Supervising Attorney - LASP Regional Helpline (Non-Profit)

Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Job Announcement

Supervising Attorney – LASP Regional Helpline

Norristown, Montgomery County, PA (TCOO5132026)

SUMMARY

Legal Aid of Southeastern PA, Inc. (“LASP”) seeks an attorney to supervise its regional Helpline located in Norristown, PA. LASP serves low-income individuals and families in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, and the Helpline handles calls and requests from the entire service area and beyond. The Helpline Supervising Attorney position ensures that LASP’s intake process runs efficiently and that applicants are treated with dignity and respect. The position’s primary responsibilities are to supervise and train the intake paralegals and attorneys, run day to day intake operations and ensure new applicants receive the highest level of service for which they are eligible, and collect and report intake statistics. The Helpline interviews potential clients facing legal problems in areas including Employment, Public Benefits including Unemployment Insurance, SSI, and Veteran’s Benefits, Landlord and Tenant, Homeownership, Consumer, Bankruptcy, and Utilities. The attorney will not have his or her own caseload separate and apart from providing advice and brief service in cases stemming from the intake process.

LASP’s Helpline has four components: 1) a live Helpline; 2) returning applicants’ phone calls; 3) internal referrals; and 4) online intake. The position will involve collaboration with the Chief Counsel, the Director of Operations, the Executive Director and others on developing and improving intake systems and procedures and workflow design across LASP and with partner agencies. The position is full-time. Staff currently work on a hybrid basis. The successful candidate will be expected to perform in-office work and work remotely as needed.

MANAGERIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Providing regular supervision, evaluation, and training of the intake paralegals, attorneys, student interns, and volunteers and consulting with them on cases;
• Ensuring that each intake staff member has a thorough understanding of the basic legal problems that those seeking services face; are appropriately issue-spotting and effectively conducting client interviews; are timely and accurately recording information in LASP’s case management system; are complying with LASP procedures, quality standards, and regulatory and contractual obligations, and are providing high quality and respectful service to applicants and clients;
• Effectively communicating with LASP offices, programs, and management staff to stay abreast of local priorities and capacity as well as monitoring listservs and websites, attending training, and updating intake staff accordingly;
• Coordinating referrals to and from other legal services providers, other non-profits and agencies serving the client population, community groups, and elected officials;
• Assisting in the orientation and training of new or less experienced staff;
• Maintaining, tracking, recording and reporting data and metrics regarding intake, as well as becoming adept at the technology available to monitor and capture this data;
• Assisting the management team in leading change and promoting a positive team approach;
• Communicating effectively in a challenging environment with applicants for services by telephone and electronically;
• Developing expertise in LASP case priorities, applicant and client eligibility requirements for 30+ funding sources, and applying appropriate funding sources to cases upon their creation in LASP’s case management system;
• Creating and maintaining intake manuals and protocols, providing communications related to intake, and developing educational materials for Helpline Staff, applicants, and self-represented individuals;
• Identifying trends and gaps in programmatic services based on client need as well as opportunities for outreach and community education;
• Fully maximizing the use of LASP’s limited resources in service to clients, particularly in reference to the use of the technology principally used by Helpline staff, including case management software and telephony;
• Attending LASP management meetings and updating LASP managers on case trends, emerging developments, and distribution of cases to local offices;
• Working with LASP’s Grants and Compliance staff to ensure services are provided in compliance with funding requirements;
• Supporting a cohesive, coordinated, and robust program-wide advocacy effort by consulting with staff advocates outside of the Helpline on cases and issues through participation in LASP program-wide affinity groups and task forces, and by identifying and providing opportunities for helpline staff to participate in those program-wide activities;
• Supporting LASP’s Executive team with recruiting, hiring, training, evaluating, and retaining qualified staff and working with LASP’s Human Resources provider to ensure compliance with LASP’s fiscal and personnel policies and procedures;
• Participating in ongoing efforts to assess the performance of the Helpline and implement recommended improvements;
• Collaborating with LASP IT staff to ensure that all staff technology needs are met, and recommending technology innovations to enhance the delivery of services; and
• Assisting the Development Director and other senior management staff in seeking and applying for grants and contracts to support LASP’s work.

SUPERVISING : Staff attorneys and paralegals (currently 7), in Norristown.

SUPERVISOR : Chief Counsel

QUALIFICATIONS : License to practice law in Pennsylvania or admitted in another jurisdiction and eligible for admission to Pennsylvania. At least five (5) years’ experience as a lawyer preferred; demonstrated proficiency in word processing, Outlook products, case management software, and online legal research tools; Passionate commitment to public interest law and serving low-income individuals and vulnerable populations; Strong written and oral advocacy and organizational skills. The successful candidate will have substantive knowledge of and experience with legal services clients and their legal problems.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS : The salary range for this position is $78,500 to $97,750. Salary is commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits, including a 401K retirement plan with generous employer contributions, health insurance option in which 100% of premium costs are provided, ancillary benefits, and generous leave provisions, including paid holidays, floating holidays, personal leave, vacation, sick, and parental leave.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER : LASP is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate in the recruitment, selection, or advancement of employees on the basis of race, color, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, genetic information or on any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment practices within LASP, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. LASP makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

TO APPLY : Send resume and cover letter including the job title (Helpline Supervising Attorney) to Carolyn Johnson, Chief Counsel at Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, by email to [email protected]. Position remains open until filled.

JOB CLASSIFICATION : Salary/Exempt