Paralegal Client Advocate, Prisoners’ Rights Project (PRP)

The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Practice has two openings for Paralegal Client Advocate positions in the Prisoners’ Rights Project (PRP) to assist incarcerated people with health and safety needs in the City jails and provide litigation support for them. The Paralegal Client Advocate will be supervised by a Supervising Attorney in PRP. 

 

PRP works to protect the legal rights of persons incarcerated in New York State prisons and/or New York City jails through class action and impact litigation, legislative and oversight advocacy, policy change, and advocacy directly with correctional, medical, and other agencies. The Paralegal Client Advocate will interview incarcerated clients by telephone, videoconference, and in person, and will advocate for them with other administrators with respect to protection from violence, access to medical/mental health care, living conditions, and other priority subjects.  The Paralegal Client Advocate will also work with other teams within Legal Aid’s Criminal Defense Practice to advocate with DOC on issues of health and safety and protection from harm. 

 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide advice and assistance to clients
• Interview and assess client requests for services and complaints by videoconference, telephone and in person in the jails and prisons
• Conduct factual and legal research
• Advocate with agency officials on behalf of incarcerated people
• Obtain and analyze clients’ medical records and documentation
• Organize and manage electronic and paper litigation files
• Draft affidavits on behalf of clients
• Assist with telephone hotlines
• Assist with litigation tasks
• Participate in client outreach efforts
• Develop community education materials and conduct trainings for clients and other advocates
• Carry out other tasks of general assistance to the work of the Unit
• Conduct off-site intake as needed
• Work with interns and volunteers in the Unit
• Other duties as assigned

 

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

• Eligible candidates must have at least one of the following:
  • A bachelor’s degree (strongly preferred)
  • A paralegal certificate from an ABA accredited paralegal program
  • At minimum a high school diploma / GED and 4+ years of legal work experience
  • 4+ years of combined higher education and legal work experience
• Excellent written, oral advocacy, and computer skills are required; the job requires a great deal of writing, and use of case management and time keeping software
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team and manage a large workload and communicate with team members
• Ability to coordinate and collaborate successfully with other groups and organizations
• Experience in and/or commitment to advocacy on behalf of low-income people, immigrants and persons involved in the criminal justice and prison systems, many of whom have mental illness, is strongly desired
• Excellent organizational skills
• Experience assisting people in crisis is desirable, but not required
• Proficiency in Spanish is highly preferred but not required

 

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

 

Salary Range: $60,033 - $91,932

 

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more.