We seek someone with a strong commitment to social justice and interest in supporting attorneys and advocates who provide direct legal assistance to our clients. In this position, you will work with and report to the Alameda County Regional Office Managing Attorney and work closely with seasoned administrative staff and advocates to ensure the smooth operation of the office and support critical legal services to clients. The position is based at our Oakland office location.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Learn about and engage with the diverse legal needs of low-income communities in the broader Bay Area and contribute to BayLegal’s work and mission to reduce homelessness, enhance stability, break systemic cycles of poverty, and address social injustice.
Reception and Screening - Provide on-site reception services, including answering telephones, greeting visitors, and connecting individuals and families to appropriate resources, scheduling appointments, and ensuring our reception is professional, welcoming, and safe for all members of our community.
Secretarial and Clerical Support - Assist with composing and proofreading simple letters and routine legal documents, maintaining the office library, preparing and distributing mail, filing, scanning and organizing electronic documents, case file organization, case management, data entry, and calendaring systems.
Interpretation and Translation (stipend paid upon passing test) - Provide interpretation and translation services to support legal services.
Health & Safety and Hybrid Work Environment: BayLegal is committed to the health and safety of our staff, clients, and community. Being accessible to our client communities and reducing barriers for them to access our services is integral to our mission and commitment as a direct services community-based law firm. BayLegal has health and safety protocols to minimize risk of exposure. BayLegal has an evolving plan to continue to safely increase in-person services and activities in our offices and community-based advocacy sites. Currently, most BayLegal employees work a hybrid model including on-site and in-person work and working from home on a part-time basis. Employees are expected to reside in California and at a distance allowing them to commute to their physical BayLegal base location, and to other service delivery locations as needed, during the standard work week.
Compensation and Benefits: We offer a diverse, family friendly environment, and compensation based on competitive public interest salaries along with a generous benefits package. BayLegal's benefits package includes 100% employer covered medical, dental, and life insurance for employees and up to 40-50% for dependents; BayLegal student debt reimbursement program; long term disability insurance; employee assistance program; wage differentials for multi-lingual employees whose non-English language skills are regularly used in the provision of work tasks and pass a request test of fluency and/or proficiency; dependent childcare employer contribution program; employer paid CA Bar license and/or social work license fees; and 401k retirement plan with BayLegal contribution following first year. BayLegal has a generous paid leave policy which includes sick leave; parental leave; 15 holidays each year; 3 floating holidays each year (days chosen by employee); and vacation (starting at 13 days and increasing with additional years of employment). This is a union position (Bay Area Legal Aid Workers, “BALAW”), and the salary for 2023 ranges from 57,898 - 66,073 depending on years of experience. Please see our BayLegal union positions salary scale for more details.
Requirements/Qualifications/About the Successful Candidate:
Humility in working with colleagues and clients across the spectrum of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, immigrant status, religious identity, physical and mental disabilities, and/or limited English proficiency.
Must have received or be willing to receive and maintain up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination (including boosters) by date of hire to be considered. Proof of vaccination required.
High school degree or equivalent.
Experience working cooperatively and efficiently with colleagues and members of the community.
Demonstrated strong personal work ethic and ability to organize time, manage diverse activities, and meet critical deadlines
Curious and self-directed with an ability to anticipate what needs to be done
Fluency and proficiency in in one of our core client languages (includes Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Vietnamese)
Intermediate level with Microsoft Office including Word and Excel.
Type at least 50 words per minute
Ability to operate all office equipment including photocopying, fax and scanning and mail postage systems.
Within 90 days of hiring, must become proficient in utilizing the case management systems and database, timekeeping, calendaring, and other computer applications used in the office.
Must be able to handle a fast-paced environment and multi-task with minimum supervision.
BayLegal thrives on our diversity, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a culturally diverse workplace and strongly encourage women, LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) and QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) individuals, veterans, individuals who have been impacted by the criminal justice system, persons with disabilities, and persons from other underrepresented groups to apply. We are committed to equal employment opportunity and providing reasonable accommodations to qualified candidates and employees pursuant to applicable law. We value and encourage diversity and solicit applications from all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. If you require a reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact BayLegal’s Human Resources Manager at (510) 250-5225.
BayLegal will begin reviewing applications upon receipt and continue until the position is filled. Please submit (1) cover letter including response to question below (no page limit), (2) resume, (3) references, and (4) writing sample through our career application portal.
As part of your cover letter, please address the following:
BayLegal’s clients are low-income and very low-income members of our communities. They include LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) and QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) individuals, the working poor, seniors, people who are limited English proficient, veterans, persons with disabilities, survivors of abuse and exploitation, individuals impacted by the criminal justice system, and people who are experiencing or at risk of homeless, and persons from other underrepresented groups. To ensure our organization is best serving these populations, BayLegal strives to promote an evolving set of behaviors and attitudes amongst our staff, as well as policies that enable us to work effectively across cultures, with clients, with our coworkers, and with the community. We see this as a commitment to enhance the provision of our services to all clients; to raise the level of positive client outcomes; and to create an inclusive and respectful workplace in which differences are acknowledged and valued.
How do you think your experiences, professional or otherwise, prepared you to serve our diverse client base effectively, work effectively with colleagues from different backgrounds than your own, and to contribute to our commitment to humility, inclusion, and diversity? Feel free to think broadly about your response to this question, applying various aspects of your life and personal experience