Litigation Assistant, Citywide

The Legal Aid Society, the nation's oldest and largest social justice legal services organization, has immediate openings for dedicated, passionate Litigation Assistants in the Criminal Defense Practice throughout the city as part of our Paralegal Services Unit. The Criminal Defense Practice is the primary public defender in New York City, providing holistic, client-centered representation to over 200,000 people facing misdemeanor, felony, and homicide charges. 

The Litigation Assistant (LA) provides critical support to attorneys and clients as a member of the defense team. Working closely with the Discovery Unit, counsel and defense team, Litigation Assistants will gather, organize, and analyze discovery, investigations, and other pertinent materials to prepare for mitigation and/or litigation. Litigation Assistants will also help prepare and subpoena witnesses, prepare documents, videos and other materials for hearings or trials. Litigation Assistants will provide in-litigation support and input from pre-trial motions, jury selection, presentation of evidence, through notice of appeal, if any.  

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage and organize discovery, investigation, and other case materials into case file using applicable data management platform. Convert files into OCR PDF files or other formats. Build trial or case notebooks, create bookmarks and indexes to assist attorney and team
• Create spreadsheets or other logs to aid in managing and organizing digital files and case information. Identify matters of significance in communication with counsel and team  
• Organize and analyze discovery from prosecutors and provide in-depth analysis of the evidence to assigned attorneys identifying fact and law issues, including compliance with discovery law
• Review discovery to locate potential sources of other evidence that needs to be gathered and preserved and provide notification to attorneys and staff 
• Understand New York State discovery laws and developing case law to assist attorneys in filing challenges to prosecutors’ certificates of compliance and in defense compliance. Review certificates of compliance and create a list of any potentially missing discovery for attorneys. Draft letters with counsel supervision to prosecutors regarding missing discovery for staff attorneys to review
• Provide insight, analysis, and assistance in litigation and/or mitigation strategy 
• Assist attorneys and team in accessing case materials 
• Assist attorneys in conducting legal research and drafting documents, including subpoenas, letters, motions, and other legal documents for attorney review
• Liaison between attorneys,clients and other parties to provide updates and address questions, without providing legal advice 
• Ensure that cases are trial ready by coordinating witnesses, including subpoenas, and assist counsel in preparing witnesses for mitigation or litigation 
• Oversee the retaining and payment of expert witnesses and coordinate travel and other logistics for in-person testimony at hearing or trial 
• Assist attorneys in hearing and trial preparation, including trial or case notebooks, gathering documents for possible trial evidence, and assist in using platforms to aid in presenting evidence (PowerPoint, etc) 
• Accompany attorneys to court and assist in litigation support during hearings and trials, including all phases of trial through notice of appeal, if any.  Assist in jury selection and juror research, tracking witnesses and exhibits, document events to assist counsel, coordinate trial materials, including presentation of evidence and digital files 
• Update case management system as needed 
• Perform functions in the Paralegal 2 title, only as necessary and on a temporary basis 
• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

• Eligible candidates must have at least one of the following:
  • A bachelor’s degree (strongly preferred)
  • A paralegal certificate from an ABA accredited paralegal program
  • 5+ years of combined higher education and/or legal work experience

• Experience in and/or commitment to advocacy on behalf of low-income people is strongly desired 

• Excellent writing, verbal, and organizational skills 

• Advanced user of Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, PowerPoint, and SharePoint for document management, collaboration, and workflow automation 

• Proficiency in legal research and developing legal arguments with counsel supervision 

• Proficiency in computer, electronic data management and file sharing platforms, e-discovery platforms and Microsoft Suite 

• E-filing experience desirable  

• E-discovery experience desirable 

• Ability to work independently and in a team setting 

• Ability to multi-task 

• Some knowledge of New York criminal law and criminal procedures is desirable 

• Proficiency in languages other than English is desirable, but not required 

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range: $62,400 - $95,555

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Click here to read more about benefits.

Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below. 

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF:

• Cover Letter
• Resume 

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email TalentAcquisition@legal-aid.org.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.