Part-Time Immigration Associate Attorney

Part-Time Immigration Associate Attorney (20-30 hours/week)

$47,500-$75,000 (20 hours/week) / $71,250-97,500 (30 hours/week)

Are you extremely passionate about immigrants’ rights and being part of a thriving tight-knit team who shares your passion?

Have you worked at a non-profit, as a solo practitioner, at a big office or tried it all and know at this point in your career that a flexible and supportive work environment is vital so you can focus 100% on helping clients within a diverse caseload? Are you a communicative advocate who loves using your skills and training in collaboration with your amazing coworkers to provide excellent services to clients in such a way that they feel cared for and heard?

If you answered yes to the above, could you be our new Associate Attorney?

We are a Berkeley-based immigration law office with a small, supportive team specializing in family-based immigration, consular processing, removal defense, asylum, U visas, waivers, naturalization, and Federal Court litigation.

We are growing and are determined to find the right fit for our exceptional team. Please read through our description and if it calls to you, and you feel excited to meet us and find out more, you may be our perfect candidate! If you don’t love everything here, maybe we are not the right fit for you. We believe there is a place for each person to be their best.

We believe each member of our team should trust one another and hold themselves and their teammates accountable. Each person respects what others do on the team and values every role as integral in a unique way. While there are positions that are more supervisorial, and certain team members will ultimately be calling the shots on various matters, we value open channels of communication and welcome each team member’s input. While there are tasks specifically attached to each role, our team members do not hesitate to jump in and lend a hand when necessary. Integrity, mutual respect (for fellow team members and clients), and working collaboratively are high on our list of values.

Our team members are problem solvers who use creativity and passion to bring new ideas and find ways to constantly improve our systems and procedures to ensure we are giving our best to our clients. We strive to create a work environment where each team member can be productive, refine their skills, and always continue to learn and improve. From our intake coordinator to our owner/lead attorney, we strive to foster an environment where every person on our team can continue to grow and thrive.

Our office was founded based on a passion for immigrants’ rights and providing impeccable and personalized representation to our clients, and each team member is here because they share this vision. Working with clients who have endured trauma and are facing enormous challenges takes an emotional toll. So, we often let off steam by, when appropriate, being goofy and interjecting a lot of humor! We also promote identifying ways to not only take good care of ourselves but one another. To this end, we hold periodic group trauma training.

We believe in creating and following proven systems and we are goal oriented. When we work, we focus and work hard. But we also value time to build camaraderie and time away from work and promote a healthy work-life balance so that we can recharge and be at our best for our clients and one another. Attorneys on our team are trusted to create your own schedule within certain parameters as long as they are meeting certain goals.

How do you feel reading these paragraphs? If you’re feeling excited, please read on! If you feel hesitant, we might not be the right fit. We are determined to find the best of the best who loves what they do and feels excited about being an integral part of our tight-knit team.

Summary of who we are looking for:

Our associate is a bilingual attorney who is fluent in both written and spoken Spanish. Our associate is passionate about immigrants’ rights and about being part of an equally passionate team. Our associate is driven and can manage their caseload impeccably. They love communicating with clients, taking the time to get to know each person, making sure they feel heard, and ensuring they understand our client’s needs. Our associate understands how key this partnership is to ensure our clients reach their goals within an extremely flawed and ever-changing immigration legal system.

Our associate takes the time to formulate a strategic plan at the outset of the case and will constantly be monitoring changes to laws and policies to revamp that plan as needed. Our associate will clearly communicate the strategy to both the client and the rest of the legal team so everyone is on the same page at each step of what can often be a long process.

Our associate has strong oral and written communication skills, understanding the importance of always focusing on the audience and the objectives. They can communicate effectively with clients, team members, adjudicators, colleagues, and judges alike.

Our associate is confident and can do the research and work independently, but also knows when to seek a second opinion or collaborate with a trusted colleague to ensure the best course is taken for our client when working on a new or novel issue.

Our associate understands the value of delegating to others on the team and creating a team approach to foster growth and work efficiently.

$47,500 - $97,500

Client-Focused Tasks:

• Engage with our legal team to share legal strategy on each case so the team can be in alignment with the client’s interest, the team’s interest in moving clients forward, and the office’s interest in making sure our clients have an excellent experience and feel well cared for.
• Use our office’s systems, checklists, and flow charts to make sure we consistently do a top-notch job for our clients.
• Communicate and convey advice to clients about their options based on current laws and procedures using plain language, and the process so they fully understand all options and can make the most informed decision for themselves and their families.
• Oversee forms drafted and evidence gathered by the legal team and provide feedback and guidance to create stronger work product and streamlined processes.
• Support the paralegals and legal assistants as they interact with the legal team.
• Confer with other attorneys in the office and trusted colleagues on a case with advocacy and professionalism.
• Prepare for and represent clients in Immigration Court as well as before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Department of State (DOS).
• Maintain a pinned note (ongoing memorandum) in addition to clear case notes and key information in the dashboard in our office’s case management software throughout the case to appropriately apprise team members and the client of the status of the case and several steps planned so everyone understands and is on the same page.
• Maintain and manage an independent caseload and provide case support to the lead attorney and other attorneys.

Administrative / Team / Financial Tasks:

• Engage with the team to create a collaborative culture. This will include contributing and participating in team training, team building, and other growth opportunities.
• Track hourly casework in a diligent, descriptive way that clearly describes the actions taken on the case and notes forward movement.
• Meet hourly casework goals and coordinate with team members on their hourly casework goals, and on the status of clients’ trust accounts in relation to the timing and nature of work to be completed to ensure the office avoids outstanding balances.

Marketing and Community Relations Tasks:

• Enjoy finding ways to give back to the community, including volunteer opportunities and speaking engagements that can help provide vital information about immigration to those who need it.
• Feel excited about the possibility of occasionally participating in podcasts, audio recordings, videos, or live streams to help get the word out about our office.
• Engage in different forms of networking on a regular basis to cultivate relationships in the community and among colleagues.
• Engage in social media in a positive and supporting role to the office and amplify our office’s mission and dedication to immigrants’ rights and to our clients.

Other Duties:

• Create efficiencies by developing and refining the office’s systems including the policies and procedures, examples, templates, scripts, diagrams, workflows, and videos.
• Analyze statistical information to better understand how we can improve our services and the time we spend working on clients’ matters.

Key Skills, Traits, and Requirements:

• A minimum of 8+ years as an attorney in immigration law (willing to consider exceptional candidates who have 8+ years of experience combined between immigration and other areas of law).
• Fluency in Spanish, both written and spoken
• Excellent communication skills – verbal and written
• An excellent understanding of not only the law but also hold an innate ability to draw out clients’ unique experiences and help them tell their compelling stories within the framework of the law
• Empathy and naturally warm
• Impeccable organizational skills and an ability to lead and delegate
• A love of problem-solving and using creativity to innovate and develop new strategies to better serve our clients and to streamline how our team works together
• The ability to multi-task and adhere to deadlines
• Resiliency and the ability to adapt within the ever-changing world of immigration laws and procedures, scheduling priorities, etc.
• Strong attention to detail, including grammar, spelling, and formatting
• Comfort using case management software, Microsoft Word, Adobe, and other programs standard to day-to-day work in the office
• Excellent knowledge of legal research techniques and databases

Please provide the following with your application:
1) Your resume
2) Writing sample

Location for Position:

Our primary office is in Berkeley, California, though we have been largely working remotely since March of 2020. Attorney can work remotely as much as desired, but will need to attend in-person court hearings and USCIS interviews in Northern California as needed.