American Association of University Professors

Legal Department

Legal Administrative Assistant/Paralegal—(Option for Remote Work)

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is pleased to announce an administrative assistant position, to be filled as soon as possible. The AAUP is a national non-profit organization founded in 1915 that is active in areas including intellectual freedom, due process, professional ethics, and university governance. The primary responsibility of this position is to provide administrative and paralegal support for two lawyers in the Legal Department. The Legal Administrative Assistant/Paralegal plays an essential role in supporting the AAUP’s recent affiliation with the American Federation of Teachers and championing the AAUP’s racial equity initiative. The position reports to the AAUP Senior Counsel and involves working with diverse individuals both inside and outside of the AAUP office.

The AAUP’s legal office responds to inquiries on higher education law from professors, academic administrators, attorneys, and others; monitors legal developments in higher education around the country; leads workshops and presentations on higher education law; and drafts informational outlines on specific areas of the law. Seeking to shape the law in ways supportive of AAUP principles, the Legal Office also works with experts from around the country in submitting friend-of-the-court (amicus) briefs in key appellate cases. Additionally, the office performs in-house legal work for the AAUP and supplies legal support for a number of key AAUP committees.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Assisting in tracking and calendaring litigation, including calendaring deadlines, electronic filing with tribunals, and monitoring case status on LEXIS and PACER.
• Tracking legal compliance and governance documents and submissions and maintaining legal compliance and governance files, including charitable registration and board compliance documents.
• Accessing cases and conducting basic research on LEXIS and PACER.
• Monitoring pending legislation and legal cases, reviewing court decisions, and drafting short case summaries.
• Proofing and editing memoranda, briefs and other written documents, including finalizing appellate court briefs and inputting table of contents and table of authorities.
• Assisting with internal and external communications, including processing correspondence and memoranda; fielding and responding to email, telephone, and mail inquiries; proofreading department material; and assisting in preparing department reports.
• Reviewing contracts for required contractual clauses and reviewing and inputting invoices into electronic billing system.
• Assisting in department scheduling and administration, including maintaining department calendar, schedule, and task lists; processing travel expenses and check requests; and assisting in tracking department budget and expenses.
• Maintaining electronic department and committee records, maintaining file lists, and maintaining records on archived files. 
• Assisting in the staffing of AAUP committees served by the department, including preparing notices and meeting materials; and maintaining committee rosters and calendars.
• Participate in activities of the AAUP national office, including occasional travel to assist with events.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Strong organizational skills and the ability to work independently with modest supervision.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to prioritize, handle multiple tasks, and meet tight deadlines.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to independently draft correspondence; format documents; and proofread material for grammatical, typographical, and spelling errors.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work as part of a team and to successfully interact with a variety of personalities.
• Strong technical aptitude and working familiarity with the MS Office suite, particularly Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Adobe. Experience editing, bookmarking, and indexing PDFs preferred.
• Associate degree required; Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Familiarity with conducting research on LEXIS or Westlaw, and accessing and filing pleadings on PACER preferred.
• Three plus years of administrative office experience preferred.
• Experience working in a legal office and editing legal briefs and pleadings is preferred.
• Experience working in an association or union setting is preferred.
• Experience conducting research and drafting research memorandum, case summaries, and other legal pleadings preferred.
• Commitment to racial equity required; demonstrated experience with racial equity or DEI initiatives preferred.
• This position requires a valid driver’s license and the willingness and ability to travel occasionally throughout the United States, to work long, irregular hours and weekends as needed.

Compensation   

Salary range: $55,000 for minimum qualifications. Higher salary for preferred qualifications. Generous benefits package.

Position Classification

This regular full-time position is categorized as a confidential assistant staff position and is excluded from the staff union bargaining unit.  This is a non-exempt position and is eligible for overtime pay after 40 hours worked in a week. The position requires working a scheduled 8-hour day (including ½ hour unpaid lunch) between 7:30 am and 6:30 pm Eastern time.

Work Location

The AAUP offices are located in Washington, DC, and DC employees have the option for part-time telework. We will also consider employees who are located outside the DC metro area.

To Apply

To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume. Both the cover letter and resume are required. No phone calls please. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until an adequate number of qualified applications have been received. For additional information about the AAUP, please visit www.aaup.org.

The AAUP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, disability, race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, personal appearance, family responsibilities, genetic information, matriculation, political affiliation, homelessness, or other characteristics unrelated to professional performance.

Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.