The Legal Aid Society has an opening for a Paralegal Client Advocate in the Incarcerated Client Services Unit. The Paralegal Client Advocate will provide direct services to people incarcerated within the city jails and work within the various New York City Department of Correction facilities to connect incarcerated people with attorneys, social workers, and paralegals in real time to ensure clients are updated on all aspects of their defense. The Paralegal Client Advocate will also assist people in custody with navigating the correctional bureaucracy and connect people with critical services programs and personnel from the Department of Correction and other agencies.

The Paralegal Client Advocate will report to the Director of Paralegal On-Site Services. Working with the Director and the team of Client Advocates, the Paralegal Client Advocate will provide coverage to multiple facilities as needed to ensure that coverage is always available and along with the Director will be the primary point of contact with other defender agencies requesting assistance with incarcerated clients at multiple locations on Rikers Island.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Interview and assess requests for services from incarcerated persons
• Work with multiple units within the Legal Aid Society to ensure all clients’ needs are met
• Serve as a critical point of contact for people incarcerated in the city jails
• Support outside organizations to provide resources to people in custody and connect them with services within the city jails
• Address any requests for services for incarcerated clients from outside organizations and defenders
• Provide direct support and advocacy for people in custody with the Department of Correction and assist with institutional issues and access to services
• Responsible for understanding Department of Correction administrative rules and policies related to access to services for people in custody including grievance procedures and exhaustion of administrative remedies
• Hotline or in-person intake for incarcerated people and their families, problem solving and connection to services as needed
• Tracking and reporting of data and trends gathered through intake
• Prepare written reports summarizing information compiled, which may include some legal and factual research under attorney supervision
• Handle client and agency correspondence in connection with cases
• Assist clients in preparing legal documents and navigating all systems of institutional care to ensure client’s needs are met
• Liaise between attorneys and their clients
• Assist clients in completing forms and releases and referrals to outside agencies
• Assist in forwarding information to clients’ facility to calculate jail time credits, take steps to correct errors, and secure missing time due
• Become a notary public within 6 months of hiring and provide notary public services to people in custody
• Provide wellness checks for people in custody upon request
• Provide point-of-contact coverage to multiple Department of Correction facilities each week as assigned
• Performs paralegal responsibilities, as necessary
• Other duties as assigned

TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

• Eligible candidates must have at least one of the following:
  • A bachelor’s degree (strongly preferred)
  • A paralegal certificate from an ABA accredited paralegal program
  • At minimum a high school diploma / GED and 4+ years of legal work experience
  • 4+ years of combined higher education and legal work experience
• Commitment to advocacy on behalf of low-income people
• Excellent writing, verbal, organizational, and computer skills
• Proficiency in legal research
• Ability to work in a team setting as well as independently
• Ability to multitask 

Preferred qualifications:

• Some knowledge of New York criminal law and criminal procedures
• Having worked inside a correctional facility is desirable
• Proficiency in languages other than English is desirable

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles. 

Salary Range: $60,033- $91,932 

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Click here to read more about benefits. 

Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

HOW TO APPLY


All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF:

• Cover Letter
• Resume

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email jo**************@le*******.org. 

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

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.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

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 (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.