Paralegal

ACLU of Hawaiʻi; Honolulu (HI); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

ACLU-HI seeks a resourceful Paralegal to support litigation, investigations, and legal program operations. The role reports to the Legal Director and involves independent fact investigations, intake management, case support, and maintaining legal systems.

The position is full-time and exempt, with a hybrid in-office/remote schedule. Strong communication, empathy for affected individuals, and EDIB commitment are essential.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of relevant experience as a paralegal, investigator, case manager, journalist, or related role.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills, including proofreading.
• Self-motivated, independent work ethic with ability to collaborate in a team.
• Experience interviewing people and gathering facts in investigations or similar work.
• Ability to communicate with empathy with people in crisis, including incarcerated individuals.
• Excellent project management, organizational, and multi-tasking skills.
• Proficiency with Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and Acrobat; able to learn new databases and case management tools.
• Commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (EDIB).

Responsibilities

• Provide paralegal support to the Legal Director and staff attorneys, including substantive and technical review of filings.
• Assist with case management: maintain electronic/physical files, pull filings, and calendar deadlines.
• Coordinate logistics for depositions, client meetings, or conference calls, service of process, and exhibits.
• Prepare, format, file, and serve basic legal filings and exhibits.
• Assist with discovery requests/responses and witness statements.
• Lead investigations and intake—interview clients, log requests, flag matters for attorney review, and track patterns across intakes.
• Draft summaries of interviews and maintain organized intake notes.
• Build and maintain Legal program databases and file systems; manage deadlines; handle general clerical duties.
• Support public education and communications by updating case pages and assisting with community events.

Skills

Communication

Interviewing

Project management

Detail oriented

Empathy

Team collaboration

Education

Paralegal certificate

Tools

PACER/JEFS

Microsoft Word

Excel

Outlook

Teams

Adobe Acrobat

Job description

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i (“ACLU-HI”) works to dismantle systemic injustice and protect civil liberties for all through legal, political, and educational efforts. ACLU-HI is seeking a resourceful, organized, and self-motivated person to serve as our Paralegal.

ACLU-HI Paralegal will serve as both an investigator and paralegal, working in the realm of legal operations. Reporting to the Legal Director, this person independently develops fact investigations (currently including conditions in Hawaiʻi jails and prisons), manages the legal intake process, provides litigation support across our docket, and keeps the Legal program’s systems running.

Position Overview

Title:Paralegal

Due Date:December 1, 2026; open until filled; early applications encouraged

Supervision:Reports to the Legal Director

Classification:Full-time, Exempt

Essential Job Functions

Approximate time: litigation support (40%); investigations and intake (30%); legal program operations (20%); public education (10%).

Litigation Support

• Provide paralegal support to the Legal Director and staff attorneys, including substantive and technical review of filings.
• Assist in case management, including maintaining electronic and physical files and court records, pulling filings from dockets, and calendaring deadlines.
• Coordinate logistics for depositions, client meetings or conference calls, service of process, courtesy copy delivery, and other litigation support.
• Prepare, format, file, and serve basic legal filings and exhibits.
• Assist with preparing discovery requests and responses and witness statements.
• Assist with client communications, including scheduling meetings.
• Cite-check, format, and proofread filings and court submissions.
• Assist attorneys with preparing for oral arguments, hearings, trials, and other court events by compiling exhibits, references, and binders.

Investigations & Intake

• Lead fact investigations into potential civil rights violations, from first contact through a record attorneys can use. Current work includes conditions in Hawaii’s jails and prisons; future investigations will cover other issues on our docket.
• Manage legal intake process: screen and log requests for help, follow up promptly, spot patterns and trends across intakes, and flag matters for attorney review.
• Independently contact and interview people who submit intakes, people in custody, family members, and other witnesses, using a trauma-informed approach; take careful intake notes and write clear interview summaries.
• Conduct site and facility visits, including on neighbor islands.
• Draft, track, and follow up on public records requests (UIPA and FOIA), review and summarize responses, and outline potential next steps.
• Organize investigation materials into tracking spreadsheets, databases, chronologies, and short memos that attorneys can use to evaluate potential claims.
• Work with translators to reach clients with limited English proficiency/disabilities.

Legal Program Operations

• Build, maintain, and train other Staff on the Legal program’s databases, tracking spreadsheets, and file systems; design and manage internal team deadlines.
• Handle general clerical duties, such as copying, scanning, mailing, and shredding.
• Process Legal program expenses, invoices, and receipt reimbursements.
• Assist with screening and hiring of Legal program staff and interns.
• Coordinate regular Legal program meetings, including Litigation Committee.
• Take and maintain comprehensive notes for various Legal-related meetings.
• Implement Legal’s document retention work, maintaining Legal’s active archive.
• Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned by the Legal Director.

Public Education

• Support know-your-rights trainings, talk story sessions, and community events.
• Support communications staff with maintaining webpages on the ACLU-HI website for active legal cases and keep each page’s narrative and materials current.

Other Job Functions

• Travel as required for investigations, litigation, and other advocacy, including to correctional facilities and neighbor islands.
• Think creatively, strategically, and openly about how our organization can better integrate equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging into day-to-day operations.
• Promote a welcoming, inclusive, and respectful work environment for all staff.

Required Qualifications

You do not need to have every qualification below. If unsure whether you qualify, still apply.

• 3+ years of relevant experience, such as work as a paralegal or legal assistant, investigator, case manager, community organizer, or journalist, or an equivalent combination of education and experience; no specific degree is required.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills, including proofreading skills.
• Self‑motivated and independent work ethic, including ability to collaborate with and contribute to team while producing high‑quality, error‑free work.
• Experience interviewing people and gathering facts, whether through investigation, social services, organizing, journalism, or similar work.
• Ability to communicate with empathy and patience with people in crisis, including people who are incarcerated and their families, while keeping appropriate boundaries (e.g., not giving legal advice or promising representation).
• Excellent project management, organizational, and multi‑tasking skills.
• Careful attention to detail, accurate, well‑organized work.
• Proficiency with computers and technology, including Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and Acrobat, and ability to learn new database and case management tools.
• Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills; experience with diverse teams.
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality with all Legal and ACLU‑HI matters.
• Commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (“EDIB”), both in the workplace and in collaboration with community partners and constituents.

Additional Qualifications

• Paralegal certificate or litigation support experience.
• Familiarity with Hawaiʻi state and federal court rules and procedures, and with PACER/JEFS and other court filing systems.
• Proficiency in a language commonly spoken in Hawaiʻi (e.g., Ilocano, Tagalog, Chuukese, Marshallese, Samoan, Tongan, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi).
• Personal or family experience with the criminal legal system.
• Knowledge of or experience in issues related to civil and constitutional rights.
• Working knowledge of Hawaiʻi’s political, social, and cultural landscapes.
• Familiarity with the ACLU’s work and impact, both statewide and nationally.
• Demonstrated commitment to civil rights, civil liberties, and the ACLU‑HI mission.

Working Conditions

Exempt employees are generally expected to work Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with a minimum of three days per week in‑office and the option to work up to two days per week remotely, subject to organizational needs. The following physical demands and work environment conditions represent those required and encountered by an employee to perform essential job functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform:

• Input information into a computer for extended periods of time.
• Periodically work extended hours, including evenings or weekends; travel across the Hawaiian Islands as needed.

Time-Off

• 14 official holidays, 5 floating holidays, and 18 paid‑time‑off (PTO) days annually in their first year, 24 in their second and third, and 30 in the fourth and beyond.
• After year four, employees qualify for 20‑days of paid sabbatical leave.

Insurance

• 100% employer‑paid health insurance (medical, dental, drug, vision); long‑term disability insurance; defined contribution retirement plan with employer match.

Family & Medical Leave

• 16 weeks of paid time‑off per eligibility year to care for a newborn or adopted child, or a parent with medical needs, as defined by the relevant policy.

Professional Development

• One paid opportunity (travel, food, and accommodations) per year to participate in an approved professional development convening off‑island, budget permitting.
• Access to ACLU nationwide resources, tools, and colleagues for enhanced learning.
• Frequent in‑office trainings on civil rights topics and work‑life balance.
• Access to unlimited preapproved in‑person somatic healing mindfulness courses.
• Annual membership to CALM app – an ACLU national benefit, subject to change.

ACLU‑HI’s recruitment efforts assure persons with disabilities have full opportunities for employment. We encourage applicants with disabilities who may need accommodations in the application process to contact [e-mail].