TALS Seeks Part Time Senior Helpline Attorney
Part Time Senior Helpline Attorney
Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services has been providing civil legal advice and referrals by phone to disadvantaged Tennesseans in all 95 counties for 5 years, serving approximately 4,000 callers annually. The helpline serves a critical role in the access to justice network in Tennessee by helping callers identify their legal issues, providing education and connecting them to other resources.
Purpose of the Senior Helpline Role:
With the senior population in Tennessee growing exponentially, TALS has added a senior helpline extension to its HELP4TN program. TALS is seeking to hire a part time attorney with a minimum of five years’ experience, to work 15 hours per week. The position is funded under a 3 year federal grant, with a goal of sustained funding beyond the grant term. The purpose of the senior legal helpline is to provide advice and referrals to seniors statewide. With helpline callers over 60 being routed to senior helpline attorneys, TALS will be able to gather data about the needs of seniors in all 95 counties that can be shared with stakeholders statewide.
Job Activities Include:
- Triaging callers’ issues, providing limited scope legal advice and counsel;
- Maintaining familiarity with organizations that serve seniors statewide and referring callers to the appropriate agencies for further assistance (TALS maintains a referral directory to assist with this);
- Entering information from calls into intake forms online;
- Managing the flow of voicemails from callers and returning all voicemails within 48 business hours;
- Achieving key performance metrics;
- Partnering with helpline attorneys for the first two weeks of employment to learn best practices for helpline services and our case management system;
- Completing and documenting an average of two calls per hour daily for the first 90 days of employment;
- Completing and documenting an average of 3-4 calls per hour after the 90 day ramp up period;
- Conducting research when needed to answer questions;
- General record keeping;
- Participating in staff meetings
Required Skills:
- Attorneys will have familiarity with a wide variety of legal issues facing seniors including: consumer debt, guardianship/conservatorship/advanced directives, housing issues, healthcare issues, denial of benefits, and family law issues;
- Excellent listening skills;
- Superior ethics and professionalism standards;
- Excellent telephone manner; ability to assist callers who may be emotional and in a crisis;
- Computer literacy and competence to accurately enter information into a computer database or case management tool while talking on a call;
- Proficiency in Microsoft Suite products
Salary and Benefits:
The part time senior help line attorney position is extremely rewarding because you get to help a vulnerable group of people in our state who may otherwise not have access to legal advice. The position is covered under TALS’ malpractice policy for legal work done taking helpline calls. The salary is $19,500. Employees are eligible to participate in TALS’ SEP, with TALS contributing 3% of the employee’s pay into the SEP account. There are no additional fringe benefits associated with the positions.
It is TALS’ policy to seek and employ qualified persons, to provide equal opportunities in all aspects of employment and to administer all personnel activities in a manner that will not discriminate against any person on the basis of sexual orientation, race, color, religion/creed, sex, age, pregnancy, veteran status, disability or other legally protected class.
Deadline:
The application deadline is May 23, 2018.
Contact Information:
Applicants should submit a resume to:
Timothy Hughes
HELP4TN Program Manager & Staff Attorney
Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services
50 Vantage Way, Suite 250
Nashville, Tennessee 37228
888-395-9297