The Legal Aid Society houses the largest post-conviction public defense practice in New York City, annually providing holistic, client-centered representation to over 1,000 people with misdemeanor, felony, and homicide convictions.  We represent low-income people in all five boroughs who are challenging their criminal convictions on appeal or in other post-conviction proceedings. The Wrongful Conviction Unit (WCU) specifically seeks to exonerate individuals wrongfully convicted of crimes. Our work includes reinvestigating cases, advocating to the Conviction Review Units at the District Attorney’s Offices and litigating the claims in Supreme and Appellate Courts.

WCU is seeking an experienced and talented Paralegal to work full-time within the unit.  The paralegal would help obtain records and screen applications for our assistance through a rigorous screening process that includes reviewing police records, trial transcripts, interviewing potential clients, and court records. The paralegal would also support attorneys in the reinvestigation of cases, presentations to the Conviction Review Units in the District Attorney’s Offices to persuade them to dismiss convictions, and preparation for hearings.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Screen cases of potential clients, draft summaries of findings, and present to the unit with recommendations for next steps
• Collect necessary documents from courts, defense attorneys, court reporters, and clients; and conduct database searches to gather vital information
• Communicate with potential and active clients via letter and occasionally by phone or in person, including visits to clients in prison
• Draft Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, track requests, follow up with NYPD and District Attorneys’ Offices on requests as necessary, and assist with the Article 78 Project appealing adverse FOIL decisions
• Keep physical files, digital files, and case management systems up to date
• Help attorneys reinvestigate cases, including attending meetings, taking notes, participating in interviews, and analyzing records
• Help prepare presentations for Conviction Integrity Units, including drafting power point presentations and preparing documents
• Assist with locating and corresponding with mass dismissal clients
• Participate in innocent Network Activities, including Yearly Report and Application
• Other responsibilities as assigned

TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience advocating on behalf of low-income individuals and people of color
• Some knowledge of New York criminal law and criminal procedure strongly desired
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent computer skills, including proficiency with Microsoft Office programs, particularly Excel, and a PDF program
• Excellent organizational skills with ability to multi-task, manage a large workload, pay strong attention to detail, and think critically
• High degree of professionalism
• Highly motivated with an ability to work independently and collaboratively and adapt to the changing needs of the practice
• Ability to interact effectively and independently with courts and related criminal justice agencies, and with Criminal Defense Practice and Criminal Appeals Bureau attorneys, paralegals, and other support staff
• Proficiency in a language or languages other than English is desirable, but not required
• Paralegal certificate from an ABA accredited school, Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, or satisfactory completion of a comprehensive in-house training course appropriate to practice area

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Please submit these documents as a single combined PDF when you apply via the LAS (Legal Aid Society) Recruitment Portal.

• Cover letter
• Resume

SALARY TRANSPARENCY

The posting reflects the range of potential salaries for the role. The specific salary offers will be dependent on candidate qualifications, including collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range: $57,174- $87,568

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.

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 jo**************@le*******.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); 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 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.