivors of the Beirut blast;
• Provide legal assistance and representation according to intake and eligibility criteria;
• Identify and create referral networks to medical and psychological support, health support; cash/food assistance;
• Identify cases for strategic litigation on behalf of target groups;
• Conduct desk review and research of existing documentation and legal precedence and jurisprudence related to human rights;
• Organise and oversee Focus Group Discussion with survivors of Beirut blast;
• Analyse, cross-reference and organise the body of evidence into LAW’s secure centralized system (SharePoint) according to client intake criteria;
• Contribute to advocacy strategy and initiatives;
• Contribute to monthly reports and include success stories.

Support and administration

• Take on any administrative, logistical or other support tasks needed to ensure the project runs smoothly, or that are assigned by LA management;
• Adhere to deadlines and take on tasks proactively.
• Any other task assigned by the Program Manager.

Experience and Qualifications Required:

• Qualified lawyer with minimum 5 years work experience;
• Excellent written and oral Arabic and English;
• Minimum 5 years of experience in interviewing vulnerable victims and survivors and working on personal/civil status.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in drafting legal analysis and position papers and strategies;
• Demonstrated experience in producing legal strategies;
• Have strong legal analytical skills and a good understanding of the Lebanese context Lebanese legislation;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and strong technical literacy;
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills and ability to work on own and take initiative;
• Ability to meet deadlines and take on tasks from beginning to fulfilment.