Paralegal Casehandler

The Legal Aid Society's Civil Practice has an opening for a Paralegal Casehandler to work in the Immigration Law Unit located at 199 Water Street in Lower Manhattan. The paralegal will assist in increasing access to immigration law, legal assistance for low-income New York City immigrants, and advocates at community-based organization sites located throughout the City. Job duties will include intake, case screening, counseling, and providing training at community-based organizations and other sites throughout the City, preparation of applications on behalf of immigrants seeking lawful immigration status including DACA, removal of conditions on lawful permanent resident status, citizenship, or employment documentation from the USCIS, and advocacy on behalf of immigrants seeking benefits from other agencies. A minimum two-year commitment is required so that a paralegal can become a partial Accredited Representative with privileges to practice before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The Immigration Law Unit is a recognized leader in the delivery of high quality legal services to immigrants in all five boroughs of New York City and in the surrounding counties within the New York District of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As the only city-wide provider of free, comprehensive immigration legal services, The Legal Aid Society represents low-income immigrants in obtaining lawful status, in challenges to deportation and removal, and in filing asylum applications. The Unit also provides legal advice and representation to immigrants seeking to become lawful permanent residents, to naturalize, to obtain employment authorization, and to seek other benefits from USCIS. The Immigration Law Unit is comprised of an attorney-in-charge, two supervising attorneys, nineteen staff attorneys, five paralegals and a social worker, and is located at 199 Water Street in Lower Manhattan.

In this position you will: provide direct assistance to clients; interview and assess client requests for services; provide training at community-based organization sites throughout the City; prepare applications on behalf of immigrants seeking lawful immigration status, including DACA, removal of conditions on lawful permanent resident status, citizenship, or employment documentation from the USCIS; participate in strategic planning and policy advocacy on Comprehensive Immigration Reform; advocate on behalf of immigrants seeking benefits from other agencies; handle a high volume of individual cases and respond to the needs of community based organizations; engage in policy advocacy on behalf of clients; conduct off-site community outreach and intake; provide client services off-site and during evening hours as needed; and other duties as assigned.

The ideal candidate must possess: paralegal certificate from an accredited school, Bachelor's degree in relevant field or satisfactory completion of a comprehensive in-house training course appropriate to practice area; excellent writing, verbal, and computer skills; excellent organizational skills; ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team and manage a high volume of cases; ability to coordinate and collaborate successfully with other groups and organizations; commitment to protecting the rights of low-income clients; experience in and/or commitment to advocacy on behalf of low-income people and immigrants is strongly desired; knowledge of immigration law is strongly desired; experience preparing immigration applications is strongly desired; experience assisting people in crisis is desirable; proficiency in languages other than English is desirable, but not required.

To Apply: Please email a cover letter and resume in a single PDF document to: jobs-civ@legal-aid.org and include the Job Reference Code: CIVIL-2013-016 in all correspondence.

The Legal Aid Society is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Women, People of Color, Gays and Lesbians, Transgender People, Veterans and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.