The Opportunity
Join ALC in our mission to champion justice and equality as our new Supervising Paralegal. You will play a pivotal role in defending fundamental rights across various fronts, including workers’ rights, housing rights, immigrant rights, community safety, voting rights, national security, and civil rights. Your expertise will serve as a cornerstone of our impact litigation and direct services cases, driving positive change and ensuring fair treatment for our communities.
As a leader within our Legal Operations Department, you will provide comprehensive litigation support and guide a team of dedicated paralegals. Your role will encompass dynamic responsibilities, from training and mentoring paralegals to navigating complex legal procedures and systems with mastery and efficiency. Your adept communication skills and ability to foster collaboration will be instrumental in maintaining a cohesive and motivated team environment. Under the supervision of the Legal Director, you'll bring a high level of organization to and ensure seamless coordination of our legal efforts.
The Organization
Asian Law Caucus (ALC) is the nation’s first legal and civil rights organization serving low-income, immigrant, and marginalized Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander communities. Since 1972, ALC has fought to protect access to affordable housing in San Francisco’s Chinatown, litigated high-profile civil rights cases, advocated for the passage of landmark policy changes, and provided an array of services to low-income immigrants and communities of color. Today, with a staff of 60 we bring together legal services, community empowerment, and policy advocacy to fight for immigrant justice, economic security, and a stronger, multiracial democracy. Our work is rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area and California and expands to states across the country, including places where immigrant, Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Islander communities are rapidly growing.
Responsibilities
Drafting and Preparing Court Filings
- Prepare and execute filings of a variety of legal documents for state and federal courts, including but not limited to memoranda, pleadings, briefs, motions, court forms, petitions, subpoenas, bills of costs, and discovery documents
- Draft correspondence, declarations, and various court/legal documents such as requests, notices, and orders
- Liaise with co-counsel, opposing counsel, clients, and court personnel
- Research court rules and procedures and communicate these to attorneys and paralegals to ensure the accuracy of filings and non-rejection by courts
- Assist attorneys with legal research, including cite-checking, internet searches, using off-site libraries, copying abstracts and cases, etc.
- Conduct factual and policy research
- Conduct and/or assist in client interviews
- Draft requests for public records/information, analyze and organize agency responses, and engage with agencies to obtain responsive information
Supervision
- In collaboration with attorneys, supervise Paralegals, including identifying professional development opportunities, providing recommendations on performance, conducting evaluations, and assisting with conflict resolution, when needed
- Assist the Legal Director with overall management of the Legal Operations team, including strategic planning and oversight of hiring and other processes
- Train current paralegals and new staff, as needed
Administrative
- Maintain primarily electronic case files, including pleadings, correspondence, discovery, and other materials
- Maintain a calendar of attorneys' litigation schedules
- Perform other duties as needed
All ALC staff are expected to participate in regular check-in meetings with their supervisor/supervisees, staff meetings, team meetings, and other organization meetings, as required. This includes two (2) annual retreats, an anniversary celebration dinner, and meetings as needed in the San Francisco Bay area. This position will require occasional work on evenings and weekends.
The above statements are not intended to encompass all functions of the position; rather, they are intended to provide a general framework of the requirements of the position. Job incumbents may be required to perform other functions not specifically addressed in this posting.
Required Qualifications
- A deep commitment to the cause of civil liberties, social justice, immigrant rights, and/or civil rights
- At least five (5) years of full-time civil litigation support experience
- Previous experience with state and federal court filings in trial and/or appellate court
- Experiencing supporting all phases of civil litigation, including but not limited to motion practice, discovery, mediation, settlement, and trial
- Experience cite-checking and formatting briefs
- Proficient in researching federal, state, and local court rules
- Ability to navigate federal and state dockets.
- Excellent typing and proofing skills
- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, Google Suite, Adobe, Westlaw
- Experience with legal case management systems
- Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
- Ability to work well under pressure, including some evenings and weekends
- Ability to set/change priorities according to deadline requirements
- Ability to take initiative, multi-task, and work independently
- Approaches problem-solving proactively and demonstrates strong judgment and decision-making capability
- Team player and collaborator who enjoys working with colleagues of diverse backgrounds and experiences
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with cases in one of our direct services areas (Immigrant Rights, Housing Rights, Workers Rights)
- Experience working with community members affected by the immigration, housing, employment, and/or criminal legal system is highly desired
- Completion of an American Bar Association-accredited and certified paralegal program