We continue to work towards our vision of creating a law firm that is social justice driven, exclusively represents the interests of employees and other workers, focuses on the inherent
dignity and agency of each client, places a premium on accessibility, safety, diversity, collaborative lawyering, education, and training, and within which those who endeavour to advance social justice through the law can learn, grow, and build a fulfilling legal career.
Given the nature of Franklin Law’s practice, our resources – both financial and otherwise – are limited in comparison to those available at other law firms and in government practices. This in
turn impacts almost every aspect of our practice including the way that: we communicate with, work with, and represent our clients; clients, staff and lawyers define success; and legal professionals and other staff are compensated.
It also has important implications for our hiring decisions, as the wrong hiring decision can have a serious and adverse impact on our ability to support our clients and on the long-term viability of our practice. Given these realities, we hire infrequently and are very selective about the individuals that we ask to interview for a position with Franklin Law.
Most people who apply to work at Franklin Law do so because they like the idea of working in a social justice-oriented law firm. Some of them have an interest in working with employees and other workers in the areas of employment, human rights, and labour law. But very few applicants have a true understanding of the nature of the work that Part-Time Office Administrators are expected to perform on a daily basis, and the compensation package that Franklin Law expects to offer to them.
With these considerations in mind, we believe that it is important for you to have a strong sense of the work, shifts, and compensation that Franklin Law may be able to offer to you before you decide whether or not you would like to apply for a Part-Time Office Administrator position with our firm. Towards that end, I have set out a brief overview of each of those areas in the paragraphs that follow.
Nature of the Work
As a Part-Time Office Administrator at Franklin Law, you will be responsible for:
- Being a point of first contact for clients and prospective clients of Franklin Law, including greeting, listening to, empathizing with, and otherwise communicating with clients and prospective clients, and creating the groundwork for a positive, respectful, productive, and unique client experience;
- Responding to client inquiries about Franklin Law’s services (e.g., consultations, courses, etc.), and actively promoting Franklin Law’s services and/or referring prospective clients to other service providers;
- Booking clients into consultations with lawyers and/or paralegals, scheduling consultations and other meetings between lawyers and/or paralegals and clients, booking attendees into courses, updating the firm’s calendar(s), and acting as a liaison between clients and lawyers and/or paralegals more generally;
- Conducting client intake, entering client information and documentation, creating client matters, updating calendars, booking appointments, assessing trends and creating reports, and creating and delivering bills and audio recordings to clients on a daily basis using the firm’s CLIO-Manage and CLIO-Grow based intake and practice management software;
- Drafting and updating Franklin Law’s administrative- and customer service-related policies, programs, and/or procedures, and contributing to Franklin Law’s social media presence;
- Preparing payroll-related documents and records, organizing receipts, and other financial information in support of Franklin Law’s bookkeeping and accounting requirements, and updating and inputting financial and other information as required to comply with the Law Society of Ontario’s bookkeeping and identification requirements; and
- Performing any other activities that project, maintain, enhance, and are consistent with Franklin Law’s brand as a compassionate, empathetic, unique, accessible, and social justice-oriented law firm that represents employees and other workers exclusively and without apology.
The work of a Part-Time Office Administrator can be emotionally and cognitively taxing and difficult. It frequently involves interacting with individuals who believe that they have been: discriminated against, harassed, and/or reprised against at work; wrongfully, constructively, and/or unjustly dismissed from their employment; and mistreated by their co-workers, employers,
Unions, and the legal system more generally. Many of the individuals who contact Franklin Law are angry, difficult to deal with, affected by certain abilities/disabilities, and are from equity seeking and historically marginalized groups. Many of the individuals who contact Franklin Law have been exploited, have suffered intense injury to their dignity, self-confidence, and self- esteem, have had negative experiences in the legal system, have previously met with other lawyers or paralegals, and/or are distrustful of lawyers, paralegals, and law firms more generally. The work not only requires excellent oral communication and interpersonal skills but it also requires excellent computer skills and cloud-based software proficiency as a daily component of an administrator’s duties involves inputting client information into Franklin Law’s intake and client management system, billing clients, booking appointments, creating reports, and otherwise keeping client information up to date.
Part-Time Shifts
The successful candidate will be expected to work remotely and/or at the office and be available Monday through Friday for at least five hours per day during business hours. The successful candidate may be asked to work additional hours from time to time.
Compensation
We expect to offer the successful candidate a compensation package with a starting hourly rate of
$18.50 per hour, coverage under the firm’s benefit plan, and monthly commissions. Other Important Considerations
Please keep in mind that none of the terms of employment that Franklin Law contemplates offering to the successful candidate have been finalized, including the information that is set out above. Furthermore, this correspondence does not constitute an offer of employment and should not be interpreted as including representations about any particular term of employment with Franklin Law.
We will answer additional questions about this employment opportunity at an interview, and we will ask the successful candidate to enter into an employment contract that is entirely separate and distinct from this document and sets out the terms of their employment, if and when a hiring decision is made.
Application Materials and Interviews
We expect to hold all interviews and make a hiring decision by the first week of August of 2025. If you are interested in applying for this position, please send an application package that includes: 1) an up-to-date resume/curriculum vitae, 2) a cover letter that explains why this opportunity is of interest to you, and 3) at least one reference to employment@franklinlaw.ca. Please ensure that items 1) to 3) are incorporated into a SINGLE document that is in PDF format by 12:00 pm (EST) on July 18, 2025. Please note that, subject to Franklin Law’s human rights- related accommodation obligations, any application package that does not include items 1) to 3), is not sent to Franklin Law in a single document in PDF format, or is not received by the above-noted deadline, will not be considered.
Thank you very much for your time, consideration, and interest in Franklin Law. Kindly direct any future communications and/or questions directly to our attention at employment@franklinlaw.ca.
“Franklin Law is for those of us who have never wanted a seat at their table. It is for those of us who want to re-envision what the table should look like, feel like, and represent. It is for those of us who are committed to building a table of our own that reflects and serves those from our working communities.”
Ron Franklin, Founder of Franklin Law
Thank you for your interest in working with Franklin Law. Before you consider working with us, it is important for you to understand what you might be getting yourself into.
Working at Franklin Law requires a steadfast commitment to workers’ rights, social justice, and collaborative lawyering. While we acknowledge that employers deserve quality representation, we are also aware that most employers have greater access to legal resources, support, and representation than employees do. We are also aware of the long and sordid history of employers exploiting workers, especially those from racialized/minority and other historically marginalized groups. We understand the power dynamic that exists between most employers and employees, and care deeply about leveling a playing field that has historically been, and to this day continues to be, bent in employers’ favour. We also understand the precarious and vulnerable positions that Unionized employees often find themselves in when they become disenfranchised from their Unions. All of these realities have a significant impact on who we hire, seek to work with, and seek to advise and represent.
Working at Franklin Law requires an unequivocal and unapologetic commitment to working with employees and other working people even when the law itself may be unjust, your adversaries are powerful, and the odds of success are low. It is a rewarding yet often daunting and humbling pursuit that is particularly ill-suited to those who are uncomfortable with the prospect of speaking truth to power or challenging the status quo. Every member of our team has made a solemn decision to work on behalf of employees and other working people. Although work of this nature can be financially rewarding, our efforts to help workers intent on fighting injustice at work often comes at significant personal and financial sacrifice. Ultimately, the table that we aspire to build is one in which you can be yourself, see yourself, and build a long-lasting, financially viable, and fulfilling social-justice oriented career.
If you are still interested in applying for a position, please send a cover letter and resume to our office at employment@franklinlaw.ca. Students interested in working at Franklin Law should take a moment to read Professor Quigley’s article, Letter to a Law Student interested in Social Justice, before applying.