TALS is Hiring! Part-Time HELP4TN Staff Attorney
Are you looking for a part time position where you can serve clients from home by phone, using your legal skills to help them better understand and address the problems they are facing? If so, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services’ Civil Legal Helpline may be a great opportunity for you!
Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services has been providing free civil legal advice and referrals by phone to disadvantaged Tennesseans in all 95 counties for eight years. In 2019 alone, the helpline served over 6,000 callers. 844-HELP4TN fills a critical role in our state by making civil legal help more accessible to those who cannot afford to hire an attorney. Helpline attorneys identify and explain callers’ legal issues, provide individualized legal advice, and connect callers to local resources.
TALS is seeking to hire one part time attorney with a minimum of five years’ experience, who will work remotely as part of our passionate team for approximately 5 hours per week.
Job Activities Include:
- Listening to callers and asking questions to spot legal issues;
- Maintaining familiarity with organizations that serve callers statewide and referring callers to the appropriate agencies for further assistance (TALS maintains a referral directory to assist with this);
- Entering information from calls into a case management system either contemporaneously or shortly after each call is completed;
- Achieving key performance metrics
- Partnering with helpline attorneys for the first two weeks of employment to learn best practices for helpline services and our case management system;
- Completing and documenting an average of two to three calls per hour following the 90-day ramp period;
- Conducting research when needed to answer questions;
- General record keeping;
- Participating in staff meetings via conference call;
Required Skills
- Attorneys will have familiarity with a wide variety of legal issues facing Tennesseans including: consumer debt, housing issues, denial of benefits, and family law issues;
- Excellent listening skills;
- Superior ethics and professionalism standards;
- Excellent telephone manner; ability to assist callers who may be emotional and, in a crisis;
- Computer literacy and competence to accurately enter information into a case management system while talking on a call;
- Proficiency in Microsoft Outlook and Word as well as Google Calendar.
Salary and Benefits:
The part time help line attorney position is extremely rewarding because you get to help members of our state who are facing barriers and who may otherwise not have access to legal advice. Benefits include: malpractice coverage for helpline related work, eligibility to participate in TALS 403B (details will be provided upon request), admission to TALS’ continuing legal education sessions at no cost, eligibility for annual pay increases, and flexibility in scheduling. The hourly rate is $25.00. There are no additional fringe benefits associated with the position. It is TALS’ policy to seek and employ qualified persons, to provide equal opportunities in all aspects of employment and to administer all personnel activities in a manner that will not discriminate against any person on the basis of sexual orientation, race, color, religion/creed, sex, age, pregnancy, veteran status, disability or other legally protected class.
How to Apply:
Please email your cover letter, resume and contact information for three references to Joy Reed, Operations Manager, jreed@tals.org by February 14, 2020.