Paralegal

CARPLS; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 48,000 - 59,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401K with employer match

Health insurance

Vision and dental insurance

Life insurance

Pretax transit benefits

Job summary

CARPLS legal aid in Cook County seeks a full-time Paralegal to support our hotline and court-based desks. The Paralegal will screen clients, gather information, and draft court pleadings under supervising attorneys, with a focus on timely, accurate service.

The position operates on a hybrid schedule with two days weekly in the office, and requires ABA-accredited paralegal training, bilingual Spanish preferred, and strong skills in MS Word, Adobe, and Zoom. Competitive benefits accompany the role.

Qualifications

• Graduated from an ABA-accredited Paralegal program; bilingual Spanish preferred.
• Experience in legal aid, public interest, and/or family, consumer, or housing law encouraged.
• Proficient with MS Word, Adobe, and Zoom; able to work independently after training.

Responsibilities

• Support hotline by handling calls from existing clients, providing direction and information.
• Screen client situations for new legal developments to refer to an attorney.
• Draft first drafts of court pleadings for attorneys' review.
• Assist with intake, conflicts checks, client publications, scheduling, data management, research, and administrative tasks.

Skills

Bilingual Spanish

Advanced computer skills

Education

ABA-accredited Paralegal program

Tools

MS Word

Adobe

Zoom

Job description

CARPLS legal aid is Cook County’s largest provider of free legal services. We have provided over one million legal consultations to low- and moderate-income residents to help them find solutions to their everyday legal matters. CARPLS operates a legal aid hotline and three court-based advice desks for Cook County. We are also partners with the Cook County Legal Aid for Housing & Debt Early Resolution Program (ERP), and for our statewide projects, we are partners with New Leaf Illinois, the Illinois Armed Forces Legal Aid Network, COVID HELP Illinois and Eviction Help Illinois. https://www.carpls.org/about-carpls/

We are currently seeking a full-time Paralegal to support the legal work of our legal aid hotline and court-based advice desks. The Paralegal will support the hotline by taking calls from existing clients who are calling back for more direction/information/advice, answering client questions as appropriate, and screening the client’s situation for new legal developments to pass the client on to an attorney, all of which is done under the supervision of a supervising attorney. The Paralegal will also work on other CARPLS desks and projects as assigned, assisting with intake, screening for conflicts of interest, talking with returning clients in the same manner described above, as well as doing first drafts of court pleadings for the attorneys’ review. The Paralegal will also assist the program with client publications, social services resources, scheduling, data management, general research, management of client documents, outcome client surveys, legal research and writing, and other administrative tasks. The position operates on a hybrid remote/office schedule with two required weekly days in the office. This includes working at our in-person courthouse desks.

Qualifications

The candidate must be a graduate of an ABA-accredited Paralegal program (bilingual in Spanish preferred). Candidates with prior legal aid, public interest, and/or family, consumer, or housing law experience are encouraged to apply. Must be adept at using Ms. Word, Adobe, and Zoom platforms. Advanced computer skills are required. The ability to work independently after training is a must.

Compensation

The annual salary is $53,575 per year.

• Excellent benefits include 401K (with an employer match), health, optional vision and dental, life insurance, and pretax transit benefits.

CARPLS is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to having a diverse workplace.