Job Title: Paralegal Casehandler, Housing Justice Helpline
Job Description: The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Practice is seeking Paralegal Casehandlers for the Housing Justice Helpline pilot. The Helpline Paralegal is on the front lines of assisting individuals and families to avoid eviction and preserve affordable housing.  They will staff the Housing Justice Helpline answering calls of NYC renters and occupants providing information, advice, brief legal services, and referrals while under the supervision of an attorney.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Interview clients, provide advice and direct assistance
• Work with Staff Attorneys to resolve the government benefits issues involved with housing practice cases
• Handle a high volume of individual cases and respond to the needs of community-based organizations
• Assist callers with completing court forms including pleadings in eviction cases and termination hearings to be filed pro se
• Advocate with various agencies regarding government benefits
• Develop community education materials and conduct trainings for clients and other advocates
• Maintain case management
• Conduct policy advocacy on behalf of clients
• Other duties as assigned

Required Documents
Please submit a cover letter and resume as a PDF when you apply via the LAS Recruitment Portal.

Location: Manhattan - Legal Aid Society Headquarters

Requirements

• Paralegal certificate from an ABA-accredited paralegal program or Bachelor’s degree in relevant field.
• Excellent written, oral advocacy, and computer skills
• Excellent organizational skills with ability to multi-task and manage a large workload
• Proficiency in languages other than English, especially Spanish, is strongly preferred
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team
• Ability to coordinate and collaborate successfully with other groups and organizations
• Experience in and/or commitment to advocacy on behalf of low-income people and immigrants is strongly desired
• Experience assisting people in crisis is desirable, but not required
• Experience staffing a help/hotline or switchboard is preferred

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The leadership of The Legal Aid Society believes in attracting and retaining exceptional talent committed to serving our clients. We offer a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability and life insurance, and more. Salaries for our unionized jobs are governed by our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please visit our Careers page for additional information. Salary and benefits information will be available to applicants, when and if, an offer is made.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
The leadership of The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients, to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us.

COVID VACCINATION INFORMATION

The Legal Aid Society is taking precautions and implementing safety measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to comply with New York City's requirements concerning Covid-19. All members of the Legal Aid community have a shared responsibility to support and comply with policies and protocols to protect the health and safety of our community. Learn more about our COVID-19 policy by visiting our website.

HOW TO APPLY
All applications must be completed online. We do not accept paper submissions. Please visit our Careers Page to review all current job postings, and instructions on the application process. For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email jobpostquestions@legal-aid.org.
As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth; one’s gender identity may be male, female, neither or both, e.g., non-binary), gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not be distinctively male or female and may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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