The Specialist serves as liaison between supervising attorneys, student attorneys, clients, opposing counsel, and various administrative agencies. The Specialist manages the general office workflow, provides administrative oversite of a functioning law office, and delivers vital teaching support to assigned clinical faculty.
The Specialist provides extensive support to legal students enrolled in the clinical program and therefore must be comfortable helping mentor student attorneys as they learn to navigate a professional legal setting. The Specialist will be a member of a collaborative, dynamic team and will provide cross-functional support to colleagues across various clinics as needed.
Duties include, but are not limited to:
Client & External Communication
- Client Management: Handle intake and ongoing communication with prospective and current clients, including managing acceptance, rejection, deferral, and status updates.
- Agency Liaison: Communicate effectively with various courts, administrative bodies, and legal agencies on behalf of the clinic.
- Correspondence: Manage all phone, email, and mail correspondence, responding independently or routing as appropriate.
Legal & Case Support
- Document Preparation: Prepare, review, and proofread legal documents as requested by supervising attorneys.
- Filing Assistance: Assist supervising and student attorneys with the preparation and submission of legal filings.
- Information Management: Develop, organize, and maintain digital and physical client files; manage and update clinic conflict-check databases.
Instructional & Student Support
- Student Training: Onboard and train incoming student attorneys on office procedures, file management systems, equipment, and resource materials
- Teaching Assistance: Provide robust classroom support, including preparing instructional materials, maintaining Canvas sites, and updating clinic manuals.
- Student Tracking: Monitor and track student clinical hours and assist faculty with academic administrative needs.
Operations & Financial Management
- Budgetary Oversight: Manage the clinic's financial operations, including drafting annual budget projections, tracking expenses, handling financial reconciliations, and making approved purchases.
- Office Logistics: Coordinate schedules, organize meetings, manage conference calls, and oversee logistical arrangements (such as room and vehicle reservations).
- Cross-Clinic Coverage: Collaborate actively with the broader administrative team to provide seamless, wraparound coverage for other clinics during colleague absences.