LITIGATION ASSISTANT
Application Deadline: June 22, 2008
(Inquiries welcome after deadline)

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California (“ACLU-NC”) seeks a Litigation Assistant to provide support to the legal department. The Litigation Assistant will manage our intake system to respond to requests for legal assistance and civil liberties complaints from members of the public; provide support for individual attorneys in the legal department; maintain our legal docket; add content to our webpage; and perform other administrative duties. The ideal candidate is highly organized, able to write clearly, has excellent computer skills, and works well independently and with a team. A commitment to civil liberties and civil rights principles and the work of the ACLU is essential.

Job Description:
Administrative responsibilities include the following:

• An important function of the ACLU is to respond to questions, complaints and requests for legal assistance from members of the public relating to civil-liberties and civil-rights issues. Our complaint phone lines are answered each day by volunteers who come in on a weekly basis. The Litigation Assistant has the primary responsibility for recruiting and supervising these volunteers, and for the answering of complaint mail, including mail from incarcerated persons.
• Working closely with the attorneys and our communications department, the Litigation Assistant will be involved in organizing and maintaining our annual docket of legal cases, the legal department section of our website, and other tools for presenting and disseminating information about our work.
• Other administrative tasks as they arise and are assigned.

Responsibilities for assigned lawyers include:

• Word processing, including producing legal briefs and tables of authorities, legal memoranda and correspondence;
• Maintaining paper and electronic case and correspondence files;
• Supervising service and filing of legal pleadings;
• Assisting lawyers with investigating civil liberties complaints and other special projects;
• Assisting attorneys with Westlaw and other Internet research;
• Performing general administrative support duties, including faxing, copying, coordinating mailings, and occasional backup for office receptionist.

Qualifications:
A strong commitment to civil liberties and civil rights is essential. A Bachelor’s degree is strongly preferred. Prior experience as a litigation or legal secretary is also preferred, but we will consider applicants with excellent skills who have secretarial, office management, administrative or other relevant experience. Applicants must be proficient in working with computers, especially with Microsoft Word, Outlook, Adobe Acrobat and other Office programs. Candidates must be willing to work occasional overtime on evenings and weekends.

Compensation:
Salary based on experience. Excellent benefits include four weeks paid vacation, medical, vision and dental insurance for staff members and their dependents and domestic partners, pension plan, life insurance, long-term disability insurance and thirteen paid holidays.

To Apply:
Applicants should submit a resume and a cover letter describing the applicant's interest in this position to the attention of:

Meghan Loisel
ACLU of Northern California
39 Drumm Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
or e-mail to mloisel@aclunc.org.

About the ACLU of Northern California:
The ACLU is a nationwide, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the defense and expansion of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) was founded in 1934. It is the largest ACLU affiliate in the nation, with 55,000 members, 22 all-volunteer chapters and a staff of 50, including a legislative office in Sacramento and a satellite office in San Jose.

The Legal Department consists of the Legal Director, the Managing Attorney, five staff attorneys, a litigation fellow and two Litigation Assistants. The attorneys engage in litigation in federal and state courts, advocacy with state and local agencies, and public education. The Legal Department works closely with other departments of the ACLU-NC, including communications, legislative, policy, organizing and development. The office is congenial and the work is rewarding.

The ACLU-NC is proud to be an affirmative action employer. All interested individuals, including people of color, women, persons with disabilities and persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex are particularly urged to apply.