Legal Fellow - Housing And Homelessness Prevention Unit (hybrid - Must Reside In Southern California)

About Public Law Center

Founded in 1981, The Public Law Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free legal services to low income residents and other nonprofits in Orange County. Last year, Public Law Center staff and volunteers provided over 65,000 hours of free legal services in handling over 4,500 cases benefiting low-income children, adults and seniors. The estimated value of this work is roughly $60 million in just the past three years. Our services include counseling, individual representation, community education and strategic policy advocacy and impact litigation to challenge societal injustices.

About the role

The Public Law Center (PLC)’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Unit seeks an energetic, passionate advocate to join our team in fighting for justice for low- income tenants and self-represented litigants in Orange County through innovative, collaborative, community-centered lawyering to address inequities and pursue access to affordable housing.

PLC’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Unit provides high-quality direct representation, in addition to coordinating and supervising pro bono representation, of tenants in cases involving unlawful detainer, discrimination, harassment, housing voucher disputes, affordable housing advocacy and other issues related to housing.

The Unit also?participates?in community education, community-based clinics, and local and statewide advocacy.

This role provides an opportunity to transition to a Staff Attorney position after one year, contingent upon bar admission.

What you'll do

• Handle a diverse caseload on behalf of low-income tenants, including eviction defense, discrimination, habitability, subsidized housing cases, and other issues arising in landlord/tenant relationships

• Coordinate referrals to other PLC units to provide comprehensive legal services

• Investigate clients’ cases, including inspection of housing units and obtaining and reviewing documents and records from government agencies

• Represent PLC at networking and community outreach events

• Full-time position with occasional evening and weekend work?required

• This position requires attendance at meetings, both remote and in person, in and outside the Public Law Center’s offices, and requires?being located in?Southern California. Must have ability to work at the organization’s offices in Santa Ana, CA, and travel to work sites?located?throughout Orange County, CA. In addition, travel to Los Angeles County and other neighboring counties may be?required

• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Active membership in the California State Bar, or Bar Membership pending, or eligibility to practice under State Bar Multijurisdictional Practice Program

• Bilingual English/Spanish or English/Vietnamese? preferred

• Eviction defense and/or housing law experience? preferred

• Demonstrated commitment to working with low-income communities

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to communicate with a variety of audiences

• Ability to manage multiple tasks, and work independently and as part of a team

• Must have reliable transportation

Salary & Benefits

• Compensation is $70,000 while licensure is pending; $79,000 once admitted to the CA Bar 

• Competitive benefits provided, and for this position include:
  • Health, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance (100% of employee premium costs paid by PLC, and 50% of dependent health insurance premium costs paid by PLC)
  • Flexible Spending Account Program to help pay for medical expenses and childcare costs
  • 15 paid holidays per year 
  • Approximately 1 paid week off during office winter closure (between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day)
  • 21 paid sick/wellness days per year to promote mental wellness and general wellbeing 
  • 15 paid vacation days per year 
  • Birthday paid time off (2 hours of paid time off during birthday month)
  • 403b retirement plan (after 6 months of employment PLC provides a matching contribution equaling 100% of salary deferral up to a maximum of 3-4%, depending on length of employment)
  • Monthly $55 stipend for Wi-Fi and cell phone use
  • Monthly Bilingual Pay Premium upon successful completion of an oral and/or written test ($50 for oral premium and $50 for written premium) 
  • Optional monthly peer support group facilitated by third party mental health clinic 
  • Opportunities for growth and advancement

To apply please go to the following link: 

Public Law Center is dedicated to building a diverse team and fostering a fair and welcoming work environment. To view our complete DEI statement, please click here .

Public Law Center is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, please contact Public Law Center.

PLC will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with all legal requirements.

PLC regrets that it is unable to sponsor employment Visas or consider individuals on time-limited Visa status for this position.