Clinical Law Office Administrator - College Of Law

The College of Law at West Virginia University is currently accepting applications for a Clinical Law Office Administrator.

About the Opportunity

This position is accountable for providing complex, independent and confidential administrative staff support to the Directors of the litigation practice clinics in the clinical law program at the West Virginia University College of Law. Functions include performing various and numerous administrative duties that relieve the Directors of administrative details. This position manages all daily operations of the litigation practice clinics which includes supervisory duties and client services. This position requires independent judgment and discretion in carrying out responsibilities with a high degree of professionalism, accuracy and confidentiality.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

• 37.5-hour work week
• 13 paid holidays (staff holiday calendar)
• 24 annual leave (vacation) days per year or more based on years of service (employee leave)
• 18 sick days per year (for when you're ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family's, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)
• WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits
• 401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for more retirement benefits information? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQ's.
• Wellness programs

What You'll Do

Client Services

• Serve as a key liaison, communicating daily with clients, attorneys and court systems for all clinical practice groups in the clinical law program. These interactions often involve referrals, issue resolution, policy development, and the determination and dissemination of critical information.
• Exercise independent judgment when assessing potential clients for the law clinics practice groups and accurately apply threshold eligibility criteria for legal clinic services. Screen client applications received by phone, e-mail, and/or mail on a daily basis. Direct inquiries that do not meet the eligibility guidelines of the clinic to other services throughout the state that may be more suitable for services needed.
• Review and process prospective legal client applications and maintains the list of prospective clients. Understand legal systems, legal issues, and legal deadlines and alerts Law Clinic Directors, faculty, and adjuncts to prospective clients with urgent matters or other special legal situations. Able to triage legal applicants between those in true emergency situations and those whose cases can await normal processing.

Administrative Duties and Operations

• Serve as office manager for the litigation practice groups, Directors, and staff attorneys within the Clinical Law Program, including General Litigation Practice, West Virginia Innocence Project, Veterans Assistance, Immigration Law, Supreme Court Clinic, and any future clinics that may be created or revised.
• Review and process all incoming mail and directs such mail to the appropriate clinic. Compose standard letters, memorandum, and reports for the Directors. Advise the directors regarding timely responses to specialized requests. Establish and maintain a complex filing system to support the directors' operational procedures. Exercise considerable care in the collection, compilation, and protection of such information.
• Provide strategic input to the program Directors on clerical, administrative, and operational aspects of the clinical law program. Answer the telephones, screen calls, and communicate messages to directors, law student attorneys, and clinical attorneys by determining the nature of the calls and responding to the inquiry or by referring the call to the appropriate clinical personnel.
• Monitor e-mail accounts associated with the clinical law program, disseminate the information as appropriate, and/or responds accordingly.
• Oversee Pcard purchases and monthly reconciliations in compliance with university policies. Ensure compliance with college purchasing procedures and supports procurement activities. Act as liaison with Business Planning Officer for all financial management of the clinical program funds.
• Manage the physical space of the clinical law program including organizing the use of the clinical space and responding to maintenance issues. Liaison with the College of Law Building Manager as needed for clinical law space issues.
• Monitor and maintain security measures to protect the safety of clients and Law Clinic personnel. Assure that any new University procedures that may be developed are put into place and followed (i.e., ongoing changes and requirements due to the Campus Self-Defense Act, i.e., Campus Carry).

Software and Case Management

• Serve as the manager for all law clinic software used to maintain critical and confidential client information and legal documents for all litigation clinic practice groups. Maintain and control setup and permissions access within the databases for all student attorneys, directors, faculty, and adjunct faculty. Work with the College of Laws IT personnel when software issues arise and is the direct contact for vendors that provide software used in the clinic program.
• Maintain the primary Law Clinic software database system (Clio) for all litigation practice groups by creating new client files/matters and entering initial information within the system. Coordinate with Directors regarding necessary data collection fields for individual practice groups crucial for accurate data collection for grant reporting requirements. Correct and update data entries and backs up the database.

Supervisor and Student Attorney Liaison

• Supervise, train, and assign work and responsibilities to a team of student workers and volunteers to ensure that daily tasks are completed and program policies, procedures, and legal guidelines are followed. Responsible for accurate student worker time records and schedules.

• Develop and maintain the clinic's office manual. Initiate student workers, volunteers and student attorneys to the operation procedures and policies that must be maintained as outlined in the clinic office manual. Update the manual as needed and communicate changes to all entities while monitoring that the manual is being followed and taking corrective actions as needed.

• Facilitate onboarding and systems training for law students who will be student attorneys in the clinical program, including preparing and processing documents necessary to support law students' temporary admission to the practice of law for approximately 60 student attorneys.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for student attorneys. Communicate specialized knowledge of the legal system as a whole and, specifically, the legal problems confronting law clinic clients. Direct student attorneys on the correct legal forms, online records, and contacts that can best serve the legal needs of the client cases.

• Maintain online log sheet for student attorney office hours, meetings, and hearings.

• Bachelor's degree in paralegal studies, business, or other related fields.

• A minimum of three (3) years of experience involving:

• Office administration in an academic or legal office setting.

• Experience handling confidential client information.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite with the ability to learn WVU systems such as MyExpenses, MY Time and Mountaineer Marketplace.

• Computer experience and the ability to learn current software applications that support the information needs of the position (i.e. Clio) and any future software used in the clinics.

• Any equivalent combination of education and/or experience will be considered.

• All qualifications must be met by the time of employment.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Demonstrated program management/coordination experience with exceptional organizational and time management skills.
• Strong ability to multi-task multiple priorities at the same time.
• Demonstrated ability to read and interpret documents.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to present information and respond to questions from organizations and individuals.
• Demonstrated ability to create and produce clear, concise paper and electronic documents.
• Strong leadership/managerial skills, especially in supervision of staff and clinic students.
• Strong computer skills including Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Outlook, OneDrive and Microsoft Teams.
• Ability to work independently using judgment in situations with serious consequences.
• Ability to work with extremely confidential materials (i.e., client cases) and maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to qualify for Notary Public license.
• Must exhibit professional behavior and image at all times to best represent WVU to our constituents.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in managing a law office.