Position Description: Legal Assistant, Muslim Advocates
Status: Full time
Classification: Exempt
Location: Candidate must live in the DC Metro area for this role. Muslim Advocates’ staff works remotely, with most of the team based on the East Coast. Periodic domestic travel for staff gatherings and other professional reasons is required.
Salary and Compensation: The salary is commensurate with experience and subject to union collective bargaining. The expected salary range is $50,000 - $55,000. We determine salary based on established salary bands, relevant experience, and extent to which candidates demonstrate the competencies for the role during the hiring process. Muslim Advocates offers a generous and comprehensive benefits package.
Reports to: Legal Director
Background
In 2005, Muslim Advocates was founded in the aftermath of the passage of the Patriot Act. In the years since, our organization has fought tirelessly to combat systemic, anti-Muslim discrimination.
Muslim Advocates is at a transformational point in its 18-year history. With the recent appointment of Omar Farah as Executive Director, Muslim Advocates is committed to defending the full, diverse spectrum of Muslim communities against abusive state and corporate power. Our approach is to leverage litigation that puts people and social movements first, advocacy that is coalitional and that amplifies the work of organizers across the country, and legislative engagement that pushes policymakers to be accountable to the demands of Muslim and other targeted communities. Through our strategic communications, Muslim Advocates will help shift the often oppressive narratives about Muslim identity.
Muslim Advocates’ organizational path is guided by ongoing strategic planning that will determine the pace and scale of our growth. This is a consequential and exciting time to join our team.
Muslim Advocates seeks a highly organized and proactive person to provide administrative and program support to our legal and policy teams.
The Legal Assistant will perform a broad variety of tasks including:
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Prepare internal and external email and correspondence; manage mail, phone calls and scheduling requests;
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Handle matters proactively and with follow-through, often under tight time pressures;
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Maintain and update the organization’s case files, intakes, a calendar of court deadlines, and other confidential files and records as needed;
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Communicate with members of the public seeking legal assistance; liaise between attorneys and people seeking legal assistance; and create reports about intake requests;
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Perform other paralegal activities as assigned, potentially including creating tables of authorities/contents, cite-checking, and blue-booking briefs; creating exhibits; filing documents; reviewing documentary evidence and extracting information; scheduling meetings with clients;
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Work collaboratively across departments to provide assistance with building and maintaining relationships with community members and grassroots and partner organizations to create a robust pipeline for client intakes and all aspects of MA’s advocacy;
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Other projects and administrative tasks related to the fulfillment of MA’s mission as they arise.
Qualified candidates for this position will possess:
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Strong project management skills; proven ability to track and meet competing deadlines; ability to prioritize multiple tasks with attention to detail; ability to take initiative and ownership of work to ensure project and tasks through completion.
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Strong interpersonal skills including an ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team, including a willingness to take on a variety of tasks as needed to support the office.
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Patience, empathy and ability to be a good listener.
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Proven ability to handle sensitive information with care and discretion.
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A commitment to Muslim Advocates’ mission.
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Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and ability to pick up other applications quickly.
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Willingness to travel as work requires.
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Fluency in language(s) other than English preferred.
Muslim Advocates offers a generous and competitive salary and benefits package, commensurate with experience.
Muslim Advocates is an equal opportunity employer and we make a particular effort to recruit people with historically marginalized identities to apply for open positions. Muslim Advocates does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, disability, whistleblower status, or any other category protected by state or federal law.
Interested candidates should apply online through this link: https://muslimadvocates.applytojob.com/apply/gmcXlj0uD4/Legal-Assistant
Please be sure to upload the following materials with your application: (1) a cover letter specifying the candidate’s interest in working with Muslim Advocates as well as their skills and relevant experience; (2) a resume; (3) a list of three references; and (4) a writing sample.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and accepted until the position is filled. For more information about Muslim Advocates, visit: www.muslimadvocates.org.
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