Summary
Legal Aid at Work (LAAW) enforces and expands the employment and civil rights of low-wage workers, their families, and communities by engaging in outreach and education, providing clients with legal advice and representation, and advocating for policy reforms.
LAAW has seven core program areas: (1) Wage Protection; (2) Community Legal Services; (3) Disability Rights; (4) Gender Equity & LGBTQ Rights; (5) National Origin and Immigrants’ Rights; (6) Racial Economic Justice; and (7) Work & Family. Through these programs, LAAW:
- Provides free, individualized legal advice and counsel throughout California to thousands of low-income workers;
- Pursues targeted enforcement and impact litigation to strengthen and clarify the law;
- Conducts community outreach and education for workers, their advocates, their families, and their health and social service providers; and
- Advocates for laws, regulations, and policies at the local, state, and national levels to strengthen civil and workplace rights.
As a social justice organization, Legal Aid at Work’s mission is rooted in the firm belief that all people deserve respect, dignity, and self-determination at work, at school, and in their communities. Structural and systemic racism—with the oppression of Black and Indigenous people at its core—and other forms of injustice shape the society and the civic, political, and legal systems in which we work and live. Legal Aid at Work is committed to developing and nurturing an organizational culture that will dismantle systems of oppression, uplift people from underrepresented communities, and create a workplace that is truly equitable and inclusive. As such, we strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented communities to apply.
Responsibilities
Legal Aid at Work (LAAW) seeks a Paralegal/Legal Assistant to work with its team of paralegals. The Paralegal/Legal Assistant will work with all programs, but will primarily support two programs—the National Origin and Immigrant Rights Program and the Wage Protection Program. Reporting to the Program Directors, this position represents an opportunity to work with these programs in their provision of legal services to our clients. Both programs use an array of strategies including litigation, policy advocacy, limited representation, and direct services in their work to defend the rights of low wage workers.
The Paralegal/Legal Assistant responsibilities include but are not limited to the following. We recognize that even highly competitive candidates and talented professionals may not have all the attributes desired for this position, and encourage you to apply even if you do not have all the experience or skills described below.
- Generating legal correspondence and pleading templates.
- Formatting various legal documents to court standards.
- Creating, running and formatting of table of authorities and tables of content.
- Filing court documents including e-filing in state and federal courts.
- Scheduling depositions and drafting deposition summaries.
- Responsible for discovery management and document production.
- Generating various case status reports.
- Conducting client intake and providing Spanish interpretation to monolingual clients if possible.
- Organizing case-related documents and exhibits in hard copy or electronic formats, and updating pleading and discovery files.
- Digitizing and saving documents and electronic files into Worldox and Concordance. Retrieving and organizing key information, and other document management tasks.
- Calendar management utilizing Compulaw.
- General clerical duties such as photocopying, scanning, filing, formatting, and faxing.
- Provide additional support to the other programs as requested.
- Weekend work and overtime work may occasionally be necessary.
- Must maintain confidentiality of client information in accordance with the organization’s policies.
Requirements
- Two to three years of paralegal/legal assistant experience or commensurate experience or education.
- Fully bilingual English/Spanish language capability is preferred.
- Strong organizational skills and detail oriented.
- Excellent verbal and written skills are required.
- Must have the ability to work efficiently under deadlines and remain calm under pressure.
- Extensive experience with litigation and federal and state civil court filings is strongly preferred.
- Must possess advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Adobe Acrobat.
- Experience in Worldox, Compulaw, Concordance, and JusticeServer (or similar legal software platforms) is strongly preferred.
- Ability to work independently and be self-sufficient, while also thriving in a highly collaborative environment.
- Highly dependable and cooperative work style.
- Strong interest or previous experience working in employment law and workers’ rights issues.
- BA/BS and/or Paralegal Certificate are also preferred but not required.
Compensation and Location
Legal Aid at Work offers salaries that are competitive in the Bay Area public interest law community. Benefits include health plans, long-term disability and life insurance, 403(b) retirement plan, and generous paid vacation and holidays. As a unionized organization, LAAW believes in the importance of employees organizing to improve their working conditions. This position is included in the bargaining unit represented by ESC Local 20. The current negotiated salary scale for the position, which varies depending on years of experience, can be found here.
The candidate for this position must be based in California, with a preference that this person is based in the Bay Area. Legal Aid at Work staff have the option to work remotely or in person at our office in downtown San Francisco. Program teams occasionally meet in person, but allow team members to join remotely as well.
Application Process
We strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented communities to apply. Applications must include (1) a cover letter explaining your interest in this position and the ways in which you satisfy the qualifications specified above, (2) résumé, and (3) list of three professional references. All application materials should be submitted to:
Paralegal/Legal Assistant Search Committee
Email: [email protected]
Legal Aid at Work is committed to a diverse, multicultural work environment. LAAW is an equal opportunity, fair chance, and affirmative action employer. Our complete EEO and DEI statements as well as further information concerning the organization and its programs can be found at www.legalaidatwork.org. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Legal Aid at Work will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.