Paralegal

Job Description

Summary

The ACLU-NC Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) seeks to hire one full-time Paralegal to work out of our office in Raleigh and join a passionate and dedicated team. The Paralegal will work under the supervision of the Legal Director and other attorneys and in close collaboration with other paralegals, law student interns, and co-counsel. Paralegals work in a fast-paced environment to address emerging and ongoing civil rights issues by supporting ACLU-NCLF’s legal work. The ACLU-NC is committed to an inclusive work environment that reflects the population that we serve. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to building an organization where all employees and North Carolinians can be proud. We eagerly anticipate applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, parental status, veteran status, or record of arrest or conviction.

Essential Duties

• The Paralegal will perform a variety of duties and administrative tasks in support of the entire legal team, including:
• Manage legal intake requests, including online and/or other written complaints, coordinating monthly intake review, and data entry.
• Assist in case development, including factual research, legal research, interviews, information and evidence gathering and analysis.
• Assist in case management. Meticulously maintain legal case files (opening, ongoing maintenance and archiving) in electronic form and, where appropriate, paper formats.
• Under direction of attorneys, manage administrative/logistical aspects of litigation, such as managing document production and review processes during discovery, serving discovery documents, and arranging for court reporter services.
• Preparing, filing, and serving court filings.
• Manage attorneys' calendars and process scheduling requests.
• Assist in maintaining good client relations.
• Draft routine correspondence and procedural motions for attorneys’ signatures as needed.
• Cite-check, proofread, and format documents in preparation for filing.
• Manage timekeeping/ billing software.
• Working with accounting to ensure departmental invoices are timely received and paid, tracking expenses, providing monthly accounting necessary to reconcile departmental credit card charges, processing Legal Director’s work-related expenses.
• Support the legal team in the recruitment, selection, supervision and evaluation of staff, including law interns.
• Coordinate and provide information to legal volunteers, including cooperating attorneys, Legal Committee members, and law interns as requested by the attorneys.
• Adhere to the highest standards of professional ethics and client confidentiality; actively support a collaborative, mutually respectful work environment within the legal team and among other office staff; and perform other administrative tasks as may be assigned.
  

Qualifications, Experience and Attributes

Job requirements include:

• Personal commitment to advancing the ACLU's values, mission, goals and programs.
• Ability to work in an environment that respects differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability and socioeconomic circumstances.
• Advanced organizational and case management skills; meticulous attention to detail.
• Ability to identify primary and secondary authorities to validate the research, select and apply a range of appropriate operational and management tools and techniques.
• Ability to maintain absolute confidentiality, exercise sound independent judgment and exhibit high levels of integrity, discretion and diplomacy.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively and respectfully with clients, staff, board members, volunteers, and the general public. Skilled in communicating both orally and in writing.
• Ability to build effective working relationships inside and outside the organization and to maintain mutually trusting relationships with clients and coalition partners.
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills. Ability and willingness to become in-house expert on cloud-based document sharing platforms, such as Dropbox. Ability and willingness to become in-house expert on firm-specific programs and software, such as e-discovery or intake/document management programs
• Self-starter, follow-through, ability to set priorities and to seek assistance in setting priorities,
  and the ability to meet deadlines.
• Ability to work creatively with good problem-solving skills, with ability to develop and execute
  effective organizational strategies.
• Work demands sometimes include travel, working evenings, weekends and holidays.

Preferences include:

• Paralegal certificate and three years of paralegal experience or an equivalent combination of education
  and experience is preferred, but we are willing to train a highly committed individual who does not
  possess these qualifications.
• Federal court filing experience is strongly preferred.
• Fluency in Spanish is preferred but not required.

Compensation

The hiring salary range for this position is from $47,000 to $52,000, depending on experience. Excellent benefits include health insurance, a 401K plan, and paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave. This is a union position. Salary and benefits may be modified subject to a collective bargaining agreement.

About the ACLU of North Carolina
Founded in 1965, the ACLU of North Carolina (ACLU-NC), an affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union, is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that stands as the state’s guardian of liberty – working in courts, the General Assembly, and communities to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties for all North Carolinians. The ACLU-NC brings together litigation, legislative advocacy, communications, and organizing strategies to empower communities and achieve our objectives in major issue areas including criminal law reform, racial
justice, LGBTQIA+ equality, reproductive freedom, and the rights of immigrants. With nearly 30,000 members and supporters across the state, the ACLU-NC has a staff of more than 20 people with a central office in Raleigh and a satellite office in Charlotte.

To Apply
Applications should include a cover letter that explains your specific interest working for the ACLU of North Carolina and a resume. Please send all materials in a single PDF file to [email protected]. To facilitate our review, your emails should have the subject line: “[Your last name] 2022 Paralegal Position.” We will review applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

The ACLU-NCLF is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. Recognizing that strict minimum requirements tend to disproportionately discourage women and people of color from applying for jobs for which they would otherwise be competitive, we encourage all qualified individuals to apply -- especially people of color; women; people from low-income backgrounds; people with disabilities; people who identify as LGBTQIA+; and people who are formerly inc