LEGAL ASSISTANT
Application Deadline: July 22, 2007
(Inquiries welcome after deadline)

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California (“ACLU-NC”) seeks a Legal Assistant to provide support to the Legal Department. The Legal Assistant will manage our intake system to respond to requests for legal assistance and civil liberties complaints from members of the public; provide support for some of the individual attorneys in the legal department; maintain our legal docket; and perform other administrative duties. The successful candidate will be highly organized, able to multi-task and prioritize, have excellent computer skills, and be self-motivated and able to work independently as well as with a team. A commitment to, and interest in, civil liberties and civil rights principles and the work of the ACLU is essential.

About the Legal Department of the ACLU of Northern California

The ACLU-NC is the largest state affiliate of the ACLU, a nationwide, non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to the defense and expansion of civil rights and civil liberties. The ACLU-NC has more than 55,000 members in Northern California, 22 all-volunteer chapters, a 45-member Board of Directors and a staff of 50. The Legal Department consists of the Legal Director, the Managing Attorney, five staff attorneys, a litigation fellow and two legal assistants. The attorneys do litigation in federal and state courts, advocacy with state and local agencies and public education. The Department works closely with other departments of the ACLU-NC, including Communications, Organizing and Development. The office is congenial and the work is rewarding.

Principal Responsibilities of the Legal Assistant:

Administrative responsibilities include the following:

• An important function of the ACLU is to respond to questions, complaints and requests for legal assistance from members of the public relating to civil liberties and civil rights issues. Our complaint phone lines are answered each day by volunteers who come in on a weekly basis. The legal assistant has the primary responsibility for recruiting and supervising these volunteers, and for the answering of complaint mail, including mail from incarcerated persons.
• Working closely with the attorneys and our Communications Department, the legal assistant will be involved in organizing and maintaining our annual docket of legal cases, the Legal Department section of our website and other tools for presenting and disseminating information about our work.
• Other administrative tasks as they arise and are assigned.

Responsibilities for assigned lawyers include:

• Word processing, including producing legal briefs and tables of authorities, legal memoranda and correspondence;
• Maintaining paper and electronic case and correspondence files;
• Supervising service and filing of legal pleadings;
• .Assisting lawyers with investigating civil liberties complaints and other special projects;
• Assisting attorneys with Westlaw and other Internet research;
• Performing general administrative support duties, including faxing, copying, coordinating mailings, and occasional backup for office receptionist.

Qualifications:
A Bachelor’s degree is strongly preferred. Prior experience as a litigation or legal secretary is also preferred, but we will consider applicants with excellent skills who have secretarial, office management, administrative or other relevant experience. Applicants must be proficient in working with computers, especially with Microsoft Word, Outlook, Adobe Acrobat and other Office programs. Candidates must be willing to work occasional evenings and weekends. A strong commitment to civil liberties and civil rights is essential.

Compensation:
Salary based on experience. Excellent benefits include four weeks paid vacation, medical, vision and dental insurance for staff members and their dependents and domestic partners, pension plan, life insurance, long-term disability insurance and twelve paid holidays.

Application:
Applicants should submit a resume and a cover letter describing the applicant's interest in this position to the attention of:

Cynthia Williams
ACLU of Northern California
39 Drumm Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
or e-mail to cwilliams@aclunc.org.

The ACLU-NC is proud to be an affirmative action employer. People of color, women, persons with disabilities, and persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or intersex are particularly urged to apply.