Probate Attorney

Temporary (approximately 6 months)

Part-time, hourly

Remote or Hybrid

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 we’re solving this problem together. 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. We’ve grown 150x in 10 years, and in the next 2 years, we hope to finish scaling across San Francisco. To achieve this 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 ensuring justice for all.

Overview of Position

We have seen many members of our community threatened with homelessness and housing uncertainty because of issues around the estate of a deceased family member. Private attorneys take a percentage of the estate; thus, many times a home has to be sold to pay the attorney and court fees. We’re hiring a Temporary Probate Law Attorney for the Probate Law Team who will help us keep long-standing families in the community. We are assisting people whose homeownership status is in flux. Probate court in San Francisco has so many procedural rules that make navigating it impossible for the pro per client. Open Door Legal provides an invaluable service to the local community by navigating SF probate court for families and elders who are the stewards of a community’s wealth and legacy.

In addition to estate planning, probate, and trust administration, The Probate Law team also represents clients in conservatorships and elder abuse restraining orders. The work is fast-paced and will require you to be organized, think critically and dynamically, and demonstrate empathy and awareness in understanding the needs of our community. If you want to make a difference in clients’ lives with us, we encourage you to apply!

Overall, this position is intended to be a challenging yet extremely rewarding experience for someone with substantive probate court knowledge who is interested in using that knowledge to make a difference in clients’ lives with an innovative, results-oriented, and fast-growing organization. You will report directly to the Associate Director of Legal Operations and work closely with the Probate Paralegal.

Responsibilities

• Embrace and embody our mission of universal access to civil legal aid and ensure that everyone in our service area with a viable probate or elder law matter gets appropriate help, including legal advice and representation.  
• Empower clients of the Probate Law Practice Group to know their rights and navigate trust administration, estate planning, conservatorship, and elder abuse matters, with a particular focus on protecting elderly clients and helping people stay in their homes and community.
• Own a full caseload (as per team needs) while opening and closing cases in an efficient manner.
• Conduct intake and triage consistent with the team's practice — gather facts, assess against case-acceptance criteria, and determine whether to open a case or refer out.
• Route conservatorship cases through the required approval process with the Associate Director of Legal Operations before a case is opened or case strategy is finalized.
• Issue-spot other needs for guests and clients, and make internal and external legal and wraparound service referrals, including to identified referral partners 
• Client Management: Provide clear information to guests and clients about their case and case strategy, the scope and responsibilities for all legal work ODL will do, frequent communication (especially when you cannot meet an expectation), and identifying in advance when the legal plan will not meet the client's goals and expectations. Meet clients where they are, factoring in their cultural and socio-economic background, age-related considerations, and any barriers to service.
• Have the knowledge needed to competently represent clients in San Francisco Superior Court in matters relating to trust administration, estate planning, conservatorships, and elder abuse restraining orders.
• Obtain and maintain expertise (via casework, trainings, and mentorships) in areas that clients need assistance with, including but not limited to: trust administration; drafting of Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, and Advance Health Care Directives; conservatorships of the person; and Elder Abuse Restraining Orders.
• Have sufficient working knowledge of heir and beneficiary disputes and trust administration litigation (including the applicable statutory contest deadlines) to issue-spot these matters at intake and hand them off appropriately to a staff attorney or facilitate case referral/placement with a panel attorney or pro bono attorney through ODL’s referral network.  
• Work with pro bono partners and any volunteers assisting you on the cases you own, to increase team capacity. Help with their training and case supervision as needed for your cases.
• Develop and maintain relations with other nonprofits, advocacy groups, and referral partners (e.g., aging services, elder abuse prevention organizations, HERA CA), as determined to be helpful to your own growth and your team's goals.
• Provide services and support to our low-income clients with sensitivity and awareness to cultural, socio-economic, and disability barriers to service and skillfully navigate difficult or tense situations. 
• Embrace and embody our values of teamwork, grit, caring, passion, and dynamism.

Requirements:

Applicants who are members in good standing with the State Bar of California, or licensed in good standing with another state bar, may be considered. However, those without a license are encouraged to apply to volunteer with us at opendoorlegal.org/volunteer.

• At least two (2) years of relevant professional experience.
• California civil law and superior court civil procedure knowledge.
• Strong time management skills to effectively perform legal work in a fast-paced environment and high-volume practice. 
• Show an enthusiasm for and commitment to self-learning and professional development.
• Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills, with the ability to be detail-oriented. 
• High level of comfortability learning and using technology and case management systems. We use Salesforce, Dropbox, and the Google Suite.  
• Active demonstration of cultural humility and sensitivity to barriers low-income San Franciscans face when attempting to access the justice system.
• Demonstrated understanding of how to effectively provide trauma-informed advocacy for clients in crisis.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S without sponsorship.

Bonus Points

• Comfort translating and interpreting from English to Spanish or Cantonese and vice versa legal information without assistance (this comes with a slight compensation increase).
• Experience practicing in San Francisco Probate Court.
• Experience working with low-income and vulnerable populations.
• Experience working in a high-volume direct services legal aid or similar environment.
• Having lived a significant period of your life in San Francisco proper, specifically, a connection to the Bayview/Hunters Point, Excelsior, Sunset, Western Addition, Tenderloin, or Mission neighborhoods. 

Starting compensation is $40.14-$53.61 (hourly) ($83,500-$111,500 annual equivalent) based on experience.

Benefits:

• Flexible work hours
• We believe everyone is always learning. We financially invest in individual professional development for each staff member which can include 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.

Ideal Start Date: As soon as possible

Apply here: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/opendoorlegal/jobs/4423662009