Legal Assistant - Client Advocate

About the Legal Aid Justice Center:

The Legal Aid Justice Center is a nationally recognized, non-profit organization that partners with low-income clients and communities of color in Virginia to fight for racial, social, and economic justice. We understand that the harms our clients endure are inextricably linked to overarching systems of injustice. Together we are dismantling those systems through a combination of community organizing, litigation, policy advocacy, public relations, and individual legal services.

Founded in 1967, LAJC has offices in Charlottesville, Richmond, Petersburg, and Falls Church and provides services under six key program areas: Civil Rights & Racial Justice (focuses on the criminal legal system), Housing & Consumer Justice, Youth Justice, Health Justice & Public Benefits, Immigrant Justice, and Worker Justice. As examples of LAJC’s recent work, our lawsuit and organizing against the state forced reform of Virginia’s unemployment insurance system, including advocacy that resulted in the distribution of over $1 billion in illegally withheld payments to over 160,000 Virginians. During the pandemic, we demanded and secured a statewide eviction moratorium and emergency pandemic protections that helped hundreds of families avoid eviction. We reduced incarceration across the state, including reducing the population of a local immigration detention center down to historically low levels through a coordinated effort of organizing paired with impact and individual litigation. Our staff are on the front lines of some of the most important anti-poverty fights happening today.

With a staff of over 90, the past few years have been a time of exciting growth and opportunity for the organization. In addition to the growth of programmatic efforts including increased organizing capacity, LAJC has expanded its operations and administrative capacity, created new opportunities for professional growth and leadership among staff, engaged in ongoing race equity work, and explored changes to organizational structure to deepen its efforts to create long-term, sustainable, community-driven change.

LAJC’s latest strategic plan is available at https://www.justice4all.org/lajc-strategic-plan-2022-2026/#area%20d.

For more information about LAJC’s work and programs, visit www.justice4all.org.

About the Position:

The Legal Aid Justice Center seeks a Legal Assistant-Client Advocate for its office in Richmond, Virginia. This role is essential to the day-to-day operations of LAJC (Legal Aid Justice Center). This individual will-conduct intake, help with case management and document preparation, maintain calendars, organize files, help maintain the reception area, and other administrative tasks as assigned. This position is conducted in person, 8:30am-5:00pm, Monday-Friday, with the potential for one remote workday weekly after onboarding is complete. LAJC's Legal Assistant-Client Advocates communicate with clients to support their understanding of LAJC's advocacy work, assist them in completing their intake process, and ensure they are up to date on what is happening with their case. Our Legal Assistant-Client Advocate roles are members of our Administrative Team, whose mission is to promote justice and reduce poverty across Virginia by acting as a bridge between LAJC's staff members and its client community and managing the details that keep LAJC's office running smoothly. This role is intended to evolve over time to include specialized program intake services and support.

Job Duties:

• Communicate with clients to define and clarify our mission and services to help create a collaborative environment in which community, staff and volunteers are informed an up to date.
• Handle all aspects of community contact in an efficient and professional manner including answering the phone; listening to voicemails; documenting initial contacts; conducting intakes, providing referrals, utilizing our legal database, supporting emergency triage and receiving client documents
• Enter all prescreen/intake and relevant client data and documents into Legal Server
• Communicate with community members with an equity and social justice lens to assess needs and coordinate essential services.
• Conduct intakes with potential clients, which includes initial fact gathering, reviewing eligibility information, ensuring accuracy in databases and files, and gather documents to support building a case.
• Oversee all front desk-related activities including directing visitors and handling administrative tasks, maintaining the reception area, and other tasks to ensure efficient operations.
• Provide accurate fast-paced data entry and file maintenance.
• Other administrative tasks may include but are not limited to: preparing and providing materials and information for client cases and other legal issues and assist with paper and electronic filing; communicating pre-approved advice, updates, or legal information from lawyers to clients; providing backup for other offices as needs arise; assisting with communications with clients and community partners, preparing documents for attorneys
• Provide legal assistant experience through a cultural humility and trauma informed lens.
• Demonstrate respectful, professional, and timely written and verbal communication, during all internal and external interactions.
• Together with the team: provide referrals and maintain lists of resources for clients in relevant subject areas; supervise and onboard interns and volunteers; track changes and trends in community requests and needs.
• Organize and maintain confidential documents and files and perform assigned administrative tasks to support office functions and safeguard compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
• Support community and volunteer engagement – be visible, greet and support community members and train admin volunteers; provide customer service by phone and in person; and keep community and volunteers informed and connected with services, organizers, and resources.
• Define and clarify the Legal Assistant/Client Advocate role for community and staff by answering questions; shadowing; and attending meetings; and by keeping a presence at the reception desk and common areas when needed.
• Act as a referral specialist by building connections with local partner agencies and community organizations and implementing new referrals
• Engage in special projects with attorneys, organizers, and other teams including extended trips in the field, outreach tabling, correspondence, mailings, events coordination, and other activities.
• Provide support to other offices as needed. This could include in-person support for the Petersburg office.
• Other duties as assigned.
  • Racial Equity & Organizational Development: Promote racial equity across all dimensions, including within LAJC, by doing the following: Helping to recruit, retain, and support both staff and leadership that reflect the racial composition of our community;
  • Cultivating respect for the work and expanding resources for non-attorney staff that are disproportionately people of color
  • Creating spaces for staff to discuss issues of racial, gender, and all other issues of marginalization; and
  • Pushing for institutional and cultural changes by management, the board, and staff to further promote racial equity.

Required Qualifications:

• Strong commitment to social, economic, and racial justice.
• Self-starter, excited and passionate about client and community experiences.
• Spanish Fluency
• Proficient in MS Office applications, including Word, Excel, Teams, and Outlook.
• Ability to learn and effectively utilize case management systems such as Legal Server.
• Analytical thinker with excellent conceptual.
• Demonstrated organizational skills, meticulous attention to detail, and ability to multitask in a high pace environment.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 2+ years as a legal assistant or closely related customer service experience in a law office or similar setting.
• Experience in Spanish/English translation in a law office or similar setting.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to manage sensitive and confidential situations with tact, professionalism, and diplomacy
• Skills in professional email, verbal etiquette, and effective communication
• Ability to provide a fully bilingual, English/Spanish, Legal Assistant experience through a cultural awareness and trauma informed lens.

A Note to Potential Candidates: Studies have shown that women, trans, non-binary folks, and BIPOC are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every single one of the qualifications as described in a job description. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization, and strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don't believe you meet every one of the qualifications described.

Location: This role will be based in our Richmond office. Occasional travel between offices will be required. Although a regular presence in the office is required, LAJC offers a remote work policy to support employees in co-creating schedules and arrangements that allow us all to do our best work.

The Legal Aid Justice Center is an equal opportunity employer, committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff. We strongly encourage candidates of all identities, experiences, and communities to apply. The Legal Aid Justice Center is committed to strengthening the voices of our low-income clients, working in collaboration with community partners, and rooting out the inequities that keep people in poverty. We strive to take on the issues that have broad impact on our client communities and to be responsive to client input. Recognizing the particular impact of racism on our clients and staff, we devote special attention to dismantling racial injustice. All applicants must be dedicated to working in and sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe. In reviewing applications, we look for evidence that applicants have experience and/or thoughtfulness in working with traditionally marginalized populations.

Benefits: Our mission is compelling, and our team members are passionate about their work, and so we recognize the need to provide generous benefits and encourage rest and a healthy work environment. For example, we provide:

• Generous paid time off every year, including 3 to 6 weeks of vacation, 12 days of health leave, 16 weeks parental leave, and 14 holidays (not including bonus holidays/rest days allocated as needed)
• 100% employer paid health, dental, and vision insurance, plus excellent family insurance with annual max of $2,400 premium contribution to LAJC-sponsored health plan
• 403(b) retirement plan with 4% employer contribution (no required match)
• Strong commitment to professional development

• Experience in Spanish/English translation in a law office or similar setting.