Legal Assistant Workers Rights Program

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Position: Temporary Legal Assistant

Reports to: Workers’ Rights Senior Staff Attorney

Bargaining Unit: No 

FLSA: Non Exempt 

Type: Full Time

About Centro Legal de la Raza

Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Oakland, California, Centro Legal de la Raza (Centro Legal) is a comprehensive legal services and advocacy organization protecting and advancing the rights of immigrant, low-income, and Latino communities through bilingual representation, education, and advocacy. We combine quality legal services with know-your-rights education, affirmative litigation, and youth development, ensuring access to justice for thousands of individuals and families each year throughout Northern and Central California.

For more information, please visit our website: https://centrolegal.org/

Position Summary

Centro Legal seeks a legal assistant to support Centro Legal’s workers’ rights practice in providing direct legal services to low-wage and immigrant workers. This position is a temporary position intended to support the capacity of the team while one member is on parental leave. The position is anticipated to last until May 28, 2020. Because of current public health guidance, this position will primarily involve remote work to start. Occasional trips to the office may be required to receive, manage, or mail documents, and meet with clients in rare situations where it is necessary to provide effective legal services. If public health guidance changes, this position may require additional work from our office in Oakland. This position will report to the Workers’ Rights Senior Staff Attorney.

Duties will include the following:

• Assisting workers’ rights attorneys in all aspects of legal representation for our clients;
•  Conducting intake interviews in English and Spanish with potential clients under attorney
• supervision;
•  Working closely with workers’ rights attorneys to provide legal advice and brief services to
• Centro’s clients through consultations, primarily conducted over the phone.
•  Preparing client claims for unpaid wages and other complaints to file with administrative agencies.
•  Tracking client intake and legal services through comprehensive data entry in Centro Legal’s database, and careful file management.
•  Helping attorneys conduct community outreach events as well as any other appropriate community education events;
•  Performing other special projects and other duties as assigned by supervising attorneys in the workers’ rights practice.

Qualifications

First and foremost, the applicant must profoundly share Centro Legal’s mission and vision of racial, economic, and social justice. Qualifications include:

• High School diploma or GED required; Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree preferred;
•  Strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to relate to and communicate with a broad range of clients and colleagues;
• Excellent word-processing and computer skills, including knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel;
•  Strong organization and time management skills.
• Fluency in Spanish;
• Experience working with low-income, immigrant, and Spanish-speaking communities; and
• Demonstrated commitment to serving low-income and underserved communities, with an ability
• to relate to and communicate with a broad range of clients and colleagues.

Compensation and Benefits:

• The salary for this position is set by Centro Legal’s salary scale, and will depend on the applicant’s relevant experience, with a starting wage rate of $23.60 per hour, plus a generous benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage.

To Apply

• Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Applicants should apply without delay. To apply, send a brief cover letter, resume, and list of three professional references by email to jobs@centrolegal.org, with the subject line, “Temporary Workers’ Rights Legal Assistant.”

POSITION OPEN UNTIL FILLED

• Diversity Statement
• Centro Legal’s mission includes advancing social, economic and racial justice. We are committed to fostering, cultivating and preserving a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion within and ensuring a workplace where all staff can flourish and grow professionally and well beyond. Our staff are the most important part of our ability to achieve our mission. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but our reputation, sustainability and our organization’s success.
• Centro Legal de la Raza is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, pregnancy), gender, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, medical condition including genetic characteristics, mental or physical disability, military or veteran status, marital status, family responsibilities, caregiver status, sexual orientation, gender identity (including

transgender status), gender expression, weight, height, linguistic characteristics (such as accent and limited English proficiency where not substantially job-related), citizenship status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, HIV/AIDs status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Centro Legal also prohibits discrimination based on a perception that an individual has any of the characteristics of the protected classes listed above, and further prohibits discrimination against an individual who is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics.