Legal Coordinator

 Role Profile

Core Job Information

Job Title: Legal Coordinator

Team: Casework Team

Reporting to: Casework Team Manager

Number of direct reports: 0

Location: ARM

Number of working hours/ week: 20 hours per week

Contract Type: Consultancy Contract - 1 year

About ARM

Anti-Racism Movement (ARM) is a non-governmental organization working to dismantle systemic racism and achieve social, economic, and gender justice for migrant workers and racialized groups in Lebanon since 2011. ARM envisions a just society where all migrants enjoy decent living and working conditions with a mission to achieve social, economic and gender justice for all migrant workers and racialized groups in Lebanon. The Migrant Community Center (MCC) is a safer space for migrants living under Kafala. MCC works with migrant domestic workers to improve their living and working conditions and build their capacities to self-advocate for their rights as agents and leaders of change. Its programs include community-building, capacity-building, psychosocial wellbeing, community-led initiatives, and advocacy.

Job Purpose

The Lawyer is responsible for providing legal assistance, including but not limited to: legal counseling and advice, support in dealing with legal procedures, mediation between parties, and legal representation in court, in coordination with the ARM casework team.

Job details

The jobholder’s responsibilities are to:

• Analyze cases with case workers and advise on best legal pathways to follow
• Conduct research on current laws and regulations that pertain to sponsorship systems or that affect migrant domestic workers.
• Conduct some case visits to government ministries, hospitals, other NGOs, etc when needed
• Keep the cases team and the organization updated with new legislation/decisions by GSO or MoL
• Document legal practices, success stories and lessons learnt from ARM’s legal interventions
• Organize legal trainings for Casework team, ARM staff and other stakeholders on legal pathways when needed (NGOs, civil society organizations, agencies, institutions, etc)
• Identify gaps in legal knowledge of Casework team and develop support plan accordingly (identifying training needed & trainers, documents to be developed, etc)
• Provide legal guidance to migrants and refugees (case-leaders) who are in need of legal assistance, protection or other legal support, which includes: legal advice, legal representation in court, mediation between parties involved
• Develop a legal action plan for each case in collaboration with ARM Caseworkers and ensure its success through weekly one on one meetings with the team members.
• Submit complaints to the GSO and Ministry of Labor, and follow up on cases regularly, train and supervise caseworkers in writing said complaints
• Conduct interviews with case-leaders when needed, in order to assess their legal and urgent protection needs and guide them through the available and most suitable procedures for each case
• Carry out visits to police stations and the palace of justice when needed
• Report to the casework team manager and request their approval for all legal complaints to be submitted

Communication & Work Relationships

Internal Communication

• Regular contact with case management team 
• Regular contact with casework team manager
• Occasional contact with other ARM teams as needed

External Communication

• GSO, MOL, other government bodies as needed
• Other organizations
• Case leaders
• Employers

Framework, Boundaries, and Decision Making Authority

●The jobholder has the authority to make informed decisions on possible solutions and take necessary actions, in consultation with the case management team. All legal complaints to be filed should be approved by the Casework team manager

●In decisions regarding specific cases, the jobholder suggests possible solutions to the case-leader and the caseworker following up on their case for final decision-making, and takes necessary actions

Qualifications

Education

Bachelor's degree in Law

Experience required

● Relevant professional experience, registered at Lebanese bar association for more than three (3) years

● Prior experience in working with or coordinating with other international humanitarian organizations or governmental authorities

● Experience working with GBV survivors is a plus

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

● Ability to represent ARM externally at high level meetings

●Good working knowledge and understanding of advocacy, public policy, and local, regional and international politics

●Ability to represent ARM externally at high level meeting

●Good working knowledge and understanding of advocacy, public policy, and local, regional and international politics

●Ability to represent ARM externally at high level meeting

●Good working knowledge and understanding of advocacy, public policy, and local, regional and international politics

●Familiarity with international protection and human rights legal standards

● Familiarity and experience with labor law and the Kafala system

Technical Skills:

● Excellent command of (written and spoken) Arabic and English

● Excellent analysis and reporting

● Computer/IT literacy

Soft Skills:

● Full commitment and adherence to ARM's mission and vision and a feminist leadership framework

● Punctuality and respect for applicable rules and procedures

● Ethical and transparent decision-making

● Independence, i.e. conducting tasks with minimal supervision, and stress resilience

● Self-motivation, results-orientation and teamwork

● Flexibility, tolerance and maturity

● Excellent communication and organization skills

Timeline

Application deadline: 13th of Sept

Starting date: Asap 

Period of employment: 1 year consultancy

Salary: 900$

Recruitment:

Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis.