Office Manager - Paralegal

About the Legal Aid Justice Center:

The Legal Aid Justice Center is a nationally recognized, non-profit organization that partners with low-income clients and communities of color in Virginia to fight for racial, social, and economic justice. We understand that the harms our clients endure are inextricably linked to overarching systems of injustice. Together we are dismantling those systems through a combination of community organizing, litigation, policy advocacy, public relations, and individual legal services.  

Founded in 1967, LAJC has offices in Charlottesville, Richmond, Petersburg, and Falls Church and provides services under six key program areas: Civil Rights & Racial Justice (focuses on the criminal legal system), Housing & Consumer Justice, Youth Justice, Health Justice & Public Benefits, Immigrant Justice, and Worker Justice. As examples of LAJC’s recent work, our lawsuit and organizing against the state forced reform of Virginia’s unemployment insurance system, including advocacy that resulted in the distribution of over $1 billion in illegally withheld payments to over 160,000 Virginians. During the pandemic, we demanded and secured a statewide eviction moratorium and emergency pandemic protections that helped hundreds of families avoid eviction. We reduced incarceration across the state, including reducing the population of a local immigration detention center down to historically low levels through a coordinated effort of organizing paired with impact and individual litigation.  Our staff are on the front lines of some of the most important anti-poverty fights happening today.  

With a staff of over 90, the past few years have been a time of exciting growth and opportunity for the organization. In addition to the growth of programmatic efforts including increased organizing capacity, LAJC has expanded its operations and administrative capacity, created new opportunities for professional growth and leadership among staff, engaged in ongoing race equity work, and explored changes to organizational structure to deepen its efforts to create long-term, sustainable, community-driven change. 
    
LAJC’s latest strategic plan is available at https://www.justice4all.org/lajc-strategic-plan-2022-2026/#area d.
   

For more information about LAJC’s work and programs, visit www.justice4all.org.

About the Position:

This position will coordinate and oversee administrative duties and client intake in a busy law office and ensure that the office operates efficiently. 

Importantly, this position involves the unique and ambitious opportunity to build out LAJC’s footprint in the Hampton Roads region.  LAJC currently has physical offices in Falls Church, Richmond, Charlottesville, and Petersburg, as well as staff who live and work on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, and in Southwest Virginia.  Across six different programs, LAJC’s long-standing impact advocacy has had profound, positive impacts on low-income communities throughout the Commonwealth, including but not limited to Hampton Roads.  In the past and currently, LAJC litigates cases in the area, works alongside communities on campaigns, and otherwise does statewide advocacy that benefits Hampton Roads residents. This will be the first time, however, that LAJC is opening up a permanent physical office in Hampton Roads. As part of our strategic plan, LAJC is excited to work alongside community members to achieve deeply felt needs across the region.

The Office Manager will initially work in a shared office space, and later play a key role in building out the infrastructure of the office itself in collaboration with the senior supervising attorney and other team members.  The Office Manager will maintain an organized, efficient, and welcoming office, and ensure that attorneys, organizers, staff, and clients are informed and supported. Finally, this position requires Spanish fluency. 

Job Duties:

• Play a key role in building out the initial infrastructure of the new Norfolk office.
• Implement policies and procedures and coordinate a highly functional office space for organizational effectiveness, efficiency, and safety. 
• Lead the office’s intake team to ensure intake objectives are met, procedures run smoothly, and front desk coverage is maintained.  
• Coordinate and provide basic paralegal support as needed, including meeting with attorneys and clients, drafting, and delivering documents, court visits, and language translation.
• Implement informative and compassionate client support services and other duties with confidence in Spanish and English.
• Spanish language translation as needed. 
• Keep in close communication with attorneys and organizers to update, coordinate and streamline intake policies and procedures. 
• Supervise administrative support positions and manage admin volunteer and intern programs. 
• Participate in weekly Richmond office meetings initially; eventually lead or assist in facilitating the weekly Norfolk office meeting, schedule meetings, and prepare agenda, provide notetaking and follow-up communications. 
• Manage relationships with vendors, service providers, and landlords. Keep office supplies organized and stocked. 
• Manage the office space and layout planning including coordinating office moves, changes to workstations, and provide answers, resources, and solutions as needed.
• Work in partnership with Office Managers of other LAJC offices to ensure consistencies in intake and operational practices.
• Racial Equity: Promote racial equity across all dimensions, including within LAJC, by doing the following:
  • Helping to recruit, retain, and support both staff and leadership that reflect the racial composition of our community
  • Cultivating respect for the work of and expanding resources for non-attorney staff that are disproportionately people of color
  • Creating spaces for staff to discuss issues of racial, gender, and all other issues of marginalization
  • Pushing for institutional and cultural changes by management, the board, and staff to further promote racial equity.