Clinic Legal Assistant

Willamette University, founded in 1842, is a nationally-renowned private university enrolling 2800 students across five colleges. Our historic campus, adjacent to the Oregon State Capitol, hosts a distinguished undergraduate liberal arts college in Salem, Oregon. Our downtown Portland campus is home to the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). We offer a wide range of professional graduate programs, including Oregon’s top-ranked MBA program, the Northwest’s oldest law school, as well as MA/MFA programs at PNCA and master’s degrees in data science and computer science.

Willamette University provides a high-value and comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees. Our Benefits Summary includes options for health, dental, life insurance, retirement, substantial paid time off, tuition and more. If you need assistance applying for a job or have any questions on recruitment at Willamette, please contact our HR Department, hr@willamette.edu or call us at 503-370-6210.

LEGAL ASSISTANT
 

The Legal Assistant position is a customer service role providing administrative support to the clinic students and faculty across all clinics (Criminal Defense Clinic, Immigration Clinic, and Trust and Estates Clinic). This position serves as the first point of contact for clients and performs many duties that require knowledge of basic court processes and procedures. This position must communicate with clients, students, attorneys, and court personnel in writing, in person, and by telephone.

The Clinical Law Program at Willamette University School of Law operates as a fully functioning law office within the academic environment. The Clinical Law Program provides students with hands-on, professional experience in actual law practice, under close supervision by full-time faculty who are recognized experts in their fields. Students participating in the Clinical Law Program represent real clients through our Criminal Defense, Immigration, and Trust and Estates Clinics. The program maintains the dual mission of providing exceptional legal education for our students and delivering high-quality legal services to underserved populations in Oregon. In keeping with the long tradition of legal clinics as "living models of justice," this unique, hands-on experience develops critical lawyering skills while filling an important role within the landscape of legal services providers in Oregon.

The Clinical Law Program serves vulnerable populations including elderly clients, non-English speakers, immigrants, and indigent individuals facing criminal charges. As the first point of contact, the Legal Assistant plays a crucial role in establishing trust, creating a welcoming environment, and ensuring clients feel respected and understood. The Legal Assistant must demonstrate exceptional cross-cultural competency, patience, and compassion when interacting with diverse client populations who may be experiencing significant life challenges. Because the Clinical Law Program is both a functioning law firm and a teaching clinic, a successful Legal Assistant will work cooperatively with clinic faculty and staff toward the dual goals of providing outstanding client representation and outstanding legal training for students.

Duties and Responsibilities

Clinic Client and Faculty Support

• Assists with mailing of legal documents and correspondence.

• In coordination with clinic faculty and students, assists with case planning, development, and management.

• Assists with legal research, interviews clients, gathers facts, and retrieves information.

• Conducts frequent written and oral communication with clients and potential clients, including: answer phones, greet the public, and schedule appointments for clients.

• Works with clinic faculty and students to send and maintain file closure documentation.

• Hand delivers documents as needed.

• Provides support to clinic faculty with ongoing casework, including preparation of correspondence when students are unavailable.

• Safeguards the confidentiality of client and student information.

Office Administration

• Serves as the first point of contact for clients coming to the clinic, calling, or otherwise contacting the clinic.

• Answers phones, checks and responds to voicemail, checks and responds to clinic email inquiries.

• Performs data entry and maintenance including legal software and grant-report tracking.

• In coordination with clinic faculty and students, schedules client appointments.

• Exercises discretion in communicating information to non-clinical faculty, students and staff, and in handling departmental records and files, personnel actions, performance evaluations, grade reports, merit, promotion and tenure decisions, and similar confidential materials.

• Processes mail, translates documents (if Spanish-proficient), interprets for clients at interviews (if Spanish-proficient), maintains files, and copies documents.

• Assists with downloading and uploading discovery.

• Acts as back-up when the Clinical Law Program Office Manager is out of the office including: Greeting visitors and clients, retrieving mail from post office box and law school box, sending outgoing mail for students and faculty, performing conflicts checks, ordering supplies, etc.
   

Student Training and Support

• Assists in producing outreach and educational materials about the program.

• In coordination with clinic faculty and staff, assists with clinic orientation at the beginning of each semester.

• Assists with tours of the clinic workspace, students' technical and physical access needs, and demonstrates how to use office systems and technology.

• Models professional interactions with clients for students and assists students with their clients.

• Makes clients feel comfortable and demonstrates cross-cultural awareness in client interactions.
   

Client Relations and Hospitality

• Creates a welcoming, respectful, and culturally responsive environment for all clients, with particular sensitivity to the needs of vulnerable populations.

• Demonstrates patience and empathy when working with clients who may be facing significant legal, personal, or systemic challenges.

• Troubleshoots meeting room scheduling when multiple meetings occur at the same time.

• Arranges interpreters for non-English speaking clients, including Spanish interpretation if qualified.

• Assists with client parking and provides directions, recognizing transportation barriers that clients may face.

• Provides hospitality services such as offering water/coffee/tea and directing clients to bathrooms.

• Makes clients feel comfortable with awareness of needs related to elderly clients, physical impairments, language barriers, and cultural differences.

• Adapts communication style to meet diverse client needs, including using clear, non-technical language when explaining processes.

• Recognizes signs of trauma and responds appropriately when interacting with clients who may have experienced traumatic events.

• Is available 30 minutes before client meetings begin to prepare.

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school education or equivalent

• Minimum of two years' word processing experience and proficiency with email. 

• Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except where there are legal requirements such as license or certification.

• Ability to learn and use computer calendaring, time billing, and various computer utility programs. 

• Experience with Google Suite, Clio, Odyssey File and Serve, DocuSign, PACER, and Adobe Acrobat Professional preferred

• Must possess excellent skills in written and spoken English

• Must possess excellent telephone, written, and interpersonal communication skills

• Ability to work independently, yet seek supervision appropriately

• Must possess a high attention to detail and the ability to appropriately prioritize tasks in a fast-paced environment​

• Ability to establish and maintain collegial and professional relations with others (staff, faculty, students, clients, and court personnel)

• Strong cross-cultural competency and demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse populations

• Commitment to social justice and serving vulnerable communities

• Ability to maintain composure and professionalism when working with clients in crisis or distress

• Ability to access clients and witnesses in correctional facilities

• Understanding of systemic barriers faced by low-income and marginalized communities

Preferred Qualifications

• Spanish language proficiency

• Experience working with vulnerable populations such as the elderly, immigrants, non-English speakers, or indigent individuals facing criminal charges

• Ability to accurately type 60 words per minute

• One year of legal assistant experience

• Paralegal training

Typical Work Schedule    

Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm

Salary: $21.55/ hour

You will need to upload the following documents as part of your application materials in the "My Experience" section labeled Resume:

• Cover letter addressing the required/desired qualifications and presenting any other applicant characteristics which deserve emphasis

• Current Resume
   

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as received until the position is filled.
 

Incomplete applications will not be considered. 

WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY VALUES DIVERSITY:

Employment at Willamette University means being part of a community that values education and its impact on the world and is friendly, supportive, and increasingly diverse. Believing that diversity contributes to academic excellence and to rich and rewarding communities, Willamette is committed to recruiting and retaining candidates who bring to campus varied experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds.

BACKGROUND CHECK REQUIREMENT:
All University positions require that candidates submit to a criminal conviction record check prior to hire. Conviction does not automatically preclude candidates from being hired. Nature of conviction will be considered relative to the duties of the position.
 

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLICANTS:

Please read the following carefully before beginning the online application process. To be considered for employment at Willamette University, please complete our online employment application. Your application and all required attachments -- listed at the bottom of the page -- must be submitted for each individual job post that you are interested in applying. Once you submit your application you will not be able to edit your application.