Immigration Federal Litigation Paralegal

To apply, please combine your resume and cover letter into a single document. Applications without all components will not be considered.

The Bronx Defenders (BxD) – an innovative, progressive, holistic indigent defense office in the South Bronx – seeks a passionate immigration paralegal with a commitment to public defense to fill a position as a Federal Litigation Paralegal in our Immigration Practice.

Founded in 1997, The Bronx Defenders is a public defender nonprofit that has developed a nationally recognized model of representation called holistic defense, which provides people with teams of lawyers, social workers, and advocates to defend them zealously in court as well as to address the underlying drivers and enmeshed penalties of legal system involvement.

Since opening our doors, we have grown into an organization of more than 400 staff members defending nearly 20,000 New Yorkers each year in criminal, family, civil, and immigration proceedings who face incarceration, family separation, eviction, and deportation, among other devastating consequences.

Today we are reimagining the role of public defense even further, using community organizing and engagement, legislative advocacy, and impact litigation to partner with the communities we represent to bring about long-lasting systemic change.

We also share our model and lessons learned with current and future public defenders. We run two legal clinics at NYC law schools and train public defenders from one end of the country to the next on how to move to a holistic model of representation.

Immigration Practice

Nearly a third of the residents of the Bronx were born outside the United States, and many face the unprecedented threat of detention and deportation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Our attorneys help people facing criminal, family, and civil proceedings make informed and strategic decisions to protect their rights. We are also one of the three public defender organizations leading the nation’s first-ever universal representation program for detained immigrants facing deportation. 

Responsibilities

Reporting to the Immigration Practice Legal Director, the Federal Litigation Paralegal will support the Immigration Practice’s federal litigation, focusing on district court habeas petitions and circuit court appeals. The Paralegal will hold the following responsibilities:

• Produce, file, and serve federal court pleadings and filings, including petitions for review, habeas petitions, motions, briefs, appendices, and exhibits, in compliance with applicable court rules and deadlines
• Manage case dockets and deadlines using electronic filing systems such as CM/ECF and ACMS and maintain accurate case tracking logs
• Assist with legal research, cite-checking, and formatting briefs and memoranda for federal litigation matters
• Maintain electronic and physical case files in accordance with organizational policies and funder requirements
• Assist with data tracking and reporting related to federal litigation cases for internal, grant, and compliance purposes
• Track attorney and paralegal time spent on litigation matters and monitor case-related expenses in accordance with organizational, grant, and funder requirements
• Prepare materials for oral arguments and court appearances, including assembling exhibits, binders, hearing packets, and other litigation materials for use by attorneys in federal court
• Perform additional administrative and litigation support duties as assigned in support of the Immigration Practice

To be eligible, applicants must have:

• Bachelor’s degree
• A minimum of 1-2 years of relevant administrative and project management experience
• Ability and willingness to work outside of regular business hours, including evenings and weekends, as required by court deadlines and litigation needs

Candidates must demonstrate:

• Experience working in and with racially, ethnically and socioeconomically marginalized communities
• Ability to effectively and respectfully communicate, collaborate and connect with people with various backgrounds, identities and experiences
• Ability to work well independently as well as collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team of lawyers and non-lawyers
• Ability to multitask, maintain order and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, high stakes environment
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to think critically and creatively in fast-paced settings
• Ability to receive constructive feedback, demonstrate introspection and shift

behavior accordingly

• Ability to exercise good judgment, discretion, and confidentiality with sensitive matters

Preferred but not Required:

• Prior paralegal experience supporting federal litigation preferred

This is a hybrid position that will require substantial in-person work.

Salary is commensurate with experience.  For candidates with 1-2 years of directly relevant experience, the salary range for this position would be approximately $69,250 to $70,000, and commensurate with additional experience on our CBU pay scale. Full-time employees are also eligible for a comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to medical, dental and vision coverage; a 403(b) plan with employer contribution; and a generous vacation, sick leave, and parental leave policy.

Approximately 70% of The Bronx Defenders' staff, including attorneys and non-attorneys, are represented by UAW Local 2325 - Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (AFL-CIO). This position is not within the bargaining unit. 

This position is non-exempt. By law, non-exempt employees are compensated hourly based on their annual rate and therefore are entitled to over-time, whereas exempt employees are not.

To apply, please combine your resume and cover letter into one document, label it with your First and Last Name and submit via Idealist.org. Your resume will be used to determine your salary based on the number of years of directly relevant professional experience and should include all relevant professional experience. Applications without a written cover letter will not be considered.

The Bronx Defenders is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to maintaining a workplace that embraces staff with a diversity of backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We acknowledge the ways in which systemic oppression and injustice can undermine access to professional opportunities and are committed to conducting hiring and promotion processes that are equitable and accessible to those commonly excluded from the workforce. We do not discriminate against and in fact specifically encourage applicants from marginalized communities to apply, including those who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, disabled, neurodivergent, and those directly impacted by criminal, civil, family, and immigration legal systems. We value lived as well as professional experience and particularly welcome applications from the Bronx community that we serve.