Family Law Attorney

Family Law Attorney

Full-Time, Hybrid (3 days in-person minimum)

About Us:

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” - Nelson Mandela

We believe that even the biggest problems can be broken down into small, achievable steps. Poverty and access to justice are part of the same problem. And to solve this, we just need to discover what the steps are. At Open Door Legal (ODL), we’re pioneering the country’s first system of universal access to civil legal representation to dramatically reduce poverty and prove that the law really can belong to all of us. To achieve this ambitious goal, we’ve created an award-winning and best-in-class legal aid organization full of passionate, motivated, gritty, thoughtful, and team-oriented people.

We believe that injustice is the heart of poverty and we're looking for someone to join us in having a systemic impact on how we, as a society, ensure justice for all.

Overview of Position:

As the Family Law Attorney, you will provide critical support to our Family Law team ensuring all of our family law clients receive excellent legal services. You will also empower family law litigants and victims to know their rights, navigate court, protect themselves and their loved ones, and resolve their legal issues with or without court intervention.  

Our Family Law team helps to heal families and communities, reduce and resolve conflict, protect victims, and set our clients (and their children) up for future success. Our unique and innovative model of practice involves advising and representing both men and women in all areas of family law and victim’s rights, including child custody and visitation, child support and parentage,, divorce, Domestic Violence Restraining Orders, guardianship, adoption, victim compensation, and protection of rights pursuant to Marsy’s Law. Our clients are incredibly brave and resilient, and we seek to support them when they face an intense or contentious case in court.

This position will report directly to the Managing Family Law Attorney. 

Responsibilities:

• Embrace and embody our mission of universal access to civil legal aid and ensure that everyone in our service area with a viable family law issue gets appropriate help, including legal advice and representation.  
• Maintain a full caseload (as per team needs) while opening and closing cases in an efficient manner.
• Facilitate and lead Family Law and Victim’s Rights intakes across multiple physical Open Door Legal office locations.
• Work with the client to assist with discovery requests and information gathering.
• Appear in San Francisco Superior Court to represent litigants in Family Law Cases, as needed.
• Provide clients with case management, including maintaining and providing necessary oral and written follow-ups with clients.  Review documents with clients and obtain their informed signatures. 
• Oversee timely filings (including drafting and compiling forms to file in court, such as fee waivers, proofs of service, and other standard filings) and mailings, ensuring they are high-quality and within deadline. Communicate with court clerks and private vendors about scheduling or filing issues. 
• Oversee service of process (personal, substitute, and mail). Understand the civil procedure behind service. Use creative methods to locate and serve evasive defendants. Coordinate with the sheriffs or private process servers to ensure personal service is completed by deadline.  
• Support our growing Family Law team (currently 4 Family Law attorneys and 1 Family Law Paralegal) and interns/volunteers.
• Provide services and support to our low-income clients with humility and awareness of cultural, socio-economic, and disability differences. 

Requirements:

• Membership in good standing with the California State Bar
• Strong time management skills and the ability to handle quick timelines, manage diverse activities, and meet critical deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Strong time-management skills and the ability to organize case tasks, manage diverse activities, and meet critical deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Must actively demonstrate cultural humility and sensitivity to barriers low-income residents face when attempting to access the justice system.
• Authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.
• Demonstrated understanding of how to effectively provide trauma-informed advocacy for clients in crisis, including those experiencing domestic violence.
• Hybrid position: minimum of three days in-office in one or more of our Open Door Legal office locations.
• Have a high level of comfort learning and using technology and cloud-based case management systems. We use Salesforce, Dropbox, and Google Suite.

Bonus Points:

• Previous experience working in victim's rights (Marsy's law).
• Previous experience working with family law issues (custody and visitation, dissolution, domestic violence).
• Experience working with low-income and vulnerable populations.
• Bilingual in Spanish or Cantonese (also comes with a slight pay increase).
• Having lived a significant period of your life in San Francisco proper.

Starting compensation is $83,500 - $99,500 annually based on experience.

Benefits:

• Medical/Dental/Vision Plan offerings at 100% coverage
• Generous paid time off
• Flexible work hours 
• Generous paid parental leave
• 401K/Retirement Account
• We believe everyone is always learning. We financially invest in individual learning plans for each staff member and provide many internal and external mentorships, coaching, and learning opportunities (conferences, workshops, etc.).
• We are a fun and hard-working office with best-in-class technology solutions for anyone who’s passionate about making a meaningful and measurable difference.

Apply here: https://open-door-legal.breezy.hr/p/62a38bbc7501 

Applications received before July 19 will receive priority consideration.

Ideal starting date: July 2024 (Flexible)

Open Door Legal is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or any other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal records, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let us know at whitney [at] opendoorlegal [dot] org.

Black Lives Matter

Benefits:

• Medical/Dental/Vision Plan offerings at 100% coverage
• Generous paid time off
• Flexible work hours 
• Generous paid parental leave
• 401K/Retirement Account
• We believe everyone is always learning. We financially invest in individual learning plans for each staff member and provide many internal and external mentorships, coaching, and learning opportunities (conferences, workshops, etc.).
• We are a fun and hard-working office with best-in-class technology solutions for anyone who’s passionate about making a meaningful and measurable difference.