Pros
The schedule can be flexible (for some but not others). TRLA is willing to take inexperienced attorneys, so it's often a starting place for people fresh out of law school. There's a decent amount of independence (for some) but mostly due to the lack of structure and management. There are some very smart talented people who really care about helping low income folks. The benefits for attorneys are very good in the nonprofit sector including loan repayment assistance, floating holidays, a training budget, life insurance, payment of bar dues, an annual pay bump on your date of licensure, etc.
Cons
After working for this organization for several years I can confidently say that it is incredibly disorganized with leadership that lacks vision and fails to make big picture decisions that would benefit the organization. There are inequities between offices, between support staff and attorneys, between employees considered for management, and between teams/practice areas. These inequities lower morale and are incredibly ironic for an organization that seems to paint itself as liberal. There is rampant favoritism making upward mobility unattainable for many. Decisions about who becomes a member of management are not necessarily made based on who has management skills and really don't correspond with a person's seniority or competence. Even though TRLA has a pay scale, it doesn't apply to management, so TRLA promotes folks to management (some managers do not have people they supervise, but have the manager title) so they can get a raise without running afoul of the pay-scale. A person's experience at TRLA depends on their direct supervisor. Supervisors management styles can vary from toxic to completely hands off. Managers also are expected to have cases so while most don't have the skills to be effective managers, even those that do don't have the proper amount of time to devote to their employees. Most managers don't have the power to make changes that would help make working at TRLA sustainable. They often blame their employees for experiencing burnout rather than addressing the structures that make working at TRLA unsustainable. There is low morale because many people are miserable. To counteract this, they often recruit young, eager attorneys, give them little to no supervision, mentorship, and training, and let them take too many cases too quickly. There are high levels of turnover and burnout so many new attorneys work themselves sick then leave. Management then recruits the next batch of new attorneys. The hiring decisions are rarely made based on the needs of an individual team or office so often some teams have unmanageable caseloads while others don't have enough to do. There are TONS of inequalities between attorneys and support staff without any logical reason. Support staff, many of whom are people of color don't always make a living wage and lack flexibility in their schedules. Support staff also suffers from the managers' lack of management skills and many support staff aren't equipped to handle their jobs. Support staff are often asked to do things that are beyond their job duties but do not get paid appropriately for completing tasks that higher paid positions are supposed to complete. Additionally there is little to no emphasis on training or honest employment reviews, so there's a lot of dead weight.