Litigation Secretary (Contract)

Temporary Litigation Secretary - Eviction Defense Project

CLASSIFICATION: Litigation Secretary I (Union)

SALARY: $73,187.50 - $80,223.70 (DOE/DOQ), Contract will be hourly rate

DEPARTMENT: Legal

FLSA STATUS: Non-Exempt

REPORTS TO: Directing Attorney

We are a nonprofit that provides high-quality, free legal services to Los Angeles’ most vulnerable residents. In that tradition, we are seeking a temporary Litigation Secretary to join our Eviction Defense Project (EDP). The project fights to eliminate homelessness by providing litigation-based direct services to residential tenants in Los Angeles County facing eviction or other rental housing disputes. EDP is part of the Right to Counsel Coalition and Stay Housed L.A. initiative.

This position is fully onsite. As such, the employee will be required to work in the office or other work-related locations to meet workload/business needs.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Support a high-volume caseload that include delivering advice and counsel in landlord-tenant matters under the supervision of an attorney;
• Prepare court forms and case documents under the supervision of an attorney;
• Support attorneys with e-filing, preparing trial binders, as well as helping attorneys arrange for depositions;
• Maintain well-organized digital case files and accurate case statistics;
• Assist with administrative and clerical duties such as communicating with clients, calendaring, mail requests, and opening and closing digital case files;
• Assist with Spanish/English translation and interpretation;
• Assist with outreach and education efforts, including attending “Know Your Rights” presentations;
• Support on client interviewing and intake; and
• Other assignments as deemed appropriate.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• AA/AS or BA/BS or equivalent (required);
• At least 2 years of law firm experience supporting multiple attorneys (preferred);
• Experience in state court systems, including state court e-filing systems (preferred);
• Bilingual and biliterate in both English and Spanish, and able to translate and interpret between English and Spanish (required);
• Knowledge and experience in landlord-tenant law, eviction defense, or similar practice areas related to housing or homelessness (preferred);
• Knowledge of legal terminology, court rules, and procedures (preferred);
• Proficiency with the Internet and Web-based applications (required);
• MS Office and legal database (Lexis/Nexis, Westlaw, Legal Server, NetDocs, Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, OneLegal) proficiency (strongly preferred);
• Demonstrated commitment to our mission to provide free legal services to those who need them most (required); and
• Demonstrated commitment to applying principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in performance of job duties (required).