ABOUT US:

“It always seems impossible until it's done.” - Nelson Mandela

We believe that even the biggest problems can be broken down into small, achievable steps. Poverty and access to justice are part of the same problem. And to solve this, we just need to discover what the steps are.

At Open Door Legal, we're pioneering the country's first system of universal access to civil legal representation to dramatically reduce poverty and prove that the law really can belong to all of us. 

To achieve this ambitious goal, we've created an award-winning and best-in-class legal aid organization full of passionate, motivated, gritty, thoughtful, and team-oriented people. 

We believe that injustice is the heart of poverty and we're looking for someone to join us in having a systemic impact on how we, as a society, ensure justice for all. 

OVERVIEW OF POSITION:

We are hiring a Spanish-speaking paralegal or legal secretary to provide critical support to our immigration and elder law teams and assist with serving our Spanish monolingual clients. Since the coronavirus pandemic struck the Bay Area and the United States, one thing became eminently clear: that low-income families, immigrants, and the elderly are disproportionately affected in times of crisis. Our immigration and elder law teams work hard to ensure that those who would like to call the United States of America their home can do so freely without fear, that intergenerational wealth remains within low-income families and communities, and that seniors and adults with disabilities are free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The work is fast-paced, high-volume, and requires excellent critical thinking skills.

Day-to-day tasks include: providing basic rights advice (with attorney supervision), in-person and remote interpretation and translation (both English to Spanish and Spanish to English), conducting intakes, completing court forms, triaging potential clients, coordinating filing and service of process, and communicating case progress to clients and follow-up communications with clients including drafting letters, and other correspondence. 

Overall, this position is intended to be a challenging yet extremely rewarding experience for someone looking to make a difference in client's lives with an innovative, results-oriented, and fast-growing organization. 

The position is currently based out of our Excelsior location (60 Ocean Ave SF) but you will be asked to spend some time working remotely and at our other locations in the Bayview and Western Addition. There is minimal local travel required. 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Be an integral part of the immigration and elder law teams by providing support and keeping things organized and efficient to increase the overall caseload of the teams. 
• Draft forms to file in court, such as fee waivers, proofs of service, and other more complicated filings (probate and civil unlimited departments in San Francisco and other bay area counties). 
• Execute timely error-free filings and mailings, ensuring they are high-quality and within deadline. Communicate with the clerks about scheduling or filing issues, if needed. 
• Oversee service of process (personal, substitute, and mail). Understand the civil procedure behind service. Use creative methods to locate and serve evasive defendants. Coordinate with the sheriffs or private process servers to ensure quality personal service is completed by deadline.  
• Understand the larger social service network both locally and in the broader Bay Area and when appropriate, refer clients to external mental health, service orgs, and other resources. 
• Provide interpretation, translation, and case management for monolingual Spanish-speaking clients who have immigration or elder law cases. Also do all intake translation for these cases. 
• Prepare polished first drafts of  immigration forms for attorney review.
• Prepare and execute timely, error-free filings in San Francisco Immigration Court.
• Collect information and supporting documents from clients in an organized and efficient manner, including foreign documents and translations, utilizing creative strategies when needed.
• Empathetically support elderly clients through difficult discussions about death, terminal illness, and healthcare wishes, and following through with clients to ensure that their estate plans are delivered to them promptly.
• Provide administrative support to the Frontline team, when needed. 
• Work with the attorney and client to assist with fact-gathering for the client's case using information technologies, calling possible witnesses, or business or government agencies. 
• Conduct or take notes at all immigration and elder law intakes (if no volunteer is available for this).
• Provide clients' rights counseling and case management, including maintaining and providing necessary follow-up with clients. Review documents with clients and obtain their informed signatures. 
• Commit to leading the office in representing our mission and values externally to potential clients, clients, and others as well as internally to all teammates and volunteers. Our values are passion, grit, teamwork, caring, and dynamism.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Must have some experience in the legal field and/or office environment.
• Comfortable translating and interpreting legal information in Spanish. Along with performing client support and legal secretary/paralegal tasks in Spanish. 
• Must have experience using case management systems and comfortability with technology. 
• Must genuinely enjoy working with low-income clients and be committed to providing trauma-informed services. 
• Must be willing to make a two-year commitment to the organization.

BONUS POINTS:

• A paralegal certificate. 
• Meeting the CA requirements to use the title paralegal. 
• Certified Spanish Legal Interpreter/Translator.
• Previous experience as a paralegal, legal secretary, or client advocate.
• Previous civil procedure experience.
• Experience working with low-income and vulnerable populations.
• Have lived a significant portion of your life in San Francisco County.

STARTING COMPENSATION IS $60,000 ANNUALLY

PERKS:

• Loan Repayment Assistance - for staff pursuing 10-year public interest debt forgiveness, we will pay the minimum payment on all qualifying loans so that you don't need to worry about student loan debt (this is a conditional benefit).

WE OFFER COMPETITIVE BENEFITS: 

• 100% Coverage of Medical/Dental/Vision Plans
• Generous paid time off per year 
• Flexible work hours 
• Paid Parental Leave 
• Retirement 
• We believe everyone is always learning.  We invest in individual learning plans for each staff member and provide many internal and external mentorships, coaching, and learning opportunities (conferences, workshops, etc.).
• We are a fun and hard-working office with best-in-class technology solutions (including Salesforce) for anyone who's passionate about making a meaningful and measurable difference.

APPLICATIONS RECEIVED BEFORE OCTOBER 1, 2020 WILL BE GIVEN PRIORITY

Open Door legal is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or any other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let us know at whitney [at] opendoorlegal [dot] org.

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