Briggs Law Corporation: Community Organizer-Activist/Paralegal
Briggs Law Corporation (BLC) provides a substantial amount of legal services to nonprofit, grass-roots, community-based organizations on environmental, land-use, energy, housing, transportation, open-government, economic-justice, and other public-interest issues.
Position:
BLC’s San Diego office is looking for a full-time community organizer-activist/paralegal in its San Diego office. Applicants for this hybrid position need not have substantial experience as an organizer-activist and as a paralegal–the firm will provide additional training–but should have substantial experience in at least one of the fields and a basic understanding of, and capacity to quickly master the skills required for, the other.
Organizer-Activist Component:
Particular job duties include networking with community members and interest groups on issues of common concern, building and leading coalitions and alliances for achieving positive social change and government reform, developing and maintaining effective public-relations campaigns on important issues through both traditional and emerging media outlets, speaking at and making presentations to public agencies and decision-makers, and working closely with attorneys handling related legal matters.
Paralegal Component:
In addition to the performance of traditional core paralegal functions, the job requires someone who is willing and able to travel on occasion throughout Southern California to copy and organize evidence and perform other out-of-office errands to assist attorneys.
Particular job duties include organizing pleadings, evidence, and trial documents; preparing court documents for filing and service; and traveling to government offices to review and digitally scan documents. Travel may be anywhere in Southern California.
Please note:
This is a hybrid position involving substantial overlap between community organizing activism and paralegal work. BLC is looking for a high-quality organizer-activist who is also (or can quickly become) an excellent paralegal or a high-quality paralegal who is also (or can quickly become) an excellent organizer-activist. BLC is not hiring for one without the other.
Minimum Requirements:
Applicants must
(i) hold either an accredited bachelor’s degree (at a minimum) or an accredited paralegal certificate;
(ii) be conversant in Spanish;
(iii) have a reliable vehicle; and
(iv) be competent in website and social-media management.
Desired Qualities:
In addition to meeting the Minimum Requirements, the ideal candidate will have the following qualities: (i) substantial experience in community organizing and activism or in the paralegal field; (ii) ability to work independently; (iii) excellent public-speaking skills, excellent writing skills, excellent research skills; (iv) a deep desire to dedicate one’s professional career to public-interest work; (v) a willingness to challenge the status quo and advocate for causes that are not always popular with everyone; (vi) a clear understanding that public-interest work has many rewards that make up for what the work otherwise lacks in monetary rewards; and (vii) a history of community involvement.
Applicants may be asked to demonstrate that they possess these qualities.
Non-Profit Employment Credit:
If it is helpful to the successful candidate to be officially employed by a non-profit organization (e.g., to receive student-loan forgiveness), it may be possible to have the successful candidate employed by a non-profit but overseen by BLC.
Compensation:
Starting compensation will be consistent with similar organizer-activist and paralegal positions at public-interest organizations. The long-term compensation structure will be discussed with applicants selected for an interview. (Full-time BLC employees may qualify for the firm’s standard health-insurance and retirement benefits.)
Submission Requirements: Interest applicants should submit the following materials to keri@briggslawcorp.com with “Job Opening” in the subject line: (i) a cover letter; (ii) a resume; and (iii) either two writing samples not more than 10 pages each or one such writing sample and one video (between two and 10 minutes long) of the applicant speaking in public.
The cover letter must (i) confirm that the applicant satisfies each of the three Minimum Requirements; (ii) identify which of the Desired Qualities the applicant possess and which of them the applicant does not possess; and (iii) specify the applicant’s compensation requirements numerically (i.e., tell us how much you want per hour). ALL MATERIALS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ADOBE PDF FORMAT; no phone calls, please. Submissions that do not meet these requirements will not be considered. Applicants invited for an interview will be required to provide a list of references at the interview. Interviews will be held in San Diego on May 28 or June 4, 2013, or at another mutually agreeable time (if possible).
San Diego Office:
814 Morena Boulevard, Suite 107
San Diego, CA 92110
Telephone: 619-497-0021
Facsimile: 619-515-6410
NAPAWF San Diego 