Temporary Legal Advocate

Tahirih Justice Center•San Bruno, CA

just now•Hybrid

About The Position

The Tahirih Justice Center is a national, nonprofit organization that serves women, girls, and all immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and other violence. Our whole-person approach to services provides each survivor with free legal support and social services to secure their rights and build stable lives. We translate our client services work into expert training, outreach, and policy advocacy to ensure that systems, laws, and policies protect immigrant survivors from violence and exploitation. Our programs efficiently and effectively leverage donated professional services from a vast network of attorneys, medical professionals, and other experts to serve as many immigrant survivors as possible. By amplifying the experiences of survivors, our mission is to create a world in which all people share equal rights and live in safety and with dignity. At Tahirih, a Legal Advocate provides critical administrative and legal support to legal staff as the team works to walk along our clients, immigrant survivors fleeing gender-based violence, who seek humanitarian relief. A Legal Advocate is supervised by either a licensed attorney or a Senior DOJ Accredited Representative. A Legal Advocate is responsible for preparing forms, gathering evidence, and putting application packets together for supervisor review prior to submission. A Legal Advocate is responsible for managing communications and relationships with clients, coordinating interpreters, and providing other important administrative support. A Legal Advocate will work collaboratively on an interdisciplinary client services team to ensure clients’ voices and decision-making are centered. A Legal Advocate supports legal staff in maintaining accurate client data and files to ensure grant metrics compliance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent (such as a combination of relevant education and relevant work experience)
At least 1 year of experience serving as a paralegal or legal advocate, ideally in an immigration-focused practice
Fluency in Spanish
Responsible, self-initiating, and focused, with proven ability to work collaboratively in a team-based environment
Strong organizational habits, time management skills, and prioritization skills
Strong interpersonal skills, cultural humility, and cross-cultural communication skills
Experience supporting survivors of violence and trauma and those from diverse cultural backgrounds
Commitment to Tahirih’s foundational values and mission, and demonstrated commitment to legal services, public interest law, the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and/or social justice.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting on asylum, U-Visa, T-visa, VAWA, and SIJS applications

Responsibilities

Answer/return client calls and provide updates on their cases, in consultation with your supervisor.
Coordinate client pick up and drop off of documents.
Prepare immigration forms and filings, gather supporting evidence, and assemble application packets for supervisor review prior to submission.
Draft correspondence, schedule client meetings, coordinate translators and interpreters.
Provide administrative support (processing mail, printing, copying, scanning,)
Maintain physical and electronic case files in accordance with Tahirih policies and program requirements.
Provide information and referrals to clients on crime victim rights, the criminal justice process, other civil legal providers, and social services providers, as needed.
Support legal staff in safety planning and other supportive collaborative case work in concert with Social Services team members as part of interdisciplinary, holistic, client-centered, trauma-informed service delivery.
Actively participate on an interdisciplinary legal team that centers and empowers Tahirih’s clients throughout the course of representation.
Collaborate well within a team structure.
Communicate effectively within interdisciplinary teams, with clients, with supervisors, and with external partners.
Identify and prioritize tasks and projects that are mandatory grant deliverables for the office or program as a whole.
Ensure quality control of the client database and files; maintain accurate data entry; and follow risk management procedures.
Contribute to grant proposals, reports and periodic policy advocacy pieces, as needed.
Adhere to organizational and local office policies, such as interdisciplinary policies and ethical standards.
Engage in professional development to hone skillset and immigration law substantive knowledge.
Contribute to organization-wide meetings, resources and materials.