Housing Triage Attorney

Full time, Exempt

Hybrid (3 days/week in office 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 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

ODL operates on a model of rapid intake, triage, and scalable service delivery to meet the volume of legal need in the community. We’re hiring a Housing Triage Attorney who will support our largest practice group at the organization. The housing team is split into two sections: the Unlawful Detainer (UD) section, which assists clients in defending their eviction cases, and the Affirmative Housing section. The Affirmative Housing team addresses issues such as, but not limited to, housing discrimination, illegal rent increases (under both the TPA and SFRO), landlord harassment, Rent Board petitions, constructive evictions, wrongful evictions, habitability, and UD restrictions. 

The Triage Attorney serves as the critical first point of legal contact for guests seeking assistance at Open Door Legal. This role is responsible for quickly and accurately assessing the viability of incoming legal issues, identifying the documentation needed to evaluate the evidentiary basis of a matter, delivering emergency legal advice, and performing limited scope (brief service) work. The Triage Attorney does not carry a caseload of full scope representation matters; instead, the role is designed to maximize the number of guests ODL can serve by efficiently identifying needs, providing immediate guidance, and routing matters appropriately to ODL staff and external partners for further services.

Thriving in this role requires grit, dynamism, teamwork, care, and passion (our organization’s five core values). You will report directly to the Managing Housing Attorney and work closely with our Associate Director of Community Engagement.

Responsibilities

• Embody our mission of universal access to civil legal aid and lead your team to ensure that the housing needs of all clients in our service area are met by ourselves or others.
• Conduct initial legal assessments of incoming housing matters to determine viability and appropriate next steps, including identifying the documentation needed to evaluate the evidentiary basis of a matter, delivering emergency legal advice, and performing limited scope (brief service) work.

• Gain and maintain a proficient knowledge of housing law and direct services legal advocacy, including client management and time management.
• Apply relevant legal frameworks to quickly distinguish between matters requiring immediate action, matters suited for brief service, and matters requiring referral to full scope representation or outside resources.
• Clearly explain guests' rights, options, and risks under applicable law in accessible, plain language. Advise guests on how to gather and organize relevant documentation before matters proceed further. Meet with guests with nonviable legal matters to explain why they do not have a legal case.
• Provide emergency-basis legal advice to guests facing time-sensitive legal issues (e.g. imminent deadlines, statutes of limitations, urgent safety concerns).
• Perform discrete, limited scope legal tasks for guests where full representation is not warranted or available, such as document review, letter drafting, or court form preparation.
• Collaborate with the Managing Attorney - External Partnerships to attempt placement of matters with our pro bono partners, panel attorneys, or other legal aid organizations for viable matters, prior to exploring internal escalation. 
• Identify and create/facilitate additional capacity-building programs within triage, such as clinics and/or collaborations with non-legal programs. 
• 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.

• Previous experience practicing in housing law.
• Strong time management skills and the ability to organize time, manage diverse activities, and meet critical deadlines with minimal supervision. 
• 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, including those experiencing domestic violence.
• Ability to commute to any of ODL’s offices three (3) days a week to conduct in-person intakes and meetings and support the team’s in-office needs.
• High level of comfort learning and using technology and cloud-based case management systems. We use Salesforce, Dropbox, and Google Suite.
• Must genuinely enjoy and be motivated by working with low-income clients and be able to work competently with clients impacted by trauma (emotional, mental, and physical), including those at risk of homelessness and currently un-housed.
• Must actively demonstrate cultural humility and sensitivity to barriers low-income residents face when attempting to access the justice system.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

Bonus Points

• Comfortable translating and interpreting from English to Spanish, Cantonese, or Mandarin and vice versa legal information without assistance (this comes with a slight compensation increase).
• Experience with filing and interacting within the San Francisco Superior 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 (annually) for a staff attorney is $83,500-$111,500, based on experience.

Benefits

• Loan Repayment Assistance - for staff pursuing 10-year public interest debt forgiveness, we will pay the minimum payment on all qualifying loans so that you don’t need to worry about student loan debt (this is a conditional benefit).
• Medical/Dental/Vision Plan offerings at 100% coverage
• Generous paid time off (four weeks vacation and two weeks sick/care)
• Flexible work hours
• Generous paid parental leave
• 401K/Retirement Account
• 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.