Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.® (LawNY) has an immediate opening for a litigation paralegal to support our organization-wide housing practice. This position will join our efforts across the program to develop our housing litigation, including impact litigation and eviction appeals across our service area. The Housing Paralegal will work with the Housing Project Managing Attorney to provide support to our housing attorneys at all stages of litigation, including investigation, motion practice, discovery and appellate practice. This position will also serve as a critical resource for attorneys across the program in providing creative, high-quality litigation services through creation of litigation best-practices resources, pleading banks, trainings, and more. The position will also support the Housing Project Managing Attorney in meeting and communicating with our partners as we coordinate services, including the development of new collaborations.

This position is program wide and will collaborate with all of the LawNY offices. This position can be based in our Rochester, Olean, Geneva, Bath, Jamestown or Geneseo LawNY office. Other locals may be available in the future based on space availability. While LawNY offers a hybrid work schedule of up to three remote days per week during an employee’s first six months, and up to fully remote thereafter, consistent with job responsibilities, this position will require the flexibility to travel across our service area for in-person work at the times needed to timely assist with the filings, mailing and other duties of litigation when they cannot be timely performed remotely. 

The ideal candidate will have excellent writing skills and experience in supporting litigation, including drafting and filing pleadings with attorney supervision. They will have the skill and confidence to communicate effectively with clients, agencies, and other community members. They should have strong organizational skills and an appreciation for the urgent nature of housing cases. They should be prepared to work collaboratively with attorneys and paralegals with diverse skill levels, backgrounds and approaches.

The applicant must have a strong foundational understanding of the root causes of poverty and the ways in which poverty and racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression are intertwined. The ideal candidate will have an understanding of the power and the limitations of the law in addressing systemic harms. 

We expect those that fill this position to grow and adapt their practice to the needs of the communities we serve and of the organization. We encourage applicants with a wide range of substantive legal experience to apply. 

This position reports to the Housing Project Managing Attorney

Responsibilities These are the most significant responsibilities and primary functions of the position.

• Providing litigation support on complex civil litigation cases in federal, state and local courts to preserve housing, and challenge systemic abuses which undermine housing safety and stability, This will involve legal document drafting, evidence collection, proofreading, assembly of trial binders, assembly and filing of appellate records and briefs, and filing of other court documents.
• Investigating and developing factual legal claims.
• Developing resources for housing litigation best practices, including document libraries and brief banks.
• Providing training and support for advocates across the program on technical litigation support skills, including perfecting appeals, compliance with notarization laws, and e-filing in state and federal courts.
• Developing and maintaining relationships with community partners, and particularly groups and individuals who are most directly affected by the legal issues we are seeking to address.
• Maintaining a high level of professional competence through attendance at training sessions, seminars and conferences and individual efforts to keep abreast of current developments in the area of poverty law as well as issues affecting low-income people.

Qualifications These are the traits, attributes, attitudes, and skills that speak to the candidate’s ability to succeed in the position. While no one candidate will possess all of the requirements listed, the ideal candidate will have many of the following qualifications. LawNY encourages each candidate to think about their own personal knowledge, skills, and experience, as well professional skills and experience, in relation to the list of qualifications.

• Experience with litigation and/or appeals in local, state and federal court and/or administrative forums.
• Commitment to a multi-faceted strategy for challenging systemic injustices, including an understanding of the need to collaborate with the communities most affected by the strategy.
• Excellent writing, research, and communications skills.
• High competency with computers and related technology, including email, Google Suite, and electronic case management systems.
• Ability to work under deadlines and manage multiple tasks.
• Ability to think creatively, be strategic, exercise good judgment, and self-motivate.
• Race and identity competency, and an ability to cultivate and develop inclusive and equitable working relationships with staff, clients and community members.
• An understanding of the concepts of institutional and structural racism and their impact on the communities we serve.
• Demonstrated experience creating and giving trainings on discrete legal topics.
• Experience in at least one area of poverty law, with a preference for experience with housing law.
• Mission-aligned experience (profession or lived) partnering with and advocating in low-wealth communities and communities of color.
• Fluency in Spanish is a plus.

Salary and Benefits

Paralegal salaries are set on a standardized organizational salary scale based on years of job experience and the level of qualifications. For example, the annual salary for a Staff Paralegal I with no previous experience is $33,670 and with three years of experience is $37,120. The annual salary for a Staff Paralegal II with three years of experience is $39,120, and the annual salary for a Senior paralegal with five years of experience is $43,420. Paralegals with additional years of experience are paid at higher rates. 

We also provide a superlative package of fringe benefits including:

• 94% employer paid health insurance, with significant HSA contributions to offset high deduction plans
• 100% employer paid dental and disability insurance
• $50,000 automatic life insurance
• Remote Work Policy: New staff are able to work from home up to 3 days per week during their 6 month probationary period with manager approval. This increases to 5 days per week once successfully finished with a probationary period with manager approval.
• LawNY is committed to providing a work-life balance to their employees. We encourage and support a 35 hour work week to ensure our employees have this balance.

We also provide a very generous leave package including, in the first year of employment, 20 days of vacation plus 13.5 holidays and two floating holidays. Employees also receive 12 sick days and five personal days per year. New parents receive 20 days of paid new parent leave.

LawNY is a qualifying public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) employer.

Organization Information 

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY®) is a not-for-profit law firm providing civil legal services to low-income clients in a fourteen county area of western New York. LawNY® was created by a merger of three regional legal service programs in 2004, and today has over 170 employees, including attorneys, paralegals, and a legal support team who work closely across areas of specialization to bring a holistic approach to addressing legal issues affecting our clients and community. LawNY® has seven fully staffed field offices in Bath, Elmira, Geneva, Ithaca, Jamestown, Olean and Rochester, several satellite offices across Western New York, and a business office in Rochester.

LawNY® is committed to equitable inclusion across race, gender, sexual orientation, gender, identity, age, ability, sex, religion, economic circumstances, ethnicity, national origin, and culture. We are increasingly committed to creating a law firm where race equity, diversity and cultural competency are integral components of our work, from client advocacy to internal operations. We are actively seeking applicants whose work incorporates this perspective and whose lived and professional experience contributes to sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe.

To Apply:

Applications for this position will close on May 10, 2023. Please apply before then for full consideration. The job will remain posted until filled. If not filled by this date, applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. You will receive a confirmation email when your application has been received on our HR platform. LawNY® will contact you to inform you whether you have been offered an interview.

To apply, submit your cover letter, resume, and three references through LawNY®’s Bamboo platform here. References will not be contacted until after any interview, and will not be contacted without your knowledge. In your cover letter, please explain how you think your lived and/or professional experience or background has prepared you to advocate for systemic change on behalf of marginalized people, and which part of the job as described will pose the greatest challenge.

Questions or Accommodations? Contact Sandra Coyne, Deputy Director of Operations at scoyne@lawny.org.

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY) is an equal opportunity employer. LawNY® strongly encourages applications from Black, Indigenous and People of Color, women, LGBTQIA individuals, people with disabilities and persons from other underrepresented groups whose background may contribute to working in and sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected and safe. LawNY welcomes applications regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or any other consideration protected by law.