Paralegal (Client Intake Manager)

Preferred Start Date: June 10, 2024

Location: Candidate must live in Washington State for this position. Communities Rise is currently working remotely. When Communities Rise returns to in-person work, this position may require regular presence at the office. The position requires occasional in-person meetings and events in the Seattle metro area.

Classification: Full time (40 hours/week) Exempt, Monday through Friday

Reports To: Supervising Attorney

Salary: $69,000-$73,000 annually

Benefits: Paid medical, vision, and dental insurance; 13 paid holidays plus week-long office closures in July and December; 12 vacation days and 12 Sick and Safe Time days in the first year; 100% of Paid Family and Medical Leave premiums paid by employer, 401K retirement plan and access to free personalized retirement planning advisors; monthly stipends for remote work and personal phone expenses; and paid professional development expenses; 3% bilingual language salary boost for employees who qualify based on language skills applicable to position.

About Communities Rise

Communities Rise’s mission is to foster movements to build power in communities impacted by systemic oppression. To create a more equitable system, we pursue cross-sector collaborations and provide legal services and capacity building support for community organizations and small businesses.

• Cross-Sector Collaborations: We team up with funders, community organizations and community leaders to co-design, implement, and elevate initiatives for equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Capacity Building: We build capacity in community organizations working in communities impacted by systemic oppression through our nonprofit cohort program, grant writing, and fundraising clinics.
• Legal Services: We provide legal support to nonprofit organizations and small businesses on their business legal needs through extended representation, legal clinics, and legal trainings.

About the Role

The Paralegal is a critical member of Communities Rise’s Legal Team, which provides business (non-litigation) legal services to small businesses and nonprofits. The Paralegal’s primary role is managing the legal intake process for Communities Rise’s small business and nonprofit organizational clients. Client intake includes managing client inquiries, interviewing applicants for our legal services, assessing cases in consultation with attorneys, follow-up fact investigation and research, tracking intake in our databases, and maintaining client files. The Paralegal will also assist with organizing and building our library of legal resource materials for organizations and volunteer attorneys. The position plays a vital role in engagement and relationship building with our client communities and in ensuring we are fulfilling our mission to build power in communities impacted by systemic oppression through support of thriving nonprofit organizations and small businesses. The ideal candidate will have at least three years of paralegal experience, prior experience working with marginalized communities in a service setting, and will deeply embrace CR’s values and mission.

Responsibilities  (The percentages listed are estimates and may vary over time.)

• Client Intake, Support and Reporting 70%
• Coordinate CR’s intake of new clients. Schedule and conduct intake interviews of clients virtually. Gather records and other client documents. Maintain timely and organized case notes and files. Open and close case files in compliance with program protocols. Enter client and case information into Salesforce database and carefully maintain database and client files for accuracy and completeness.
• Manage and respond to inquiries from the public and potential clients about CR’s legal programs guided by a relational approach to client communities. Provide community information and referrals as appropriate. Maintain updated referral list.
• Assess legal cases in consultation with staff attorneys for appropriate legal services and conduct follow-up fact investigation and research as needed. Provide clients with information and guidance under the supervision of attorneys. 
• Provide targeted support to legal clinic manager with assessment and scheduling of monthly legal clinic clients.
• Engage with non-English speaking clients using interpretation services or language skills as applicable.
• Support staff attorneys as needed with legal representation, including research and other tasks.
• Assist legal and development teams as needed with fulfilling grant reporting requirements requiring key data on CR’s legal services. 
• Help legal team with designing and gathering surveys, evaluations, reports, and related assessments from clients and volunteer attorneys.
• Assist the legal team in refining intake criteria and other administrative aspects of the intake process.
• Identify patterns of client matters ripe for policy advocacy and participate in advocacy efforts as needed.
• Program and Resource Development 15%
• Help organize and build CR’s library of legal resource materials aimed at assisting nonprofits, small businesses and volunteer attorneys.
• Assist staff attorneys in developing legal templates, written resources, and toolkits that will best support clients and volunteer attorneys. 
• Maintain resource library internally and on website.
• Training Development and Support 7%
• Collaborate with staff attorneys and volunteer attorneys to develop trainings, and produce training materials.
• Assist with training, facilitation, and logistical support.
• As applicable, produce flyers and marketing materials in Spanish.
• General Operations 4%
• Collaborate across programs with CR’s Capacity Building Team which provides a variety of support to build thriving nonprofit organizations, in order to deepen the connection between our supportive services. 
• Participate in staff meetings and strategic planning. 
• Attend community events, and otherwise contribute to strengthening our community relationships and partnerships.
• Other Duties As Assigned 4%
• Other tasks may be assigned based on organizational needs and the supervisor's request, such as assisting with outreach, communications, administrative work, or other responsibilities. 

Required Qualifications: We understand there may be stellar candidates who possess some, but not all of the required and preferred qualifications listed below. We welcome candidates with any relevant personal and professional experience who match some of these qualifications to apply.

• Candidate must live and be authorized to work in Washington State. Communities Rise is currently working remotely. When Communities Rise returns to in-person work, this position may require regular presence at the office. The position requires occasional in-person meetings and events in the Seattle metro area.
• Three years previous experience as a paralegal or legal assistant or other equivalent experience.
• Self motivated, organized, and ability to manage several cases at once.
• Excellent client relations and verbal and written communication skills. This includes prior client interviewing experience and the ability to communicate complex ideas effectively to people of different backgrounds.
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality of client information and experience with protecting confidential legal databases.
• Strong computer skills, including word processing, filing, calendaring and database applications. Preferred experience with Salesforce, Google Suite, and Microsoft Office.
• Ability to collaborate effectively as part of a diverse team that includes staff attorneys, legal clinic and training managers, and volunteer attorneys.
• Approach to paralegal work that centers community knowledge and experience. 
• Empathy, cultural humility, and a desire to build authentic relationships in partnership with community.
• Alignment with Communities Rise’s mission and commitment to racial equity and centering our work around communities of color and communities impacted by structural oppression.
• Experience working on issues of race equity and oppression that includes the ability to assess power dynamics, resolve conflicts, and adjust and respond to organizational needs as they arise.
• Ability to work some evenings and weekends for special events (1-3 times per month).

Preferred Qualifications

• Preference for professional working proficiency in Spanish, both verbal and written skills.
• Legal research skills.
• Experience preparing basic corporate legal document templates such as entity formation documents and bylaws, etc.  
• Experience working in a legal office focused on transactional law.
• Experience designing and implementing data gathering strategies, such as surveys, evaluations, or reports.
• Interest in working within a shared leadership organization.

Paid medical, vision, and dental insurance; 13 paid holidays plus week-long office closures in July and December; 12 vacation days and 12 Sick and Safe Time days in the first year; 100% of Paid Family and Medical Leave premiums paid by employer, 401K retirement plan and access to free personalized retirement planning advisors; monthly stipends for remote work and personal phone expenses; and paid professional development expenses; 3% bilingual language salary boost for employees who qualify based on language skills applicable to position.