Staff Attorney - POLL (Parenting Order Legal Line)

Position Status:

     Part-Time

Reports to:

     Managing Attorney

Schedule:

     Mon. – Fri.; Hours to be scheduled between 8:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.

     *Must be available from 1:00-5:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays; and from 1:00-3:30 p.m. on Fridays.

Founded in 1981, Texas Legal Services Center (TLSC) is a nonprofit organization that provides legal advice, advocacy, representation, and education to underserved people across the state.

The Parenting Order Legal Line (POLL) is a statewide legal service provided through txaccess.org that offers free legal information, education, and advice to members of the community who have questions regarding their parental rights, or possession and access issues related to their children. POLL attorneys revise, update, and dispense information and legal content from the Texas Law Help website and other sources, while providing legal advice through a real time internet-based chat service. This position is responsible for providing direct services; revising and updating legal content; and working closely with the Managing Attorney to meet the POLL Program needs and requirements.

POLL attorneys work in a fast-paced environment delivering crucial legal services to underserved Texas parents who are enduring child custody and visitation conflicts. Brief legal advice, information, and resources are dispensed via a live chat model, to assist parents with these important matters. The focus of the program is on advising non-custodial parents how to ensure appropriate parenting time, but we aim to work with all parents who reach out to POLL. The help offered to POLL clients often has immediate impacts, making a big difference in the lives of our clients and their families.  

The attorney in this position is expected to maintain the highest ethical and professional standards as a member of the State Bar; adhere to the American Bar Association Standards for the provision of civil legal aid; embrace and support Texas Legal Service Center’s overall mission; and comply with all grant requirements, regulations, standards, policies, and confidentiality requirements.

· Provide legal information, education, and advice to website visitors in a compassionate, culturally- sensitive, and trauma-informed manner.

· Identify information needed to assist txaccess.org and texaslawhelp.org visitors and ensure materials on the websites are accurate, up-to-date, accessible and easily understood by the public.

· Draft and revise materials and other publications for use in our operation that educate 

parents on their rights and duties.

· Evaluate chats in real-time, confirm eligibility for appropriate services, and check for conflicts of interest according to TLSC policy.

· Perform research and analysis, give legal advice, provide legal information, and make referrals to eligible POLL live chat users.

· Ensure all client, project, and computer files are maintained according to TLSC policy.

· Provide all information needed/requested for TLSC reporting in a prompt manner.

· Perform special projects and attend training and company-wide events as assigned.

· Current knowledge of law and legal systems, especially those related to family law

· High-level organization skills

· Exceptional written and verbal communication skills

· Strong time-management skills

· Attention to detail

· Proficiency in, or ability to learn, Legal Server (TLSC’s Case Management System), LiveChat, Microsoft Office products, and other relevant IT systems

· Understanding of grant requirements and associated reporting requirements

· Ability to work with clients in a patient, trauma-informed, and non-judgmental manner

· Comfort with working in a real-time internet-based chat environment

· Ability to enter case information into our system timely and accurately

Supervisor Responsibilities: Not applicable to this position

· J.D. Degree

Licensure and/or Certification: Legal licensure by the Supreme Court of Texas; or eligibility for licensure pending bar results

· Sedentary work that involves sitting most of the time.

· Occasional bending, squatting and kneeling.

· Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and a negligible amount of force is needed at times to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.