Career Opportunity

8173-Legal Assistant

Recruitment: RTF0139064-01154799

Published: October 10, 2023

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

Specific Information Regarding this Recruitment Process

Classification: 8173 - Legal Assistant

Status: Full-Time

Appointment Type: Temporary Exempt (TEX)

Application Opening: October 10, 2023

Application Deadline: Apply by 11:59pm on October 31, 1023

Hourly Compensation: $92,898 - $121,576/Annually

Recruitment ID: RTF0139064-01154799

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office invites candidates to apply for paralegal positions in its trailblazing Immigration Unit!

About the Organization:

What started as an office of only one attorney over 100 years ago, our Office now proudly employs 112 dedicated and dynamic attorneys and 114 integral non-attorney staff members, and provides zealous, compassionate, and client-centered legal representation to over 20,000 people per year who do not have the financial means to retain their own counsel. We aspire to provide the highest level of legal advocacy. Our Office has been recognized state and nationwide as a model of public defense, winning awards from the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association, and the California Public Defenders Association. 

We are seeking candidates with an ardent passion for and commitment to our mission of fiercely defending and supporting individuals in criminal and immigration cases with love, compassion, courage, and excellence. Successful candidates will have strong interpersonal and communication skills, and a deep empathy for our clients and their loved ones. Our clients are uniformly low-income and are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and therefore, a firm dedication to racial justice and using the law to fight for marginalized individuals and communities is required.

Successful candidates will be able to assist attorneys in drafting immigration applications, drafting declarations, compiling and organizing evidence, and working directly with clients. Legal Assistants also act as a liaison between the legal team, clients and their loved ones, as well as institutional actors. Importantly, successful candidates will have strong research skills and the ability to organize large volumes of records. Working independently, as well as with a small team, is required. Lived experience in the immigration and/or criminal punishment system a plus. Spanish competency is strongly preferred.

About the SF Public Defender Immigration Unit:

Our Immigration Unit is the largest deportation defense unit housed at a public defender’s office west of New York City. Launched on May 23, 2017 shortly after the 2016 presidential election, the unit provides legal representation for noncitizens facing deportation in federal immigration courts who are unable to afford a lawyer. Noncitizens have a five-fold increased chance of winning their cases if they have legal representation in removal proceedings. Our Immigration Unit has been at the cutting edge in defending the rights of immigrants in removal proceedings and in challenging unjust detention and deportation policies, and has provided representation for nearly 1,000 people in immigration detention since its inception.

Position Summary: Legal Assistant (Immigration Unit)

This Legal Assistant position requires demonstrated commitment to ending mass deportation, and a talent for direct services. We are seeking full-time paralegals who will be responsible for carrying out legal duties under the supervision of attorneys and in conjunction with teams including an investigator and a social worker. Our unit provides full scope representation in removal cases, which includes appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Our unit also handles federal district court litigation, along with litigation in state courts.

Role description

Job Description

The 8173 duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job, 8173- Legal Assistant, in our Office and are not intended to be an inclusive list:

• Investigates, collects and compiles case materials and documentary evidence.
• Assists with drafting immigration applications, declarations, and pleadings connected with immigration representation; interviews witnesses and family members and assists the attorney at hearing.
• Assists with performing legal research including statistical research required for litigation.
• As assigned, maintains a tracking and calendaring system for removal cases, appeals, and litigation cases.
• Corresponds and communicates with attorneys, representatives of other governmental agencies and the general public.
• As assigned, analyzes evidence and pleadings to extract facts pertinent to issues argued on brief; may assemble exhibits, affidavits and other legal documents for use in preparing for hearing.
• Meets with clients and interviews witnesses to ascertain evidence relevant to the underlying legal claims.
• Request records from various public and private entities.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

• Demonstrated commitment to immigrant rights and indigent criminal defense.
• Minimum of two years of immigration law or trial experience.
• Ability to communicate clearly, concisely, and professionally both orally and in writing.
• Experience formulating recommendations and drafting justifications after analyzing information from various sources.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and make decisions independently within general guidelines.
• Skills in managing self, deliverables and deadlines.
• Experience handling highly sensitive information while maintaining strict confidentiality.
• Experience creating correspondence, reports, and memos.
• Experience interpreting, carrying out, and explaining complex laws, policies and procedures under the supervision of attorneys. 
• Skills in adapting to change that supports the organization’s mission.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, and Outlook).
• Experience in conducting legal interviews;
• Experience in reviewing, sorting, and summarizing voluminous court records, and police reports;
• Familiarity with reviewing criminal background “rap” sheets that range from local San Francisco rap sheets, Statewide “CII” rap sheets, and FBI or federal rap sheets;
• Familiarity with immigration court rules, along with San Francisco local court rules and the immigration/criminal and procedural court processes. 
• Works well independently and is also a keen collaborator, skilled at working with teams
• Ability to communicate in Spanish effectively, orally and in writing, especially with monolingual Spanish-speakers.

How to qualify

Education:

Certificate of completion of a paralegal program approved by the American Bar Association.

Substitution:

The required education may be substituted by other qualifying combinations of education and experience as described in the California Business and Professions Code Section 6450 for Paralegals.

What else should I know?

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams [required for Combined, Promotive, Entrance
• (CPE) Exams only]
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.