PITTSBURGH PARALEGAL (Posted 01/05/2021)
Location: Pittsburgh
Reports to: Legal Director
Job Type: Part-time $25 per hour, 20 hours per week
Application Deadline: Rolling basis
Start Date: Position open until filled
PITTSBURGH PARALEGAL • Position Overview
The Abolitionist Law Center is hiring a part-time paralegal for our Pittsburgh office. As the movement to end racist state violence and abolish police and prisons has grown, so has our work and staff. We are seeking a part-time paralegal to assist our legal department in managing correspondence with incarcerated people, tracking human rights violations in jails and prisons, and assisting in litigation. The paralegal will work with incarcerated clients and their communities and advocates to challenge state violence in all its forms and contribute to building powerful movements for liberation.
Responsibilities
- Manage, database, and respond to correspondence from incarcerated people.
- Work with ALC attorneys on litigation-related tasks, including organizing and reviewing discovery, conducting research, and assisting with client communication.
- Visits with clients and potential clients who are incarcerated.
- Assist in investigations into conditions of confinement in jails and prisons in Pennsylvania.
- Attending weekly staff meetings, providing feedback to leadership and staff to improve organizational effectiveness.
- Commitment to an abolitionist politics and movement-lawyering approach to our work that seeks to replace punitive justice with healing justice, promotes decarceration and the elimination of the use of jails/prisons to deal with social problems, and centers the political agency and organizing activity of those individuals and communities most impacted by the criminal legal system.
Requirements
- Exceptional organizational skills, capable of maintaining voluminous case and correspondence files.
- Able to track, organize, and respond to a large amount of correspondence.
- Excellent writing ability.
- Legal research skills a plus.
Compensation
This position will be based in ALC’s Pittsburgh office. This is a part-time position of 20 hours per week with compensation of $25 per hour.
Reports to: Legal Director
Application Process
Please send your resume, three professional references, and a detailed cover letter explaining your interest in the position as a single PDF to info@abolitionistlawcenter.org. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible to receive priority consideration. This position is open until filled. Abolitionist Law Center is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, LGBTQI-GNC people, and formerly incarcerated people are strongly encouraged to apply.