Affirmative Housing Attorney

Open Door Legal • San Francisco, CA

13d • $83,500 - $99,500 • Hybrid

About The Position

Open Door Legal (ODL) is pioneering a system of universal access to civil legal representation to reduce poverty. The organization has grown significantly and aims to scale across San Francisco. ODL is an award-winning legal aid organization seeking passionate, motivated, and team-oriented individuals. The Affirmative Housing Attorney will work collaboratively with the housing team and clients to ensure the rights of low-income San Francisco residents to safe and healthy homes. The role requires enthusiasm for community engagement and trust-building. Housing law is a major practice area at ODL, with the housing team being the largest practice group. The housing team is divided into Unlawful Detainer (UD) and Affirmative Housing sections. The Affirmative Housing team handles issues such as housing discrimination, illegal rent increases, landlord harassment, Rent Board petitions, constructive evictions, wrongful evictions, habitability, and UD restrictions. The Affirmative Housing team consists of two dedicated attorneys. Success in this role requires grit, dynamism, teamwork, care, and passion, which are the organization's core values. The position reports directly to the Senior Affirmative Housing Attorney.

Requirements

• Membership in good standing with the California State Bar. Applicants without active California bar membership will not be considered.
• At least 1 (preferably 2+) years of experience in either tenant-side housing law or a similar field.
• Strong time management skills and the ability to handle quick timelines, manage diverse activities, organize case tasks, and meet critical deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Active demonstration of cultural humility and sensitivity to barriers low-income San Franciscans face when attempting to access the justice system.
• Demonstrated understanding of how to effectively provide trauma-informed advocacy for clients in crisis.
• Genuine enjoyment and motivation from working with low-income clients and the ability to work competently with clients impacted by trauma (emotional, mental, and physical).
• Hybrid position: minimum of three days in-office in one or more Open Door Legal office locations.
• High level of comfort learning and using technology and cloud-based case management systems (Salesforce, Dropbox, Google Suite).
• Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

• Comfort translating and interpreting from English to Spanish or Cantonese and vice versa legal information without assistance.
• Speaks at least conversational Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog/other Filipino dialects, or Vietnamese.
• Experience with filing and interacting within the San Francisco Superior Court.
• Experience working with low-income and vulnerable populations.
• Experience working in a high-volume direct services legal aid or similar environment.
• Having lived a significant period of life in San Francisco proper, specifically, a connection to the Bayview/Hunters Point, Excelsior, Sunset, or Western Addition neighborhoods.

Responsibilities

• Embody the mission of universal access to civil legal aid and work with the team to ensure the affirmative housing needs of all clients in the service area are met.
• Maintain a full caseload (as per team needs) while opening and closing cases efficiently.
• Facilitate housing and brief service intakes across multiple physical Open Door Legal office locations and virtually.
• Represent clients at SF Superior Court, SF Rent Board hearings, SFHA administrative hearings, grievance hearings with subsidized housing providers, mediations with the Conflict Intervention Service, and California Civil Rights Department mediations to improve clients' living conditions.
• Provide services and support to low-income clients with sensitivity and awareness to cultural, socio-economic, and disability differences, aiming for a high rating in client feedback surveys.
• Efficiently utilize Salesforce (client management system) to document case activities, maintain accurate client records, and ensure timely record updates.
• Represent the organization's mission and values externally to potential clients and others, and internally to teammates and volunteers, embodying the values of passion, grit, teamwork, caring, and dynamism.

Benefits

• Loan Repayment Assistance (conditional benefit for staff pursuing 10-year public interest debt forgiveness, covering minimum payments on qualifying loans).
• Medical/Dental/Vision Plan offerings at 100% coverage.
• Generous paid time off (four weeks vacation and two weeks sick/care).
• Flexible work hours.
• Generous paid parental leave.
• 401K/Retirement Account.
• Financial investment in individual professional development (mentorships, coaching, learning opportunities like conferences and workshops).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed