Job Details

Eviction Defense Housing Paralegal/Legal Assistant - San Francisco, CA

Full-time, Exempt

Hybrid, (3 days minimum in office)

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, 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 100x since our founding, and in the next 3 years, we hope to finish scaling across San Francisco and eventually become a model across the country. To achieve this ambitious goal, we've created an award-winning and best-in-class legal aid organization full of creative, results-oriented people.

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

Overview of Position:

We are hiring an Eviction Defense Housing Paralegal/Legal Assistant to provide critical support to our housing team. We help low-income families stay in their homes and prevent homelessness. Even with positive legal outcomes, our clients can face a lot of confusion, fear, and anxiety over the next steps regarding their housing and cases. The Housing Paralegal/Legal Assistant is going to help clients navigate their legal journey with us as well as be a crucial part of building successful cases. Overall, this position is intended to be a challenging yet extremely rewarding experience for someone looking to make a difference in clients' lives with an innovative, results-oriented, and fast-growing organization.

Day-to-day tasks include: providing basic rights advice (with attorney supervision, assisting with intakes, completing court forms for clients' cases, triaging potential clients, coordinating timely service of process, physically filing documents at San Francisco Superior Court, communicating case progress to clients, and follow-up communications with clients including drafting letters and other correspondence.

You will be the paralegal/legal assistant for the eviction defense (UD) housing legal practice, working with multiple attorneys. 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. This position will be in the office at least three days per week. You will report directly to our Supervising Eviction Defense Housing Attorney but will also work closely with our UD housing team.

Responsibilities:

• Embrace and embody our mission of universal access to civil legal aid and our values of passion, grit, dynamism, caring, and teamwork to ensure that everyone in our service area, with a viable housing problem gets appropriate help, including legal representation.
• Own a full paralegal caseload (as per team needs) and communicate with clients regarding case status, documentation needs, and next steps under attorney supervision. Draft routine client correspondence including follow-ups and case closure letters.
• Support eviction defense (UD) housing intakes in-person and virtually across multiple physical Open Door Legal locations.
• Draft court forms to file in court, such as fee waivers, proofs of service, sub-in and sub-outs, and other more complicated filings relevant to the Housing Team.
• Execute timely and error-free filings and mailings, ensuring they are high-quality and within the deadline. If needed, physically go to SF Superior Court to file, deliver courtesy copies and/or pick up orders, and E-file any filings as required.
• Work with the attorney and client to assist with fact-gathering for the client's case using information technologies, calling possible witnesses, or business or government agencies.
• With attorney supervision, draft pleadings, propound and respond to discovery, and assist attorneys in drafting motions.
• Assist in providing trauma-informed legal services and help clients stay updated on their case, helping to maintain consistently positive client feedback scores. Meet clients where they are, factoring in their cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and any barriers to service.
• Efficiently utilize Salesforce, our client management system (CMS), to document case activities, maintain detailed and accurate client records, and ensure timely record updates.
• Commit to leading the office in representing our mission and values externally to potential clients, clients, and others, as well as internally to all teammates and volunteers. Our values are passion, grit, teamwork, caring, and dynamism.
• Provide clear information to guests and clients regarding their case, maintaining frequent communication throughout the process.
• Be responsible for the civil procedure tasks that support our housing attorneys in their civil litigation in San Francisco Superior Court.
• As capacity allows, support housing team members, interns, and volunteers in meeting our organization's mission in other ad hoc projects and tasks.
• Provide services and support to our low-income clients with sensitivity to and awareness of cultural, socio-economic, and disability differences. Continue to ensure our clients have a positive experience with us as measured by our client feedback survey.

Requirements:

• At least an associate's degree or equivalent (a paralegal certificate is fine).

• Ability to commute to any of ODL's offices three days a week to conduct in-person intakes and meetings and support the team's in-office needs.

• Strong time management skills and the ability to organize time, manage diverse activities, and meet critical deadlines with minimal supervision.

• Have a 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.

• Willingness to make a minimum two-year commitment to the organization.

• Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

• Embrace and embody our values of teamwork, grit, caring, passion, and dynamism.

Bonus Points:

• Previous experience as a paralegal, legal assistant, legal secretary, tenant organizer, or client advocate.
• A paralegal certificate.
• Comfortable translating and interpreting from English to Spanish and vice versa legal information without assistance. Also comfortable performing client support and paralegal/legal assistant tasks in Spanish.
• Basic knowledge of California and/or San Francisco housing law.
• Experience with filing and interacting within the San Francisco Superior Court, specifically UD forms.
• 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.

Starting compensation for a legal assistant is $70,500-$86,500; for a paralegal, it's $72,500-$88,500.

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 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.

Ideal Start Date: April 2026

Applications submitted prior to March 6, 2026 will receive priority consideration.

To apply, submit your cover letter and resume. You may type your cover letter into the text box or combine your cover letter and resume into one PDF document for upload. ****

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 histories, 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.