Casework Lawyer (Contract)

Who We Are

International Justice Mission (IJM) is the global leader in protecting vulnerable people from violence around the world. IJM has implemented a collaborative approach to combating violence against those vulnerable for the last 23 years in 30 countries around the world, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, collecting international best practices in tackling human trafficking. The capacity building model of criminal justice system transformation implemented by IJM includes individual support for survivors, support for government initiatives and jointly proposing policy changes to strengthen criminal justice systems (CJS) to respond effectively to human trafficking.

IJM’s European Anti-Trafficking Program (EATP) is working to combat cross-border trafficking in Europe, focusing on key routes of trafficking from Eastern Europe to Western Europe. The EATP is working to strengthen cross-border collaboration between law enforcement agencies to ensure a full continuum of care for victims. Based in Romania, IJM’s EATP is expanding operations to Poland to scale protections for victims who are trafficked from and through Poland.

Position Overview

The Partnerships Lawyer role is responsible for strengthening the capacities of casework partners to 1) ensure that survivors of trafficking in human beings (THB) receive needed legal support and 2) bolster the ability of the Public Justice System (PJS) to handle legal cases of THB. This role will work closely with internal and external stakeholders across a range of professional disciplines, particularly law enforcement, prosecution, and social services. The Partnerships Lawyer will build strategic partnerships with public prosecutors and relevant civil society organizations to ensure the legal protection of survivors of THB and successful representation of survivors and their interests, developing strategies to strengthen coordinated legal provision where gaps are present. While based in Warsaw, this position may require extensive travel throughout Poland.

This position reports to IJM Poland’s Casework Manager.

This position is a contracted position and will serve IJM through a legal contract.

Key Result Areas (KRAs):

1. Strategy Development & Execution: Clear development and execution of an articulated strategy to increase the capacity of casework partners to deliver effective legal services, grounded in strong analysis of legal mechanisms and identified gaps.
2. Legal Representation: Lawyer will provide direct legal representation to victims of THB in trial proceedings, supporting prosecutors in their efforts to hold perpetrators accountable and working to ensure victim compensation when relevant or possible.
3. Partnership Management: Effective and fruitful partnerships are created and maintained with governmental and civil society actors capable of providing quality legal service.
4. Mentorship and Training: Government and civil society partners are well trained in multi-disciplinary and trauma-informed prosecution techniques and legal provisions for THB casework that results in conviction of perpetrators.

Roles and Responsibilities

Strategy Development & Implementation

• Contribute to development of strategy framework for implementing casework through external partners.
• Assist the casework team in ongoing program design, redesign, and analysis as needed.

Networking & Partnership

• Build effective, trusting partnerships with justice system officials, social welfare officers, and other stakeholders within the district and national level throughout Poland.
• Convene and provide leadership in multi-disciplinary meetings with a variety of government and non-government stakeholders and support inter-institutional dialogue and coordination on cases of THB.
• Develop and maintain an effective network of contacts within the legal aid space.
• Develop the capacity of casework partners to mentor and support public prosecutors and justice officials to ensure that perpetrators of THB are properly held accountable.

Training and Development

• Mentor public justice system officials and other legal entities in the law, law enforcement and best practices in responding to incidents of THB.
• Ability to develop and deliver high-quality professional training curriculum to multi-disciplinary stakeholders.
• Support joint training programs with the police, prosecutors, judiciary, social welfare, and medical staff on survivor-friendly THB interventions, including relevant legal provisions.

Policies and Procedures

• Assist in development of processes for identifying, onboarding and managing casework partners.
• Assist in documentation of best practices for working through and developing partnerships, incorporating IJM global learnings, suitable for use by both IJM and external stakeholders.

Documentation, Reporting & Data Management

• Analyze and document cases of THB that can contribute to updated case management protocols.
• Work with casework team members to monitor and evaluate the project, including monitoring and reporting of project targets, results, and outputs.
• Collaborate with Monitoring and Evaluation (MERL) Specialist to develop monitoring and evaluation metrics to strategically maximize IJM’s effectiveness in developing casework goals.

Supervisory

• The Partnerships Lawyer role reports to the Casework Manager.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in law; advanced degree preferred.
• Five or more years of professional experience in law; fully licensed in Poland.
• Experience working on issues of human trafficking; experience with THB casework preferred.
• Experience in networking and partnering with legal aid providers and relevant justice system officials.

Technical Competencies

• Strong understanding of Polish law relevant to THB.
• Experience in representing victims of trafficking or other violent crime in court preferred
• Knowledge of European legal institutions and a strong understanding of how they interact.
• Strong understanding of European law relevant to THB preferred.
• Knowledge of Polish criminal justice system actors, organizational structures and processes. Proven ability to mentor, guide, and coach multi-disciplinary stakeholders.
• The knowledge of criminal prosecution best practices regarding THB preferred.
• Fluent in written and oral communication in English and Polish
• Working knowledge of at least one additional European language preferred
• Excellent writing, documentation and reporting skills, including the ability to maintain digital records and generate high-quality reports on all casework interventions, stakeholder interactions.
• Excellent critical thinking, legal analysis, and oral and written advocacy skills.
• Proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite with ability to quickly learn and consistently use other software systems for purposes of case management, M&E and documentation.

Non-Technical Competencies

• Partnership-oriented mindset – high prioritization of collaboration and common learning.
• Innovative and catalytic thinker; ability to confidently create and implement new projects, models, and methods.
• Humble, servant leader.
• Passionate commitment to IJM’s mission and values.
• Professional in demeanor, appearance, writing and oral communication.
• Works well under stress with a sustained positive attitude.
• Exceptionally high level of honesty and integrity.
• Intelligent, organized, creative and proactive problem solver.
• Ability to cooperate effectively in a multi-cultural environment.
• Ability to live and work in Poland.

Requirements

• Part-time contracted (rates will be paid per case)
• Ability to travel within Poland up to 30% of the time.

Preference

• Polish driver’s license preferred.

Application Process:

1. Please submit Resume/CV, Cover Letter, in one document to poland@ijm.org (IJM reserves the right to contact only the selected candidates)
2. Initial interview in Polish and English
3. Technical Interview in English
4. Assessment Task
5. Final Interview
6. Reference Check
7. Job Offer

IJM holds strict safeguarding principles and a zero tolerance to violations of the Safeguarding Policy, Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Policy, and Code of Conduct. Parallel to technical competence, recruitment, selection, and hiring decisions will give due emphasis to assessing the candidates value congruence and thorough background, police clearance, and reference check process.