Litigation Secretary, Eviction Defense Project

For 50 years, Bet Tzedek Legal Services has provided high-quality, free legal services to Los Angeles’ most vulnerable residents. In that tradition, Bet Tzedek is seeking a 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; and
• Other assignments as deemed appropriate.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• AA/AS or BA/BS or equivalent (required);
• Experience in state court systems, including state court e-filing systems (preferred);
• At least 2 years of law firm experience supporting multiple attorneys (preferred);
• 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);
• Bilingual and biliterate in both English and Spanish, and able to translate and interpret between English and Spanish (required);
• 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 Bet Tzedek’s 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).

BENEFITS PACKAGE:

Bet Tzedek offers an excellent benefits package in addition to competitive salaries. These benefits currently include:

• A generous number of paid holidays (up to 21 per year), vacation (up to 20, depending on number of years with agency), and sick days (up to 45) annually.
• Personal and floating holidays.
• Compensatory time for exempt employees. 18 weeks of paid parental leave (after 1 year of employment.) Various paid leaves.
• Medical, dental, vision, chiropractic and acupuncture coverage for employees and dependents, with office visit co-pay reimbursement for HMO enrollees. Life/accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance, long-term disability insurance, and Employee Assistance Plan.
• Voluntary (employee-contributed) life/AD&D, accident, critical illness, hospital confinement, and pet insurance.
• Employee-contributed 401(k) plan. Employee-contributed 403(b) plan.
• Healthcare and childcare flexible spending accounts.
• Commuter transit and/or parking benefits.

HOW TO APPLY:

• Email letter of interest and resume to bettzedek.F2.845@applynow.io, subject “Litigation Secretary – EDP.” Please no phone calls.

Note: All positions are subject to funding; ongoing funding or employment cannot be assured. Bet Tzedek is a unionized environment.

Our salary range for unionized positions reflects our agreed upon step placement system, and the final offer extended to candidates is based on an internal equity review and candidates’ relevant experience, skills, background, and bar date, if applicable.

To best serve our communities, Bet Tzedek seeks diverse staff with cultural competency reflecting our client populations. We strongly encourage candidates from traditionally underrepresented communities and historically oppressed groups to apply.