ICS is Hiring: Two Portland Paralegals/Legal Assistants
Immigration Counseling Service has been dedicated to defending the rights of immigrants for 48 years. We are a group of diverse individuals committed to providing high-quality immigration advocacy and representation to over 90 low-income immigrant communities throughout Oregon and Southern Washington. Our staff have extensive experience in immigrant and refugee communities (many being from immigrant families themselves) and trauma-informed care and are bilingual in English and Spanish. ICS encourages collaboration and is a supportive environment where our attorneys and staff constantly learn and grow.
ICS is seeking to fill up to two (2) General Program Paralegal/Legal Assistant positions based in our Portland office that are responsible for assisting in the preparation of client immigration cases and providing administrative support and backup to the ICS legal team.
Why Oregon? With offices in gorgeous Hood River and vibrant Portland, a career with ICS will offer you an environment of stunning natural beauty, quirky neighborhoods with plenty of character, and no sales tax! These Oregon cities have become destinations for young professionals, families, and world travelers alike for good reason. From rent to groceries, Portland offers a more affordable cost of living than other cities on the west coast. Worried about the rain? Portland’s annual rainfall is only slightly above the national average, and your patience on rainy days will be repaid by sunny summer days that aren’t scorching hot. ICS operates across Oregon, so you’ll have the opportunity to experience the state’s diverse natural scenery—from coast to desert, valley to mountaintops.
Job Duties:
Assists in full-scope representation of ICS clients:
Drafts immigration petitions.
Communicates with clients and help coordinate appointments with legal workers.
Drafts declarations and motions.
Compiles evidence.
Compiles and mail various letters and applications.
Maintains electronic and physical client files.
Possesses strong organizational skills.
Demostrates a high attention to detail.
Enters data in various databases including, CampLegal, Law Lab and Invoiced.
Attends outreach events and legal clinics.
Performs other administrative tasks such as copying, mailing, and collecting payments.
Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
Associates and/or Bachelors’ Degree, or at least two years of relevant work experience in a law office or legal non-profit organization.
Highly organized with attention to detail.
Must be fluent in English and Spanish and have experience working and interacting with immigrant populations.
Salary and Benefits: ICS offers an excellent total compensation plan. Salary is commensurate with experience with a salary range of $43,884 - $49,081. We also provide an additional annual key language proficiency salary differential of $1,100. Our 401(k) Plan includes an additional employer contribution of 3% of salary according to plan terms. Our benefits package includes fully paid health, vision & dental plans for employee level coverage, and vacation (20 days of paid time off annually in your first year) in addition to 14 paid holidays, and a 35-hour standard work week.
Working Conditions:
Hybrid Work Pilot: We have been utilizing and evaluating a Hybrid Work Model. We continue to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of this model, and the organization reserves the right to modify, amend, or rescind remote work privileges based on business necessity. Currently, this position requires the successful candidate to work from the Portland Office, three (3) days a week, 9am-5pm, Monday – Thursday. Currently, on Friday’s, we work remotely from our home office. We will provide you with a laptop, printer, and cell phone. We are a collaborative office environment that prides itself on not only providing high-quality legal representation to the Oregon community but also on continuously learning from one another.
May require occasional driving of a motor vehicle and requires a valid insurable Driver’s License.
May require evening or weekend work; working with challenging clients; driving to centers where clients are located, immigration offices, immigration court, and state courts and clinics in various parts of Oregon and southern Washington.
ICS is committed to creating a diverse workforce to strengthen our organization and is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. At ICS, we welcome and value applicants from all backgrounds, including marginalized and disenfranchised communities. We encourage applications from individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latina/Latino, people of color, immigrants (including people who were formerly detained, undocumented, or who have navigated the immigration legal system), women, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQA+ community, and individuals with rich cultural backgrounds and diverse language abilities. The individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, self-expression, and talent that our employees invest in their work helps shape the culture here at ICS. We strive to have a workforce that represents the communities we serve.
All employment decisions at ICS are based on job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, genetic information, age (18 and over), veteran status, uniform servicemember status, unemployment status, sexual orientation, gender identity (including gender-related identity and gender expression), marital status, family status, or an individual having been a victim of sexual abuse, including domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking. However, being human isn’t about checking every box on a list. It’s about the experiences we have, people we meet, and the perspectives we share. So, if you feel you have the skills but are hesitant to apply because you’re not sure if your exact background or years of experience are applicable, apply anyway. We need amazing people like you to help us challenge the conventional and think differently about the problems that we’re solving. We’re in this together. Come be human, with us.
Reasonable Accommodation: Any employee who needs accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job should communicate with the Executive Director. We will work with an employee to evaluate whether there is a reasonable accommodation that does not pose an undue hardship in the organization. Any proposed accommodation that creates undue hardship on the organization, that does not allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the job, or that poses a serious safety risk to others that cannot be mitigated, is not a reasonable accommodation.
Position’s are: Non-Exempt and included in the NOLSW Local 2320 Bargaining Unit Reports to: Legal Operations Supervisor/Accredited Representative, General Program Number of employees supervised by this position: None.
How to Apply: Please send a cover letter including your level of Spanish language ability, a current resume and references, and current contact information to admin@ics-law.org with the name of the position to which you’re applying in the subject line, and addressed to:
Hiring Committee
Immigration Counseling Service (ICS)
519 SW Park Avenue, Suite 610
Portland, OR 97205