Empire Justice Center, a highly respected, statewide legal services organization, is seeking a Bilingual Housing Paralegal to join our team on Long Island. This is an opportunity to join a highly respected organization serving low-income individuals and families in New York State, and to and to focus on getting to the root causes of racial and economic justice.
Empire Justice Center attracts and retains dedicated, determined, and passionate advocates who make a significant impact on the lives of New Yorkers. We achieve our successes through direct legal representation and high-impact litigation, as well as legislative and administrative advocacy. We also provide training and technical assistance to other advocates working towards the same goals.
With offices in Rochester, Albany, Westchester County, and Long Island, our organization offers staff an exciting and dynamic working environment and a strong commitment to teamwork, diversity, and personal/professional development.
Primary responsibilities of the BILINGUAL HOUSING Paralegal will include:
Working closely with the housing attorney, the paralegal will be responsible for intake and screening of low-income immigrant tenants on Long Island who are at risk of eviction. The position will include accompanying clients to housing court, maintaining cases files and other records, and monitoring the status of a high volume of cases. The paralegal will also provide out-of-court interpretation and document translation as needed.
In conjunction with staff in the Long Island office, the paralegal will help to identify related legal needs of our housing clients in order to provide referrals and linkages. In addition, the paralegal will collaborate with a statewide housing law team to develop strategies for representation of immigrant tenants and a broader response to the crisis of inadequate housing.
Required Qualifications
- Two or more years of paralegal or related experience in litigation support that includes client intake, maintenance of case records and other legal documents and handling high volume cases.
- Experience in working with low-income clients and immigrants.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Ability to organize, plan, prioritize, meet deadlines, and work under pressure.
- Flexibility and experience working as a team.
- Fluency in Spanish and English and ability to translate documents into English.
- Ability to respond to cultural differences among organizations, client population, and staff.
- Be willing and able to travel to serve clients in a geographically wide-spread area.
Desired Skills and Qualifications
- Working knowledge of housing law
- Strong knowledge and working relationships with community resources, including housing, social services, and financial assistance programs.
- Strong client communication skills including learning to deal with “difficult” clients.
- To work well both independently and as a member of a team of attorneys, paralegals, and support staff
Salary and Benefits
Salary is commensurate with experience and based on the organization's salary scale. Empire Justice Center offers a generous benefits package, including health insurance, pension and life insurance, vacation, holiday, personal and sick time. We are an organization that supports and encourages a work/life balance.
Empire Justice Center is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and desires a diverse work force. People of color, women, persons with disabilities, persons who are elderly, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender are welcomed and encouraged to apply.
TO APPLY:
Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. If interested e-mail a cover letter, resume, writing sample and three professional references to: employment@empirejustice.org
Please include, Bilingual Housing Paralegal, First/Last Name to thesubject line of the email. No phone calls or hard copies please. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Bilingual Housing Paralegal
employment@empirejustice.org |