National Center for Youth Law

The National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) is a national nonprofit that puts children — especially those pushed to society’s margins — at the center of every fight for justice. For more than 50 years, we have partnered with young people, families, and communities in efforts to dismantle racism, discrimination, and inequity wherever they appear. We recognize that harmful policies don’t affect children in isolation. Each young person’s well-being depends on their family’s stability, their community’s resources, and the opportunities they can access. By working across all systems that shape young people’s lives in a rapidly evolving society, we advance solutions that are holistic, intersectional, and transformative.

Immigration Team

NCYL’s Immigration team works to ensure that immigrant children are able to live in communities rather than in government custody and have access to the resources and opportunities they need to heal and thrive. We use a combination of federal litigation, state and federal policy advocacy, stakeholder education, and coalition building to uphold and expand the rights of detained immigrant youth as well as immigrant children in the community. We do not represent individual children in immigration proceedings or provide immigration legal services. A description of our current cases can be found here: https://youthlaw.org/focus-areas/immigration.

The Position

The Senior Paralegal will assist attorney(s) by providing clerical and research support services, including document preparation and review; data analysis; interviewing clients and witnesses; legal research, investigations, and fact checking; and assistance with grant reporting. Additionally, they will assist the team in other administrative tasks.

Essential Functions

• Conduct legal research and factual investigation, including data analysis. 
• Prepare and edit legal pleadings, correspondence, reports, and other documents. 
• Finalize and file court documents, including generating tables of contents and tables of authorities. 
• Assist attorneys with all aspects of discovery including drafting and responding to written discovery, preparing for depositions, working with expert witnesses and discovery motion practice. 
• Review and coordinate incoming and outgoing document productions using litigation support technology such as Relativity and Logikcull. 
• Organize, maintain, open, and close case and project files, including building and maintaining SharePoint sites and libraries. 
• Assist with administrative tasks, including copying, mailing, and data entry. 
• Assist with client and witness interviews, including preparing materials for interviews and providing interpretation where appropriate.  
• Translate written documents and communications from Spanish to English and vice versa, maintaining accuracy, clarity, and cultural relevance for the target audience. 
• Serve as a liaison with external parties including translation services, court reporters, witnesses, experts and co-counsel. 
• Prepare and edit grant applications and reports. 
• Coordinate team meetings, including content management, resource distribution, and logistics. 
• Assist with other duties as assigned.  

Required Skills/Qualifications

• Fluency in Spanish (written and spoken), including professional writing, verbal communication, and document translation.

Other Qualifications

• Paralegal certification preferred but not required.
• At least three (3) years of work experience serving in a litigation-focused capacity at a private law firm, nonprofit, or government agency.
• Strong research and writing skills.
• Experience with online court filing systems, such as PACER and CM/ECF, preferred.
• Experience with litigation support technology, such as Relativity and Logikcull, preferred.
• Experience with data analysis in Excel or similar tools, preferred.
• Experience conducting legal interviews and/or interviews with children, preferred.
• Experience with grant applications and reports preferred.
• Ability to prepare and edit legal citations according to the Bluebook, preferred.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to learn new technology and software systems.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize, meet deadlines, efficiently multi-task, and produce a high-quality work product in a fast-paced environment.
• Creative problem-solving skills and ability to stay focused on the big picture.
• Ability to work independently and intuitively.
• Ability to represent NCYL in a courteous and professional manner.
• Commitment to NCYL’s mission and goals.

Physical Requirements

Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Some travel will be required.

Salary, Benefits and Location

This is a full-time, non-exempt position with a competitive salary range of $77,000.00 - $85,000.00 annually. The continuation of this role will be evaluated at the end of the first year of employment and will continue to be dependent on funding. 

Once an offer is made, the salary is not open to negotiation. A geographic salary differential may be applied if the candidate resides somewhere other than the Oakland, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Boston, MA, New York City, Washington, DC or equivalent metro areas. This means that the salary would be reduced if the candidate resides in an area where the cost of labor is less than that of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Living and working in proximity to NCYL’s Oakland office is preferred but not required.

NCYL provides a robust benefits package including health, dental, vision, life, generous vacation and sick benefits, flexible spending account, commuter benefits, employer contribution to a retirement plan and short-term and long-term disability insurance.

NCYL is registered to do business in the following 13 locations: California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington DC, and Wisconsin. If a candidate is hired but lives in a state where NCYL is not currently registered to do business, their start date may need to be delayed until registration can be completed in the new state. This process may take a few weeks to complete.

All positions at NCYL are at-will and paid for by grants and donations, thus employment with NCYL will be contingent upon continued receipt of funding. Nothing in the statement changes the at-will employment relationship.
 
How to Apply   

Please submit a cover letter and resume at the link below. Please, no emails or calls.

We welcome applications from individuals with different ideas, experiences, and perspectives. Applicants who meet the above criteria with lived experience within any of our practice areas are strongly encouraged to apply.

It is the policy of NCYL to provide equal employment opportunities to all Applicants (including Employees) regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, reproductive health decision-making, breastfeeding, national origin, age, abilities/disabilities, neurotypicality, socioeconomic status, veteran status, marital status, prior convictions, or any other protected classifications under federal, state, or local law. NCYL makes all employment decisions based on job-related factors.