Careers
Work With Us
We appreciate your interest as a prospective staff member. To ensure that we are accessible to and knowledgeable about the communities we serve, we operate 11 offices, with locations in Bloomington, Galesburg, Joliet, Kankakee, Moline, Ottawa, Peoria, Rockford, Waukegan, West Suburban (West Chicago) and Woodstock.
PSLS offers many exciting mission-driven career opportunities. If you’re interested in applying, click on the buttons below. You will be taken to a new page to see our open positions.
You Can Make a Difference
There are a wide range of positions, but all of our attorneys can expect to be involved in the following activities:
- Conducting intake interviews with clients, participating in case acceptance meetings and engaging in case planning.
- Providing legal advice, brief services or extended representation, including negotiation with adverse parties and attorneys and litigation at all stages before state and federal courts and before administrative agencies.
- Providing direct advocacy that addresses systemic problems, including litigation, as well as legislative or administrative advocacy, as appropriate.
- Participating in program-wide or state-wide task forces and/or working groups focused on specialized areas of law.
PSLS' Mission & Vision
The mission of Prairie State Legal Services is to ensure equal access to justice and fair treatment under the law by providing legal advice and representation, advocacy, education, and outreach that serve to protect basic human needs and enforce or uphold rights.
PSLS envisions a community where all low-income, elderly and vulnerable people have ready access to legal services to meet their basic needs and where everyone knows, understands and can exercise their rights and be treated fairly in their pursuit of justice.
Employee Benefits
PSLS offers a compensation and benefits package that is competitive with other public interest law firms.
Health & Savings Benefits
- PSLS covers 20-80% of the cost of employee and dependent(s) medical, dental and vision benefits. Coverage begins on your first day of employment.
- PSLS also provides life insurance, long-term disability insurance and short-term disability.
- Employees can participate in PSLS' employee Wellness Program for an additional discount on insurance premiums.
- Upon hire, employees can enroll in our 403(b) Retirement Plan.
- We offer a Flexible Spending Account program for dependent care and medical care reimbursements.
Hybrid Work Environment
- Work from home opportunities for eligible staff.
Flexible Leave Policies and Paid Vacation
- PSLS provides generous paid vacation, sick and personal time off.
- PSLS provides 12 paid holidays.
- PSLS offers six weeks of paid parental leave for eligible staff.
Transparency in Coverage: BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois (BCBSIL)
Effective July 1, 2022, the new federal Transparency in Coverage Rule requires that all group health plans provide Machine-Readable Files (MRF) of detailed pricing data, such as negotiated
service rates and out-of-network allowed amounts between health plans and healthcare providers. The machine-readable files are formatted to allow researchers, regulators, and application
developers to more easily access and analyze data. BCBSIL’s files containing this information can be found on this website which will be included in new employee orientation
materials going forward: https://www.bcbsil.
Internships & Clerkships
Law students play a vital role in PSLS’ mission to serve the legal needs of low-income clients. Countless law students get their career start with Legal Aid. Apply to be one of them! Check our listings for fall, spring and summer internships and clerkships.
Equal Opportunity
Prairie State Legal Services is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive working environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We recruit, employ, pay, and promote qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, expression or presentation, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or any other legally protected status.