Senior Paralegal - Housing and Homelessness Prevention Unit

About the Public Law Center

Founded in 1981, The Public Law Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free legal services to low-income residents and other nonprofits in Orange County. Every year, Public Law Center serves about 4,000 clients annually through staff and volunteers, providing tens of thousands of hours of legal services worth over $30 million. Our services include counseling, individual representation, community education and strategic policy advocacy and impact litigation to challenge societal injustices.

About The Role

The Public Law Center (PLC)'s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Unit seeks an energetic, passionate advocate to join our team in fighting for justice for low-income tenants and self-represented litigants in Orange County through innovative, collaborative, community-centered lawyering to address inequities and pursue access to affordable housing. PLC's Housing and Homelessness Prevention Unit provides high-quality, direct representation, in addition to coordinating and supervising pro bono representation, of tenants in cases involving evictions or unlawful detainers, discrimination, harassment, housing voucher disputes, affordable housing advocacy, and other issues related to housing. The Unit also participates in community education, community-based clinics, and local and statewide advocacy. PLC is seeking a highly skilled Senior Paralegal to support the Unit with case management, legal research, and mentoring and training. This role requires expertise in litigation support, training and mentoring staff, and ensuring efficient legal operations. The Senior Paralegal will collaborate with attorneys, other paralegals/administrative staff, clients, and external partners to provide quality legal services.

What You'll Do

• Conduct in-depth legal research, draft memoranda, and analyze case law to support attorneys in litigation, including eviction defense, discrimination, habitability, subsidized housing cases, and other issues arising in landlord/tenant relationships.
• Manage discovery processes, conduct investigation and fact gathering (including housing inspections), perform legal analysis, draft pleadings, coordinate filings, mail and serve documents, and prepare attorneys for court proceedings.
• Monitor changes and ensure compliance with laws and regulations affecting housing legal services.
• Prepare legal correspondence, internal reports, and other resources with precision and confidentiality.
• Participate in internal office initiatives and external events and activities.
• Prepare and conduct trainings and community presentations and otherwise assist with or coordinate community outreach and education efforts.
• Interview clients and act as a point of contact for clients and pro bono counsel, ensuring professional and effective communication.
• If bilingual, assist with interpretation and translation for staff and volunteer attorneys as needed.
• Provide approved legal information or advice and assist with legal document preparation under attorney supervision.
• Maintain and organize legal documents, case files, time records, and client information, including case notes, ensuring data integrity and accessibility.
• Represent clients in administrative hearings, where permitted by law, such as voucher or subsidized housing terminations.
• Provide guidance to other paralegals and administrative assistants, contributing to their professional development.
• Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Some training and mentorship of non-attorney staff and occasional supervision of volunteers, including undergraduate students and law clerks, to ensure high-quality legal services are provided to PLC's clients.

Qualifications

• Minimum high school diploma or GED; depending on level of education, must have matching experience or education to meet definition of paralegal pursuant to California Business & Professions Code section 6450(c). For example, with a high school diploma or GED, must have 3 years of law-related experience that took place before December 31, 2003, under the supervision of an attorney licensed in CA or before the CA federal courts with a written declaration from that attorney.
• Minimum 5+ years of paralegal experience, with a strong background in litigation and knowledge of litigation procedures.
• Strong writing and analytical skills.
• Proficiency with everyday office software, including Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, etc.), case management system (LegalServer), legal research databases (Westlaw), and others, including proficiency in Microsoft Word with formatting, drafting, and preparing legal writing.
• Knowledge of landlord/tenant and other housing law is a plus.
• High attention to detail and ability to manage multiple cases effectively.
• Bilingual English/Spanish or English/Vietnamese a plus.
• Must be able to work from the office several days a week and able to work from home in a distraction-free and confidential environment. This position requires attendance at meetings, both remote and in person, in and outside the Public Law Center's offices, and requires being located in Southern California. Must have ability to work at the organization's offices in Santa Ana, CA, and travel to work sites located throughout Orange County, CA. In addition, travel to Los Angeles County and other neighboring counties may be required.
• Must have reliable transportation.

Salary & Benefits

• Compensation is $30/hour or $62,400/annually, pursuant to PLC's set Pay Scale.
• Health, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance (100% of employee premium costs paid by PLC, and 50% of dependent health insurance premium costs paid by PLC)
• Flexible Spending Account Program to help pay for medical expenses and childcare costs
• 15 paid holidays per year
• Approximately 1 paid week off during office winter closure (between Christmas Day and New Year's Day)
• 21 paid sick/wellness days per year to promote mental wellness and general wellbeing
• 15 paid vacation days per year
• Birthday paid time off (2 hours of paid time off during birthday month)
• 403b retirement plan (after 6 months of employment PLC provides a matching contribution equaling 100% of salary deferral up to a maximum of 3-4%, depending on length of employment)
• Monthly $55 stipend for Wi-Fi and cell phone use
• Monthly Bilingual Pay Premium upon successful completion of an oral and/or written test ($50 for oral premium and $50 for written premium)
• Optional monthly peer support group facilitated by third party mental health clinic
• Opportunities for growth and advancement