Legal Assistant

MISSION STATEMENT:  To be a beacon of light by transforming lives in the Vincentian spirit of charity, justice, and mercy through interpersonal connectivity.

SUMMARY: 

The Veteran Legal Services Legal Assistant is responsible for assisting the legal department with administrative support. Our Legal Department prides itself on providing professional and efficient support to clients in the rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing services provided by St. Vincent de Paul CARES and subsidiaries throughout their geographic area of responsibility to ensure program effectiveness and quality care. This includes programs supported through Federal, State, local, and private resources, and programs targeting specific subpopulations including Veterans, non-veterans, and families. This position works in tandem with the Legal Department to ensure proper and efficient legal service delivery, adherence to best practices and the housing first philosophy, and collaboration with community partners. This position plays a significant role in coordinating the implementation of new legal programs, leading staff on legal services, communicating key organizational strategies, and the development of implementation plans. This position works with the Homeless System of Care in each Continuum of Care where programs operate to work towards effectively ending homelessness among Veterans and other homeless populations. This position reports directly to the Chief of Legal Services.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: (These essential job functions are not to be construed as a complete statement of all duties performed. Employees will be required to perform other job-related duties as required. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at this time)

· Screen, direct, and prioritize incoming calls and emails to lawyers.

· Communicate with clients in person, over the phone, and via email.

· Draft, proofread, and file or send legal documents, such as notices or letters of intent.

· Perform administrative duties, such as maintaining lawyer’s calendars, scheduling appointments, making photocopies, and compiling complex documentation.

· Creates and maintains case files, including producing invoices and tracking time.

· Regularly meet with attorneys, clients or other legal professionals to gather helpful details about upcoming court cases.

· Prepare legal documents, like wills, contracts, briefs, appeals and pleadings.

· Perform investigations to fact-check information for different cases by searching through public records and other resources provided by clients.

· Collaborates with the Chief of Legal Services to ensure that all legal issues are handled efficiently, while respecting the highly confidential nature of many issues.

· Keeps clients informed by maintaining contact and communicating case progress. 

· Monitors the legal file status to ensure appropriate follow-up actions.

· Conduct legal research, which includes interpretation of primary and secondary law sources.

· Use excellent written and verbal communication skills to convey research results, provide guidance to Chief of Legal Services and represent the Legal Services division as needed.

· Assist with information management, document retention, filing public notices and other compliance- related items.

· Gather information and respond to public records requests, subpoenas, court papers and other legal actions.

· Provide service excellence through courteous, informed, accessible and professional engagement.

· Maintain client confidentiality.

· Perform other duties as assigned.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

· Complies with all applicable training requirements.

· Complies with all company safety, personnel and operational policies and procedures.

· Complies with work schedule to ensure effective operations of Agency programs. 

· Contributes positively as a member of a productive and cooperative team.

· Performs other duties as necessary to fulfill the Society of St. Vincent de Paul South Pinellas, Inc. Mission.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: (To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.) 

· Able to speak, write and understand English. 

· Possess basic computer skills.

· Must be sensitive to and respect cultural diversity amongst clients, staff and volunteers and able to work with diverse racial, ethnic and economic groups.

· Flexible work schedule including evenings, nights, weekends and holidays.

· Ability to set appropriate limits, work under deadlines and multi-task.

· Ability to organize, prioritize, self-motivate, and deliver results.

· Excellent communication and listening skills.

· Possess strong work ethics.

· Successfully pass Law Enforcement background screening. 

· Valid Florida driver’s license if driving an agency vehicle or a personal vehicle for company business.

· Must have reliable transportation.

· Mission driven attitude supplemented with integrity and passion.

· Adherence to the highest ethical standards, personally and professionally. 

· A high level of openness and willingness to receive feedback/suggestions from superiors and others, and to learn new skills to improve job performance.

· Evidence of deep alignment with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul South Pinellas, Inc. Mission and Values. 

ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: (To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.) 

· Must be familiar with Microsoft Office Suite. (MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)

· Must be able to multi-task.

· Must have excellent legal research skills with attention to details.

· Must be able to identify legal issues.

· Must be able to work independently without continued supervision.

· Must have excellent organizational skills. 

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: (Pending on position and if prior to hire is approved by Chief Executive Officer, a comparable amount of training, education or experience may be substituted for the minimum education qualifications)

· Minimum Bachelor’s degree or business school courses required.

· Minimum of 2 years of experience in a professional business, law firm or in-house legal department setting.

· Experience with working with the indigent population preferred but not required.

GENERAL PHYSICAL DEMANDS: These physical demands are representative of the physical requirements necessary for an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodation can be made, if appropriate, to enable people with disabilities to perform the described essential functions of job. Working in an office/site requires prolonged sitting at the computer workstation, standing, bending, reaching, lifting up to 40lbs. and some driving. Requires manual dexterity sufficient to operate standard office machines such as computers, fax machines, calculators, telephones, and other office equipment. It is also required to regularly sit, speak, and listen, the employee is also required to walk, use hands and fingers to type, operate equipment, and maintain records and notes. Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. 

MENTAL DEMANDS: Must handle new and diverse work problems on a daily basis. Personal maturity is an important attribute. Must be able to resolve problems, handle conflict, and make effective decisions under pressure. Must have the ability to listen objectively to people, perceive the real problem and assist in bringing issues to a successful conclusion. Must relate and interact with, volunteers, clients, contractors, visitors, and employees at all levels within the Agency. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT: Environment will occasionally become noisy due to interactions among clients and staff. There may be the possibility of being exposed to communicable disease, possible exposure to verbal abuse or similar behavior from residents/clients. On an as needed basis, employees may be called upon to work outside of the established work schedule or work odd hours. All information associated with the Agency is confidential. 

St. Vincent de Paul CARES is an Equal Opportunity Employer.