Small Firm Paralegal
LEGAL ASSISTANT/PARALEGAL
FOR HOLISTIC CRIMINAL & CIVIL LAW FIRM
WHO ARE WE?
Sumpter & Gonzalez is a small law firm that combines the expertise of trial attorneys with the advocacy of social workers to solve complex legal problems inside and outside of civil and criminal courtrooms in the context of today’s complicated legal, social and political climate.
We defend people accused of committing all kinds of crimes in the federal and state court systems in cases big and small, including white-collar federal cases and serious violent felonies in state court, as well as lesser misdemeanors.
We assist young people and their families with all levels of juvenile crimes and school disciplinary actions, and we work with clients of all ages with significant addiction and/or mental health issues.
And we litigate a variety of civil matters for clients who have sustained physical, psychological or emotional harms. We also assist victims of crimes - in particular, sex crimes, harassment or school bullying - with navigating the criminal justice and school processes that follow.
David Gonzalez and Corinne Sumpter began this practice after they met at Stanford Law School. Along the way they got married and had 4 children. Worth Carroll joined the practice out of Texas Law, and a couple years after that, his wife Natalie, an MSW, arrived to further grow our social work practice. Grace, our case manager-mitigation specialist, and Cathy, our Office Manager, have been with us for a decade and a half, everyone working together to advance our goals to help those who are accused and those who are hurt through client-centered ideals of integrity and professionalism.
The energy and compassion we put into relationships with our clients is what we also put into relationships with our employees. The result is an atmosphere of a close-knit family. (A hard-working, goal-oriented, enthusiastic family - and one who works hard to operate without any family-style drama or baggage!)
And that’s what makes hiring someone such a significant task.
WHAT DO WE DO?
Every single day, people call us in crisis. Some problems we can fix. Other problems we can't. Some problems can be handled in weeks, others in years. We deal with emergencies, and then try to help solve the issues that led to the emergency.
The staff who support our attorneys and our clients must be compassionate and caring and interested in solving our client’s problems - whether that client is someone who has never been in trouble before and was pulled over for a DWI; or someone who has suffered serious mental health issues that span decades; or someone who is accused of a violent or harmful act. We don’t just handle cases - we represent people. Every person on our staff shares that same approach.
In working up a case, we take on every piece of paperwork, each detail, every fact, piece of evidence, witness statement and aspect of police intervention on behalf of our clients. And then we create our own work product - research, investigation, analysis, writing, oral advocacy and negotiation - in representation of our clients. And finally, where necessary, we litigate - exploring every creative legal and factual angle we can think of.
In doing all of this, we work hard to maintain the highest level of ethics and provide a level of service to our clients that even Nordstrom or Disney would be proud of.
But we need more help.
WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR IN OUR TEAM?
What we need in any staff member is someone whose fluency in the digital world can assist as the legal system slowly and painfully transitions into a world with much less paper and much more AI - and who can help us stay afloat in the oceans of information that we find ourselves in.
We hold ourselves to the highest standards of customer service and client care. We are a service profession, and all of us operate under a philosophy of “clients first.” We need someone who can be the face and voice and first point of contact with our Firm and project our philosophy with every contact.
We need staff who can help usher a client’s case from its starting point to its closing, keeping track of all of the details along the way and ensuring that we never miss a court date, a filing deadline, or an appointment.
We look for someone who can put a common-sense, real-world eye to the facts provided in discovery in order to help resolve our client’s cases favorably. We need help with analysis, as well as organization. We need an investigative mind who can search for obscure but critical information, a professional voice for communication with judges and court staff and clients, and an editorial eye to help with drafting of correspondence and pleadings.
We need someone who can work equally well on a long-term project and still corral a regular influx of small but important details. We need someone who is equally satisfied conversing with potential clients, transcribing a DWI video, or scanning a roomful of papers into our archives. We need someone who gets the job done, no matter how tedious the job.
And we need someone who exhibits calm in the inevitable storm of emergency-based work - one who is able to focus complete attention on the task at hand, juggle the projects that are ongoing, and still be able to ask others in the office "what else can I help with?" in order to solve the next challenge.
WHO ARE YOU?
1. You are most likely thinking about law school or a graduate program that relates to or complements the law, but you’d like to gain some experience on the ground before applying. You are interested in a work opportunity in the field/ gap year(s) before you apply to law school or graduate school.
2. You already hold a B.A. or B.S., or you are about to graduate from a four-year college this spring.
3. You are enthusiastic. You pour your heart into what you do. You are incredibly productive and measure a good day by the number of things you accomplished on your to-do list and how much you helped others.
4. You appreciate the importance of “gallows humor” as a means to cope with the grisly and tragic sides of humanity in order to retain a sense of empathy.
5. You are a skilled writer, grammatically and analytically.
6. You are digitally fluent but still sympathetic to those who prefer a more analog world. Your online/ social media presence is responsible and respectable, consistent with our office ideals and culture.
7. You are annoyingly organized and keep your workspace and other areas immaculate. You are skilled at creating organizational systems and following procedures (or creating new ones where necessary).
8. You get along with everyone. You would much rather work on a team in an office than work on your own from home. You are easy to supervise and work with, and you would be comfortable eventually supervising a runner or intern.
9. You are able to multitask, and no task is beneath you.
10. You are extremely professional and discreet. You have excellent judgment and a history of reliability. You understand the absolute need for trust and confidentiality in the legal profession. Your references, regardless of their field of work, will tell us they trusted you and cite examples demonstrating your responsibility and hard work (note: your prior work experience need not be in the legal field - we want to know what you bring to your work, whatever it is). Your references will also say that you are comfortable figuring things out on your own but also know when to ask for help, and that you embrace constructive feedback in order to continually improve.
THE DETAILS
+ This position is that of a paralegal, but no professional paralegal certificate or study within a traditional paralegal training program is necessary.
+ Along with our social worker, mitigation specialist, legal assistant intern / runner and office manager, this position works to support our attorneys, handling case administration, calendaring, discovery and investigation, along with covering receptionist duties.
+ This position does include running to an out-of-county courthouse or working on other errands, so having a car is fairly necessary.
+ This position will start on or before June 3, 2026. If you are a current student and about to graduate, hours can be part-time and flexible for the purposes of training if you are available to begin prior to the end of the school year/graduation.
+This is an ideal position for a college senior/graduate who is looking to work for a couple of years before attending law school or graduate school. However, we are looking for someone who would begin law school or graduate school in the 2028-2029 school year or thereafter. You would be replacing our current paralegal who has worked with us for three years and is herself headed to law school this fall. We are looking for someone who would stay ideally 2-3 years with our Firm.
+ The pay is hourly, starting at $20 an hour, dependent upon experience and education. Pay would increase with further experience and growing responsibility within our Firm, beginning upon first review after 90 days. As a full-time position, eligibility for health insurance through our small firm plan is available after a waiting period of 90 days.
+ References will be requested and a full background check will be required prior to any offer of employment.
+ Fluency/proficiency in Spanish is ideal, but not an absolute requirement. Preference will be given to Spanish-speaking candidates.
ARE YOU A MATCH?
If you feel that your passion and energy and abilities would be a good fit, please write a letter that gives me a strong sense of who you are (specifically, information that would not be on your resume). Additionally, in your letter, please tell me why you think you will be compatible with the requirements of this particular position and why you are interested in our Firm in particular, rather than in the law generally.
Please email this letter, along with your current resume, to cathy@sg-llp.com.
Thank you for your interest!