Parkdale Community Legal Services (PCLS) is one of Legal Aid Ontario’s network of community legal clinics providing poverty law services. PCLS is also a teaching clinic for Osgoode Hall Law School and law students are our primary caseworkers, supervised by PCLS staff. We serve low income clients in a culturally diverse community on the west side, particularly in the areas of housing and homelessness, immigration and migrant rights law, workers’ rights issues, and social assistance, violence and health issues, in conjunction with community development work to address systemic issues of poverty and social exclusion.
PCLS seeks a skilled lawyer or paralegal with experience in housing law to:
- Provide summary advice to tenants;
- Represent tenants before the Landlord and Tenant Board;
- Provide supervision for law students on their summary advice files when their paralegal supervisor is absent (approximately 5 weeks); and
- If the successful candidate is a lawyer, provide supervision for law students on their summary advice files when their review counsel supervisor is absent (approximately 5 weeks).
Please also note the following:
- The successful candidate will be working four (4) days per week, specifically Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
- The successful candidate will be working fully in the office. Due to the nature of the work, this is not a remote or a hybrid position.
- This is a one-year contract with possibility of renewal. We welcome any applicants who wish to pursue this opportunity as a secondment.
Qualifications
- A lawyer or paralegal in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario
- Strong familiarity (at least one year’s experience) with the Residential Tenancies Act and the Landlord and Tenant Board
- Strong legal and advocacy skills, written and oral communications
- Demonstrated commitment to working from an anti-oppression and social justice framework
- Experience working with a diverse range of clients from low income and marginalized groups, in particular clients with mental health challenges
- Experience or ability to supervise students with full caseloads, meeting tight deadlines.
- Appreciation of the nature and role of community organizing and systemic community work
- Ability to identify legal issues and community legal needs relating to the housing and homelessness related activities and to express and explain these to others
- Ability to diffuse tense situations and to assist people in crisis in a calming and helpful manner
Assets
- Familiarity with resources in the community
- Understanding of the Osgoode Intensive Program in Poverty Law Program
- Advanced online casefile management skills and related IT skills. Familiarity with the Legal Aid Ontario Clinic Information Management System (CIMS)
- Knowledge of a second language pertinent to serving the Parkdale-Swansea community
- Experience in other community clinic areas of law
Compensation and Benefits
- Salary range is dependent on qualifications (type of licence) and experience, but a successful candidate with a licence to practice as a lawyer can expect a salary between $93,155.21 and $105,484.86, pro-rated to 4 day work week ($74,524.17 to $84,387.89);
- Option of either defined benefits pension plan or RRSP contributions;
- Health benefits package; and
- 4 weeks of paid vacation
Application
Please make your application by email, in one pdf, with “Housing Rights Legal Worker Application” in the subject line, to John No at john.no@pcls.clcj.ca by 5:00 p.m. on November 12, 2024. We regret that we will only contact those selected for an interview.
As an employer, PCLS is dedicated to building an organization that reflects the diversity of our clients and the communities we serve. This includes diversity in languages spoken, culture, race, sexual orientation and gender identity. We encourage applications from individuals from diverse, marginalized and racialized communities and backgrounds. PCLS promotes the principles of anti-oppression and adheres to the tenets of Ontario’s Human Rights Code. Please advise if you have any accommodation needs regarding the submission of your application.