Senior Paralegal - Foreclosure Defense

About the Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP) & CED Law 

Our mission

We partner with low-income and working people to build economic and racial equity. We do this by confronting economic abuse and investing in community wealth. We use an ever-evolving set of legal, economic and advocacy tools to challenge and dismantle unjust systems, building quickly towards a world where all people have what they need to live and thrive. 

Our Organization

The Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP) is a Colorado-based nonprofit. Launched in 2020 as the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, our organization was formed to keep our neighbors housed during the pandemic. Working with clients, we built  a “one-stop-shop”  approach to eviction, foreclosure, and homelessness prevention that centers the legal and financial needs of housing-insecure families and uses a variety of tools to keep them housed. 

Our team now serves more than 1,000 people per month, bringing together housing lawyers, economists, data analysts, policy-experts, organizers, and technologists to serve our clients. We have served more than 50,000 low-income Coloradans across 45 counties, distributing over $200 million in emergency assistance. We have also contributed to the passage of major legislation to prevent eviction, stop economic abuse, and make credit and life-saving medication cheaper.  CEDP’s model has been cited as a best practice by White House, HUD, the Urban Institute, and in the media.

Building on our work to stop evictions, CEDP has further expanded its integrated services model to include disaster response, predatory towing, debt collection, benefit access & navigation, long-term rental assistance, and homelessness response. Similar to CEDP’s work on rental housing, these efforts offer a continuum of care that includes navigation and advisory services, targeted payments, legal support, and the ability to participate in advocacy. 

More about the Senior Paralegal - Foreclosure Defense Role:

Our practice is seeking a full-time Paralegal, who will work primarily remotely but must be available for in-person obligations in the Denver Metro Area. This immediate opening is for a Paralegal with civil litigation experience and a desire to defend homeowners facing foreclosure. The ideal candidate will be organized, possess excellent verbal and written communication skills, be able to multitask and prioritize in a fast-paced, high-volume office environment, and be capable of making independent decisions. Strong research and investigation skills and comfort working in complex legal and financial fields will be necessary.

In this role you will:

• Conducting client-intake interviews, mostly remotely, but some meetings are in person
• Preparing, proofreading, and filing affidavits, legal correspondence, pleadings, motions and other documents for attorneys
• Consistently and accurately updating the firm’s internal case management system
• Providing exceptional customer service to clients at every level of interaction
• Meeting with clients, attorneys, and other professionals to talk about case details, while most work is remote, some meetings are in-person
• Helping prepare for trial by organizing exhibits and assisting with other tasks as needed
• Preparing briefs, discovery, contracts, pleadings, appeals, and other legal documents
• Investigating facts and laws of cases and searching public records and other resources to prepare cases
• Directing and coordinating law office activity, including delivery of subpoenas and other external facing documents
• Gathering and analyzing statutes, decisions, and legal articles
• Working with and organizing reports on documents and other data
• Providing regular and timely client status updates, as well as continual follow-up on outstanding documents and or services
• Keeping track of changes in legal framework and providing timely updates on these changes
  

Position Requirements: 

• Certificate of completion from an ABA-approved paralegal certification program of education and training, an associate degree, preferably in legal services or finance, or 2+ years’ experience as a paralegal
  
• Preferably 2+ years of foreclosure, property law, eviction defense, mortgage financing, or work experience in a related legal field
• High-level proficiency in MS Office suite
• Proficiency in internet research activities
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Deadline and very detail-oriented
• Commitment to providing exceptional customer service
• Ability to communicate courteously and effectively with borrower, clients, attorneys, other internal employees, and outside parties
• Ability to work with others in a congenial and team-oriented manner
• Familiarity with legal research and legal research tools
• Ability to prioritize and track deadlines
• Exceptional organizational skills; the position requires the ability to multi-task and be adaptable to continual change
• Familiarity with case and document management software
• Experience with drafting legal documents and pleadings, such as motions, letters, and notices
  

Additional Details: 

• Candidates must reside in Colorado, ideally within the greater Denver Metro area. The position includes competitive pay, flexible time off, benefits package (including medical, dental, vision), and 401k
• A competitive $65,000 salary
  
• Employees who utilize two languages or more at work are eligible for a $2,000 salary differential per year added to the salary grade listed above.  Language assessment will be conducted by the organization as a requirement to receive the differential
  
• All employees receive a technology stipend of $720 per year
• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis but must be received by 11/28/2024
• The estimated time to complete the recruitment process will be by 12/05/2024
• As in-person work is sometimes required, all employees at CEDP & CED Law are expected to maintain current vaccination status in keeping with CDC recommendations.
• CEDP is an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.