BILINGUAL STAFF ATTORNEY

Family & Children's Law Center; San Rafael (CA); Hybrid; USD 75,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Paid holidays

Annual office closure

Job summary

The Family & Children’s Law Center is seeking a bilingual Spanish-English attorney to provide high-quality family-law services to clients who might otherwise go unrepresented. This full-time hybrid role is based in San Rafael, CA with one remote day per week.

The attorney will handle counseling, negotiations, filings, and court hearings, emphasizing accessible, efficient service and trauma-informed client care, within a collaborative, mission-driven nonprofit environment.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor degree and active California Bar membership.
• Professional fluency in written and spoken Spanish and English.
• Strong organization, calendaring, and follow-through.
• Clear, respectful, timely communication with clients and coworkers.
• Comfort using legal practice-management software and maintaining current records in Clio.
• Sound judgment and ability to manage multiple matters in a small-team environment.
• Commitment to public-interest legal services, social justice, and trauma-informed client care.
• Family-law, domestic-violence, SIJS, or related public-interest experience preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

• Meet with and listen carefully to clients, assess their legal needs, explain options, and develop appropriate case plans.
• Represent clients in family-law matters involving domestic violence, custody, support, and SIJS predicate orders.
• Prepare pleadings, Judicial Council forms, correspondence, discovery, and other legal documents accurately and on time.
• Appear at court hearings and other proceedings and negotiate with opposing parties or counsel when appropriate.
• Manage an active caseload by establishing priorities, tracking deadlines, and moving matters forward efficiently.
• Use Clio consistently to maintain complete case notes, documents, tasks, calendaring, time entries, and client communications.
• Communicate clearly and promptly with clients, staff, courts, opposing counsel, and community partners.
• Work collaboratively with support staff and provide clear direction on case-related tasks.
• Identify problems early, ask questions when needed, and follow through on commitments.
• Contribute ideas that improve client service, case flow, and the consistency of FACLC’s legal operations.
• Maintain information needed for grant compliance, program reporting, and evaluation.
• Occasionally participate in community, outreach, or fundraising events by sharing information about FACLC’s services and impact.

Skills

Bilingual Spanish-English

Organization & calendaring

Client communication

Public-interest mindset

Team collaboration

Education

Juris Doctor

Tools

Clio

Job description

The Family & Children’s Law Center (FACLC) is seeking a bilingual Spanish-English attorney who wants to use their legal skills to make high-quality family-law services accessible to people who might otherwise go without representation.

FACLC has served children and families in Marin County for nearly four decades. We provide affordable, income-based legal services in matters involving domestic violence, child custody and support, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) predicate orders.

We are strengthening our team and internal systems as the organization prepares for its next stage. This position is a strong fit for an attorney who is responsible, organized, comfortable with technology, and committed to treating clients and coworkers with care and respect. Formal management experience is not required. An attorney who wants to take initiative and help improve how the legal program operates will have a meaningful opportunity to do so.

What Makes This Role Different

This is not a traditional, trial-heavy law-firm position. FACLC’s access-to-justice model is designed to help a meaningful volume of clients move important family-law matters forward efficiently and affordably. Matters are often advanced through client counseling, negotiation, carefully prepared filings, and court hearings rather than lengthy trials.

Success in this role is practical and visible: clients feel heard, legal work is accurate, deadlines are met, case information inClio(case management software) is complete and current, and the team can rely on clear communication and follow-through.

Because FACLC is a small nonprofit, every team member’s contribution matters. The attorney will work with a capable support staff member while also managing their own responsibilities and communicating early when help or guidance is needed. The role offers room to contribute ideas and take ownership, but the central expectation is dependable, compassionate client service.

Training and ongoing mentoring are available, including for an earlier-career attorney or an attorney transitioning into family law. This is a full-time hybrid position based in San Rafael, with one remote day per week.

Key Responsibilities

• Meet with and listen carefully to clients, assess their legal needs, explain options, and develop appropriate case plans.
• Represent clients in family-law matters involving domestic violence, custody, support, and SIJS predicate orders.
• Prepare pleadings, Judicial Council forms, correspondence, discovery, and other legal documents accurately and on time.
• Appear at court hearings and other proceedings and negotiate with opposing parties or counsel when appropriate.
• Manage an active caseload by establishing priorities, tracking deadlines, and moving matters forward efficiently.
• Use Clio consistently to maintain complete case notes, documents, tasks, calendaring, time entries, and client communications.
• Communicate clearly and promptly with clients, staff, courts, opposing counsel, and community partners.
• Work collaboratively with support staff and provide clear direction on case-related tasks.
• Identify problems early, ask questions when needed, and follow through on commitments.
• Contribute ideas that improve client service, case flow, and the consistency of FACLC’s legal operations.
• Maintain information needed for grant compliance, program reporting, and evaluation.
• Occasionally participate in community, outreach, or fundraising events by sharing information about FACLC’s services and impact.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor degree and active membership in good standing with the State Bar of California.
• Professional fluency in written and spoken Spanish and English.
• Strong organization, calendaring, and follow-through.
• Clear, respectful, and timely communication with clients and coworkers.
• Comfort using legal practice-management software and willingness to maintain accurate, current records in Clio.
• Sound judgment, personal accountability, and the ability to manage multiple matters in a small-team environment.
• Commitment to public-interest legal services, social justice, cultural humility, and trauma-informed client care.
• Family-law, domestic-violence, SIJS, or other public-interest experience is preferred but not required.

Who May Be a Good Fit

We welcome candidates at different stages of their careers. An experienced family-law or public-interest attorney may value the opportunity to do meaningful work, help shape the legal program, and practice outside a traditional billable-hour environment. We will also consider an earlier-career attorney who demonstrates strong judgment, initiative, organization, listening skills, and a genuine willingness to learn.

The strongest candidate will not need to have held a formal leadership title. What matters most is that they take responsibility for their clients and work, use the organization’s systems consistently, communicate well, accept feedback, and can be counted on by the rest of the team.

Commitment to the Communities We Serve

FACLC serves traditionally underserved populations and is committed to providing legal services with cultural humility. We value a diverse staff and strongly encourage applications from people whose backgrounds and lived experiences reflect the communities we serve, including people from historically underrepresented communities.

Compensation and Benefits

The anticipated annual salary range is $75,000-$90,000, depending on relevant experience and qualifications.

Benefits for employees working 35 or more hours per week include health, dental, and vision insurance; vacation and sick leave; 10 paid holidays; and an annual office closure from December 25 through January 1.