Paralegal Intern (Part Time)

Job Title: Paralegal Intern (Part Time)

Department: Legal 

Reports To: Legal Attorney

Salary Range: Competitive pay of $20.00 hourly

About the Center 

The Center for New York City Neighborhoods, Inc. (the “Center”) is a not-for-profit that promotes and protects affordable homeownership so middle- and working-class families can build strong, thriving communities. We meet the diverse needs of homeowners by offering free, high-quality housing counseling and services, coordinating a network of service providers across the city, and providing free or low-cost loans for homeownership. 

Through its work, the Center supports and expands homeownership across New York by developing programs that focus on underserved communities. We have successfully delivered over $500 million to homeowners in several state-wide interventions, in response to physical, financial, and health crises, working with both the city and state to expand protections for New Yorkers. By helping homeowners individually and systematically, the Center achieves lasting change. To date, the Center, together with its partners, has helped more than 250,000 low- and moderate-income (LMI) families with a median annual income of $46,000 keep their homes and gain financial stability, preserving over $10 billion in neighborhood property value across New York. 

Our legal team, consisting of a General Counsel, three staff attorneys, and two compliance officers, collaborates closely to address these challenges effectively.

Position Summary

The Center seeks a part-time paralegal intern to join its legal team. The paralegal intern will work with attorneys and compliance team members on the Center’s legal team and undertake a broad range of responsibilities to gain valuable experience, develop practical legal skills, engage in real-world casework, and gain insight into the legal profession.

As part of the Center’s Diversity Legal Internship Program’s effort to cultivate a pipeline of skilled legal professionals for the non-profit sector, we aim to recruit students from diverse academic, professional, and personal backgrounds—especially those who have overcome adversity—to support their professional growth. Through this experience, interns will gain insight into our organization’s mission to assist New York homeowners facing housing instability and help individuals and families remain in their homes while addressing the historic and current inequities of discriminatory lending and property law practices.

This position is based in New York, NY. This is an in-office position that requires eight (8) to twelve (12) hours per week that can be divided among one (1) to three (3) days based on the student’s academic schedule for a period of six (6) to eight (8) months, tentatively starting in September 2025 and ending May/June 2026.  

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
 

• Providing day-to-day administrative support, including processing invoices, tracking and reporting expenses and lobbying hours of legal team members, and maintaining physical files;
• Sorting and distributing legal correspondence and mail;
• Logging and updating pending litigation and other deadlines in the team database;
• Conducting basic legal and public records research;
• Drafting, proofreading and redacting legal correspondence and other materials as requested; 
• Responding to written and verbal inquiries as directed by team members;
• Supporting organization and maintenance of contract database and implement contract management system;
• Attending internal team meetings and taking notes, as needed;
• Communicating with Court staff, counsel and other agencies, organizations or vendors, as needed; and
• Engaging in special projects and other duties reasonably related to the position may be required.

Skills & Qualifications

• Applicants must be enrolled and registered students in good standing for paralegal certification through one of the following methods: 
  • An accredited school for a bachelor’s or graduate certificate in paralegal studies;
  • A paralegal certificate program approved by the American Bar Association (“ABA”); or
  • An associate degree program in paralegal studies
• The internship is conditioned upon an applicant’s continued status as an enrolled and registered student; 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and ability to communicate effectively across several diverse internal groups and teams.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail. 
• Demonstrate an ability to work efficiently and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrate an ability to act with integrity, professionalism and confidentiality.
• Demonstrate a growth mindset through resilience, engaging in expansive thinking, and showing curiosity.
• Passionate about promoting affordable homeownership and an equitable New York.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Google Office Suite or related software.

Salary 

We offer competitive pay of $20.00 hourly. 

Application 

please submit your cover letter and resume through the career page on our website no later than Friday, August 29, 2025. We will not consider applications that do not include both the resume and cover letter.

In your cover letter, please answer the following questions: 

• How have your past educational and professional experiences prepared you for this opportunity? 
• How has your background/experience and/or adversity you’ve overcome prepared you for this role?
• What interests you most about this opportunity and what do you hope to learn? 

Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. Applicant review will continue until the position is filled. Persons requiring reasonable accommodation to participate in this hiring effort are requested to contact Recruitment at the Center at 646.849.4616. We thank you for your interest in career opportunities with the Center.

The Center for NYC Neighborhoods ​is an equal opportunity employer. We recruit, hire, upgrade, train, and promote for all positions and job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, marital, veteran or disabled veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other status as a member of any other legally protected group or activity. 

To learn more, visit cnycn.org