Bilingual (Spanish/English) Legal Assistant, Immigration Unit – De Novo

De Novo is a community-based agency that provides free legal services and affordable mental health counseling for low-income people throughout the Greater Boston/Cambridge area. De Novo strives to create a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and safe work environment that welcomes, encourages, and values everyone’s contributions and fosters an exchange of ideas and mutual learning.

General Responsibilities: The Legal Assistant is responsible for screening and interviewing prospective clients and assessing client eligibility for legal services and De Novo’s monthly Immigration Screening Clinics. She/he/they provide support to the Immigration Unit and may be called upon to provide Spanish/English interpretation/translation.

Responsibilities:

• Screen and interview prospective clients, assess client eligibility under existing program income and program/unit priorities.
• Make referrals to other agencies, as appropriate.
• In conjunction with the immigration supervisor and CIRC, coordinate De Novo’s monthly Immigration Screening Clinic.
• Record client information using computerized case management database.
• Become knowledgeable with Immigration Law.
• Triage cases and identify imminent or urgent deadlines.
• Assist with tracking deadlines and court events, and monitor court dockets.
• Under the supervision of an attorney, provide legal advice and assist clients in completing Immigration forms, applications, and other litigation-related paperwork.
• Under the oversight of an attorney, draft correspondence to clients and the court.
• Provide support to lawyers to prepare cases including copying, scanning, organizing files, entering data and preparing mailings.
• Assist the Immigration Unit in collection and preparation of documents for asylum, VAWA, U-visa, and SIJ cases.
• Perform such other duties as assigned consistent with the provision of client services.
• Work with the Immigration Unit in setting up appointments for legal consultation and in-depth intake interviews.
• Provide Spanish/English interpretation for attorneys, including interpreting for client interviews, monitoring interpretation at court proceedings, communicating with clients about developments in their cases, and translation of documents.
• Coordinate with De Novo’s Counseling Program to refer legal clients for assessment and/or counseling when appropriate.
• Participate in monthly staff meetings and legal program meetings and other organizational/legal program activities as requested.

Qualifications/Competencies Include:

• Minimum associate degree with 2 years of relevant experience.
• Experience working with a broad range of people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and people with low incomes.
• Excellent writing and oral skills. Strong computer skills.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment.
• Capacity to identify and analyze legal and other problems.
• Bilingual English/Spanish required.

To apply: Email a cover letter and resume to John Froio, Deputy Director, De Novo, Email address: jfroio@denovo.org. Please type: BILINGUAL ENGLISH/SPANISH LEGAL ASSISTANT – IMMIGRATION in the subject line of the email. Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

De Novo is a Fair Employment Practices/Equal Employment Opportunity/disability accessible employer committed to maintaining a diverse workplace, Qualified candidates from diverse personal, cultural and ethnic backgrounds are encouraged to apply.