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Paralegal/Legal Secretary - Spanish

Open Door Legal

Paralegal/Legal Secretary - Spanish

San Francisco, CA
Full Time
Paid
  • Responsibilities

    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, dynamic, gritty, quixotic, 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 employment and civil litigation 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 individuals, families, and workers are disproportionately affected in times of crisis. Our employment and civil litigation teams work hard to ensure that businesses and organizations are held accountable to their workers, that benefits you were promised come to you, and that power and agency are not taken from our low-income communities. 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. 

    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:

    • Support our Employment, Civil Litigation, and Consumer Law Attorneys, and be willing to support other teammates as needed.
    • Process and arrange for the timely and high-quality filings and mailings, and oversee service of process--including inquiring with the court and clerks about scheduling, case updates, and any other questions or comments--on all our employment, civil litigation, and consumer cases.
    • Draft forms to file in court, such as fee waivers, proofs of service.
    • Provide interpretation, translation, and case management for monolingual Spanish-speaking clients and potential clients.
    • 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 support attorneys at intakes or follow up appointments in an effort to gather all relevant facts regarding the client's claim. 
    • Communicate with opposing counsel and other attorneys on behalf of the attorney to oversee scheduling and document execution. 
    • Review documents with clients and obtain their informed signatures. 
    • Provide clients' rights counseling and case management, including maintaining and providing necessary follow-up with clients.
    • Assist with filing, preparing, and readying clients for employment-related hearings at SF Superior Court small claims court, Employment Development Department, and other administrative bodies, with the potential of growing into a leadership role for all small claims cases. 
    • Embrace our mission of universal access to civil legal aid and make sure that the needs of clients in our service area are met.  
    • 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 an Associate or Bachelor's degree.
    • 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 comfortableness 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.
    • Basic knowledge of California employment law. 
    • Basic knowledge of small claims or consumer law. 
    • Experience working with low-income and vulnerable populations.
    • Having lived a significant period of your life in San Francisco proper.

    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: 

    • Medical/Dental/Vision 
    • Generous paid time off per year 
    • Flexible work hours 
    • Paid Parental Leave 
    • Retirement 
    • We believe everyone is always learning.  We write 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 JUNE 8, 2020 WILL BE GIVEN PRIORITY