Paralegal / Immigration Law Unit

Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) is committed to fair employment practices. We are proud to employ a staff with the cultural and linguistic competency to work within a variety of communities.

GBLS seeks a full-time paralegal to join the Immigration Law Unit (IU). The Immigration Unit represents clients in a range of immigration law matters, including asylum, T and U-visas, VAWA relief, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status petitions, and removal proceedings.

Responsibilities:

• Work closely with unit attorneys to plan and handle client casework and communications, including preparation of immigration applications and drafting of basic written correspondence to clients, courts and administrative agencies;
• As appropriate with experience, conduct client interviews and intakes, and provide brief services and referrals where appropriate;
• Assist with physical and electronic case file management;
• Participate in community outreach, intake and brief service clinics as needed.

Qualifications: the successful candidate will be

• Comfortable working as part of a team and will have excellent interpersonal skills;
• Comfortable interviewing and advising clients from diverse backgrounds and who may have significant histories of trauma and/or violence;
• A self-starter, who is organized, and detail-oriented;
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications (i.e., Word, Outlook, basic Excel), and willing and able to learn other similar applications; and
• Able to draft letters, immigration applications, and other written materials.

Helpful additional skills and experience:

• Competency in oral and written communication in a second language that is prevalent among our clients, such as Spanish, Haitian Creole, or Portuguese is helpful.
• Experience working with low-income clients and community organizations is helpful.
• Familiarity with immigration law and different types of immigration remedies and/or applications is helpful.
• Experience as a paralegal is helpful.