Legal Assistance to the Elderly (LAE) seeks an enthusiastic and compassionate advocate to join our team. For almost 40 years, LAE has provided free legal advice and representation to San Francisco’s seniors and adults living with disabilities. Our mission is to keep this vulnerable community safe, housed and financially secure. Our primary practice areas are Eviction Defense/Housing (tenants only), Income Support, Elder Abuse Prevention, Health Law and Debt Collection Defense. Additional areas of practice include Wills, Powers of Attorney and Conservatorship Defense. LAE is a friendly and collaborative work environment.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bilingual Cantonese and English
- Strong, written, verbal and interviewing skills
- Organized and able to manage projects independently
- Patient and flexible
- Comfortable with case management systems and other office technology
Highly Desirable
- Knowledge of Mandarin, Russian, Tagalog or Spanish
- Knowledge of legal issues related to poverty and/or aging
- Experience working with elderly, disabled or homeless individuals or those experiencing a crisis
- Experience working in a non-profit legal service, or other non-profit
General purpose
- To provide litigation and programmatic support to Staff Attorneys and to provide clients with limited legal services under the supervision of an attorney.
Client Services
- Conduct intake interviews with Cantonese and English speaking clients in-person and by phone
- Report new cases at weekly Case Review meeting
- Maintain accurate computerized client files and other documentation
- Provide translation for Cantonese speaking clients on a variety of legal matters
- Work with San Francisco Adult Protective Services and community-based social workers to address clients’ needs
- Conduct outreach at senior centers and other community organizations
- As needed, visit clients in their homes, in skilled nursing facilities and in hospitals
Legal Support
- Follow-up on intake interviews, collect needed documents and information
- Draft correspondence and other documents
- Conduct factual investigations
- Provide litigation support, including with discovery, trial preparation and court pleadings
- Salary based on experience according to our union scale
- Union Membership: After successful completion of a probationary period (90 days), membership in the National Organization of Legal Services Workers becomes a condition of employment.
- Health, vision and dental coverage
Working Conditions:
The position requires working with individuals during moments of extreme stress and instability. The position also requires the provision of culturally-sensitive and empathetic services. Furthermore, because of the nature of the intake work, the employee is expected to be in the office during normal business hours and to communicate with staff regarding whereabouts when out of office during work hours. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required.
Due to the COVID pandemic, our office is largely working remotely. Exceptions include mandatory court appearances, required client meetings and hearings and some administrative staff. This position is temporarily remote.
Physical Requirements:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Prolonged sitting/standing
- Extensive typing/data entry
- Close visual acuity to prepare and analyze data, text, and figures
- Prolonged computer use
If you find that you meet many of the qualifications in the job description, we encourage you to apply and explain in your cover letter why your experience would make you a good fit for the position. We recognize that organizations may miss out on strong applicants who screen themselves out of the process because they do not meet every qualification and that disproportionately impacts people from historically marginalized backgrounds. We know that our greatest strengths come from the people who make up our team and a welcoming, inclusive and culturally diverse staff allows us to best serve our community. We look forward to your application.
LAE seeks to fill all positions with people who share our values, including our organizational commitment to diversity. We encourage all interested individuals to apply—especially people of color; women; people from low-income backgrounds; people with disabilities; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary; or anyone belonging to any other federal or state protected category. We believe that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunity, and do not discriminate on any basis prohibited by applicable law.
Email resume and cover letter to [email protected]
Attention Hiring Committee
Subject line: LEGAL ADVOCATE
Or click the Apply Now button on this page to submit your resume and cover letter through our website.
Applications will be considered until the position is filled. Those selected for an interview will be notified by phone.
