Gittis Legal Clinics Paralegal (Academic/Teaching Law Firm)

University Overview

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn’s distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America’s Best Large Employers in 2023.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

Posted Job Title

Gittis Legal Clinics Paralegal (Academic/Teaching Law Firm)

Job Profile Title

Coordinator, Program

Job Description Summary

Job Description

The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is one of the nation’s oldest and most distinguished law schools. The Law School offers a unique approach, incorporating cross-disciplinary legal education, a distinctly collaborative environment, and an innovative curriculum to enrich student learning. The small and highly interdisciplinary faculty achieves scholarly excellence while emphasizing a shared effort to advance understanding of the law. The result is an intellectual community that bridges traditional boundaries and disciplines within a renowned internal culture of collegiality, making the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School an extraordinarily supportive academic community for all its members.

Penn Carey Law staff fulfill a critical role in providing a world-class educational environment, supporting faculty, students, alumni, and fellow staff members in a collegial, inclusive setting.

The Gittis Legal Clinics are Penn Carey Law’s teaching law firm, comprised of eight in-house clinics and a robust externship program that offer students unique opportunities to develop essential lawyering skills and professional values from experiential learning in diverse practice areas. The Gittis Legal Clinics have a special mission to meet the educational needs of students while addressing critical legal needs of clients and underserved communities.

The Paralegal for the Gittis Legal Clinics provides paralegal and administrative support and helps to educate law students about working in a professional law office. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced, creative paralegal to participate in the training and preparation of law students for legal practice as well as to handle legal matters when students are unavailable. The Gittis Legal Clinics Paralegal works collaboratively with faculty and staff colleagues to ensure the successful delivery of high quality educational and legal services. Legal services may involve representation or advocacy in state and federal courts as well as before local, state, federal, and international agencies and legislative bodies. 

Applicants must submit a cover letter and resume to be considered.

The Gittis Legal Clinics Paralegal will serve as a vital member of the Gittis Legal Clinics staff team and report directly to the Gittis Legal Clinics Executive Director.

This full-time position (35 hours per week) is hybrid eligible, consistent with Penn Human Resources policy. Physical presence at the Law School is routinely expected, although duties and responsibilities may be handled remotely at times.

Responsibilities include:

Legal and Administrative Support

• Provide support to law students and clinical faculty representing clients and working on special projects in a broad range of litigation practice areas, including disability, employment, consumer protection, family law, guardianship, housing and landlord-tenant, immigration law, civil rights, human rights, and public benefits law.
• Assist with referral, selection, and intake of cases and monitor all stages of legal client representation, including performing conflict checks and gathering pertinent client information.
• Train on, model, and ensure clear and efficient communication between students and their clients, team partners, and clinical faculty.
• Open, maintain, organize, and close case files, both in electronic and paper format.
• Stay up to date with court and administrative rules and filing procedures and assist in preparation, production, and submission of administrative and judicial pleadings and other filings (both e-filings and paper filings), and handle service of process in municipal, state, and federal courts.
• Maintain, and train law students to maintain, client/casework databases and a litigation calendar by tracking case events and filing deadlines. Handle case logistics, including communication with court personnel and others, and conduct case-related research as needed.
• Assist students in preparing correspondence, including engagement, introduction, and closing letters to clients, among other documents.
• Support faculty with ongoing casework, including preparation of correspondence when students are unavailable.
• Working with law students, manage transition and closure of client files, including but not limited to meetings with students and faculty, review of client/casework databases, and organization of files.
• Provide assistance with students’ various policy projects with partner organizations, educational outreach to client communities, and outreach-related case management, as needed.
• Use iManage document management software, Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, SharePoint, etc.), Adobe Acrobat, LegalServer, and other electronic platforms for both case file maintenance and semester preparation.
• Coordinate communication between the Gittis Legal Clinics and external vendors, including interpreters, translators, process servers, court reporters, and international publishers; arrange for interpretation and translation for clients with limited English proficiency.
• Demonstrate excellent spoken and written communication skills in person and while using multiple course and communication platforms, including Canvas, Outlook, MS Teams, DocuSign, Zoom, and Skype.
• Assist with clients and visitors and handle incoming and outgoing mail.

Clinical Course Support and Training

• Assist faculty in using Canvas functions and other tools for smooth course management, including by researching, maintaining, and disseminating curriculum materials.
• Provide logistical coordination and other support for legal practice simulations, classroom exercises, guest speakers, and other course-related activities.
• Train students in office policies and procedures, client and document management systems, case file maintenance, use of legal, office, and communication tools, and law office professional conduct.
• Design/edit training materials and provide routine training to students and faculty in using technology and case management tools effectively. Trouble-shoot technology problems with the law school IT department and/or external support teams/consultants.
• Handle other clinic litigation and project duties as needed.

General Clinic Support

• Collaborate with the Gittis Legal Clinics faculty and staff team to ensure a cohesive and smooth-functioning law office.
• Contribute daily to a professional, welcoming, collaborative, comfortable, inclusive, and creative problem-solving environment.
• Represent the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and the Gittis Legal Clinics, as needed, to visitors, callers, and external partners.
• Provide interpretation and translation in Spanish and English, if candidate has an appropriate level of proficiency.

Other Duties and Responsibilities as Assigned

Candidate Qualifications:

Candidates must submit a cover letter and a resume to be considered. (Upload cover letter with resume in Careers@Penn portal). A Bachelor’s Degree, Associate Degree, and/or paralegal certificate plus three years of experience in a law firm, public interest/legal services organization, corporate law department or other legal environment are required. Proficiency in spoken and written Spanish is highly desirable.

Demonstrated experience with varied aspects of civil trial preparation, including federal and state electronic filing; preparing tables of authorities; scheduling and setting up depositions; preparing exhibits; organizing and preparing briefs; and researching rules of civil procedure and court protocols. Demonstrated experience providing professional training, teaching support, tutoring, community education, or otherwise helping people learn new information and/or skills. Must demonstrate an appreciation for the mission of the Gittis Legal Clinics, the clients we serve, and the students we educate. Must understand the importance of confidentially in the legal field and handle sensitive information with care and discretion. Must have an affinity for working with clients with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Also required: excellent coordination and organizational skills, including keen attention to detail and the ability to prioritize work; excellent ability to communicate orally with a wide variety of constituents; critical thinking skills and a proven ability to engage in problem-solving creatively and diligently; and competency in using Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Power Point). 

In addition, these attributes are highly valued:

• Enthusiasm for contributing to others’ professional development and high quality services and work products.
• A background and/or experiences that will contribute to the diversity, vitality, and cultural perspective of our clinical education program, staff, and clients;
• Experience with using interpreters, translators, and other language access resources;
• The ability to learn quickly and think creatively;
• A willingness to embrace new technology;
• The ability to work in a fast-paced environment, multi-task and prioritize, and manage tasks under pressure;
• A commitment to learning new systems and improving upon existing systems;
• The ability to work well both independently and collaboratively; and
• Demonstrated reliability, responsibility, and initiative.

Job Location – City, State

Department / School

Law School

Pay Range

Salary offers are made based on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, as well as internal and market factors and grade profile.

Affirmative Action Statement 

Penn adheres to a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.

Special Requirements 

Background check required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.

University Benefits

• Health, Life, and Flexible Spending Accounts: Penn offers comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits to protect you and your family’s health and welfare. You can also use flexible spending accounts to pay for eligible health care and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars.
• Tuition: Take advantage of Penn’s exceptional tuition benefits. You, your spouse, and your dependent children can get tuition assistance here at Penn. Your dependent children are also eligible for tuition assistance at other institutions.
• Retirement: Penn offers generous retirement plans to help you save for your future. Penn’s Basic, Matching, and Supplemental retirement plans allow you to save for retirement on a pre-tax or Roth basis. Choose from a wide variety of investment options through TIAA and Vanguard.
• Time Away from Work: Penn provides you with a substantial amount of time away from work during the course of the year. This allows you to relax, take vacations, attend to personal affairs, recover from illness or injury, spend time with family—whatever your personal needs may be.
• Long-Term Care Insurance: In partnership with Genworth Financial, Penn offers faculty and staff (and your eligible family members) long-term care insurance to help you cover some of the costs of long-term care services received at home, in the community or in a nursing facility. If you apply when you’re newly hired, you won’t have to provide proof of good health or be subject to underwriting requirements. Eligible family members must always provide proof of good health and are subject to underwriting.
• Wellness and Work-life Resources: Penn is committed to supporting our faculty and staff as they balance the competing demands of work and personal life. That’s why we offer a wide variety of programs and resources to help you care for your health, your family, and your work-life balance.
• Professional and Personal Development: Penn provides an array of resources to help you advance yourself personally and professionally.
• University Resources: As a member of the Penn community, you have access to a wide range of University resources as well as cultural and recreational activities. Take advantage of the University’s libraries and athletic facilities, or visit our arboretum and art galleries. There’s always something going on at Penn, whether it’s a new exhibit at the Penn Museum, the latest music or theater presentation at the Annenberg Center, or the Penn Relays at Franklin Field to name just a few examples. As a member of the Penn community, you’re right in the middle of the excitement—and you and your family can enjoy many of these activities for free.
• Discounts and Special Services: From arts and entertainment to transportation and mortgages, you’ll find great deals for University faculty and staff. Not only do Penn arts and cultural centers and museums offer free and discounted admission and memberships to faculty and staff. You can also enjoy substantial savings on other goods and services such as new cars from Ford and General Motors, cellular phone service plans, movie tickets, and admission to theme parks.
• Flexible Work Hours: Flexible work options offer creative approaches for completing work while promoting balance between work and personal commitments. These approaches involve use of non-traditional work hours, locations, and/or job structures.
• Penn Home Ownership Services: Penn offers a forgivable loan for eligible employees interested in buying a home or currently residing in West Philadelphia, which can be used for closing costs or home improvements.
• Adoption Assistance: Penn will reimburse eligible employees on qualified expenses in connection with the legal adoption of an eligible child, such as travel or court fees, for up to two adoptions in your household.

To learn more, please visit: https://www.hr.upenn.edu/PennHR/benefits-pay 

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