About the position
The ACLU seeks applicants for the full-time position of Paralegal in the National Prison Project of the ACLU's National office in Washington, D.C. or San Francisco. This is a four-year, limited term position. This is a hybrid position that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month. The National Prison Project works to ensure that conditions in prisons, jails, juvenile detention centers, and immigration detention facilities comply with the Constitution, domestic law, and international human rights principles. NPP has successfully litigated on behalf of incarcerated and detained people in more than 25 states, and is the only organization litigating conditions of confinement cases nationwide. Our priorities include reducing overcrowding, improving health care, eliminating violence and maltreatment, and increasing oversight and accountability in prisons, jails, and other places of detention. We also work to reverse the policies that have given the United States the highest incarceration rate in the world and led to extreme over-representation of people of color in our country's prisons, jails, and immigration detention facilities. This position is part of a collective bargaining unit. It is represented by ACLU Staff United (ASU). Reporting to the Deputy Project Director of the National Prison Project, the Paralegal should be prepared to contribute to all aspects of the Project's litigation and non-litigation work. This position will have a particular emphasis on challenging immigration detention conditions and the use and abuse of immigration detention in the federal government's mass deportation system, and will coordinate closely with counterparts in the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. The Paralegal will be responsible for a wide range of tasks to support and advance our litigation, advocacy, and public education efforts.
Responsibilities
- Maintain and organize electronic and hard copy filing systems, including litigation case files, attorney correspondence files, and litigation dockets
- Draft correspondence and other materials as requested; respond to written and verbal inquiries, as directed by Director, Deputy Director, and/or other attorneys
- Work with attorneys to review documents, summarize exhibits
- Travel with attorneys to visit carceral facilities to interview and meet with detained and incarcerated clients; interview detained and incarcerated clients via phone or video
- Type, prepare, proofread, and cite check legal and other documents
- Collect information for and update NPP's docket, sharing regular updates with staff across the ACLU
- Develop, update, and maintain NPP's website and other public information outlets
- Provide administrative support, including processing invoices; tracking and reporting expenses, case costs and lobbying hours; preparing expense reports; ordering supplies; and updating case codes and contact sheets
- Provide administrative support to Project Director and Deputy Directors, including managing travel arrangements and calendar
- Schedule, arrange, prepare, and distribute materials for meetings and conference calls, and take minutes at those meetings as needed
- Assist with attorney pro hac and bar admission applications
- Sort and distribute mail; assist with general NPP mail and telephone intake from detained and incarcerated people and their loved ones
- Provide administrative support for the managers' review of applications for new hires
- With other paralegals, supervise and oversee undergraduate interns
- Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned by NPP staff
Requirements
- Fluency in Spanish strongly preferred; fluency in other languages commonly spoken by immigrant detainees preferred
- Must take initiative, be highly organized and detail-oriented, and possess strong interpersonal and time-management skills
- Excellent research, writing, and verbal communication skills
- Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
- Ability to work independently as well as within a team while maintaining a high level of efficiency and professionalism
- Prior professional or personal experience with the criminal justice and/or immigration systems preferred
Nice-to-haves
- Bachelor's degree
- One year of paralegal experience
Benefits
- Generous paid time-off policy
- Comprehensive healthcare benefits (including medical, dental and vision coverage, parental leave, gender affirming care & fertility treatment)
- 401k plan and employer match
- Annual professional development funds, internal professional development programs and workshops
