Senior EOIR Removal Defense Paralegal / Team Lead

About this role

Senior EOIR Removal Defense Paralegal / Team Lead

Full-Time | Remote | U.S. Immigration Law Firm

We are seeking an experienced EOIR Removal Defense Paralegal for a role that combines substantive casework with team leadership and department administration.

The Team Lead will oversee a team of approximately three Removal Defense Paralegals while maintaining a limited personal caseload of approximately 5–15 EOIR matters.

The limited personal caseload is intentional. Most of the Team Lead's time will be dedicated to managing and supporting the paralegal team, monitoring the department's overall caseload, managing deadlines and workflows, reviewing work, conducting case audits, maintaining department organization, and ensuring cases continue progressing appropriately.

This position requires someone with strong hands-on EOIR removal defense experience who understands the work well enough to manage others, identify problems, maintain quality standards, and step in when additional case support is needed.

Primary Responsibilities

1. Team Leadership & Supervision

The Team Lead will oversee a team of approximately three Removal Defense Paralegals.

Responsibilities include:

• Assigning and monitoring work

• Managing team workloads and case distribution

• Reviewing upcoming hearings and deadlines with the team

• Conducting regular case and task audits

• Identifying overdue or incomplete work

• Following up with team members to ensure assignments are completed

• Reviewing work for completeness and quality before attorney review when appropriate

• Training and supporting paralegals

• Answering procedural and workflow questions

• Helping team members prioritize competing deadlines

• Ensuring firm procedures, SOPs, and checklists are followed

• Holding team members accountable for deadlines and assigned responsibilities

• Identifying recurring performance or workflow problems

• Escalating significant issues to attorneys or management

• Redistributing work when a team member is overloaded or unavailable

• Stepping into urgent matters when additional senior-level assistance is required

• Maintaining a culture of ownership, accountability, and proactive case management

The Team Lead should have visibility into what is happening across the team's caseload and should proactively identify problems rather than relying solely on individual paralegals to raise them.

2. Personal EOIR Caseload

The Team Lead will maintain a limited personal caseload of approximately 5–15 EOIR matters.

The caseload may include:

• Master Calendar Hearing matters

• Individual/Merits Hearing preparation

• Defensive asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT

• Cancellation of Removal

• Adjustment of Status before EOIR

• Detained removal proceedings

• Bond and custody matters

• VAWA-related removal defense matters

• Motions to Reopen and Reconsider

• Motions to Change Venue

• Motions to Continue

• Motions to Substitute or Withdraw Counsel

• Prosecutorial Discretion requests

• BIA-related matters

• Other EOIR motions and applications

Responsibilities may include preparing forms, motions, declarations, exhibits, indexes, supporting documentation, and court filing packages for attorney review.

The Team Lead may also be expected to assist with emergency filings, unexpected staffing gaps, complex or time-sensitive matters, and other situations where additional senior-level support is needed.

The personal caseload will intentionally remain smaller than that of the other paralegals because team management and department administration will comprise a significant portion of this position.

3. EOIR Department Administration

The Team Lead will be responsible for helping manage the day-to-day administration and organization of the Removal Defense Department.

Responsibilities include:

• Maintaining oversight of the department's overall EOIR caseload

• Maintaining and auditing the master EOIR hearing and deadline calendar

• Tracking Master Calendar Hearings, Individual Hearings, bond hearings, filing deadlines, attorney appearances, and other critical dates

• Establishing internal preparation deadlines well in advance of court deadlines

• Monitoring ECAS and EOIR case information for hearing changes, court orders, scheduling updates, and other developments

• Ensuring court notices, IJ orders, DHS filings, and other correspondence are properly saved and routed

• Monitoring attorney calendars for hearing conflicts and potential coverage needs

• Maintaining appropriate oversight of detained and other urgent cases

• Tracking motions, applications, exhibits, briefs, biometrics, filing fees, supporting evidence, and other outstanding requirements

• Ensuring Proofs of Service and filing confirmations are properly maintained

• Overseeing the opening, assignment, transfer, reassignment, and closing of EOIR matters

• Ensuring newly retained EOIR cases are properly onboarded and assigned

• Coordinating case handoffs between attorneys, paralegals, intake, case management, and other departments

• Maintaining department templates, checklists, SOPs, filing procedures, and workflows

• Identifying administrative bottlenecks and recommending solutions

• Ensuring cases do not remain inactive because a task has not been assigned, completed, or followed up on

4. Deadline & Case Progression Management

A major responsibility of the Team Lead will be ensuring cases across the department continue moving forward.

The Team Lead should regularly be able to determine:

• What hearings are approaching?

• What applications or filings are due?

• What needs to be completed in the next 30, 60, and 90 days?

• Which Individual Hearings require preparation to begin?

• Which cases have not progressed recently?

• Which cases are missing documents or evidence?

• Which cases are waiting on client action?

• Which clients require additional follow-up?

• Which team members have overdue work?

• Which attorneys require…