Administrative Secretary – SCCLS

Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 54,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc. (SCCLS) in New Bedford seeks an Administrative Secretary to support daily office operations.

You will work closely with the Managing Attorney, handle front desk tasks, and ensure clients and visitors are greeted professionally and guided promptly. Responsibilities include coordinating mail, calls, appointments, maintaining files and docket control, managing supplies and equipment, and assisting staff onboarding.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required.
• Experience with housing, benefits, elder, family law, and consumer issues desirable.
• Fluency in a second language preferred (Spanish, Portuguese, or Cape Verdean Creole).

Responsibilities

• Provide direct support to the Managing Attorney.
• Coordinate front office workflow and distribute workload.
• Greet clients and gather information about their legal problems.
• Maintain client accounts and office files.
• Order and manage office supplies and equipment.
• Assist in onboarding and training of new staff.
• Open and close cases and maintain docket control.

Skills

Organizational skills

Multitasking

Client communication

Second language fluency

MS Office

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Case management system

Office software tools

Job description

South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc. (SCCLS), along with its subsidiary the Justice Center of Southeast Massachusetts, is a vibrant and growing non-profit legal aid program where our core mission is to fight injustice and poverty by advocating on behalf of low-income individuals and families across southeastern Massachusetts, the Cape, and Islands in civil matters when their basic needs are at stake. The organization prioritizes legal services in housing, public benefits, elder law, domestic relations, employment, education, immigration, and consumer matters.

With a staff of over 100, SCCLS is the principal provider of civil legal aid in the region. We operate from offices in Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, and Hyannis. Our team provides representation and litigation services to thousands of people each year, while also delivering a wide range of community outreach and educational programs. We seek candidates who are committed to advancing equal access to justice and opportunity through client-centered advocacy. This is an opportunity to join a collaborative, mission-driven team dedicated to delivering impactful legal services to some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.

The Role:

SCCLS seeks an Administrative Secretary for its New Bedford Law Office. The Administrative Secretary plays a central role in supporting the daily operations of the New Bedford Office. Working closely with the Managing Attorney, this position provides direct administrative support, coordinates front office operations and clerical workflow, and assists staff in meeting the administrative needs of the office. As a primary point of contact for clients and visitors, the Administrative Secretary helps ensure that individuals seeking assistance receive a welcoming, respectful, and timely response. This position requires strong organizational skills, attention to detail, sound judgment, and the ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining professionalism, protecting client confidentiality, and contributing to an efficient and collaborative office environment.

Responsibilities include:

• Providing direct support to the Managing Attorney of the office in which the Administrative Secretary is in the fulfillment of their official responsibilities.
• Coordinating with all legal secretaries, to ensure the smooth flow of work through the office and to distribute the workload equitably. Provide administrative support to the office, including review, sorting and stamping incoming mail and faxes and ensure daily delivery of outgoing mail to the post office.
• Directly manage and as appropriate refer incoming calls for assistance, including client eligibility screening, taking messages for staff, and making appointments or referrals for clients.
• Greet and assist clients and others appearing at the office for assistance, including soliciting information from clients about their legal problems.
• Maintaining clients’ accounts, office petty cash, and all office docket control and other files, if so assigned.
• Assembling office forms and statistics and filing and transmitting to others as appropriate.
• Maintaining office supplies and routing supply requisitions and purchase orders.
• Assisting in equipment and resource inventories.
• Acting as office or unit timekeeper if so assigned.
• Training or supporting the training and onboarding process for new employees.
• Opening and closing cases and assembling office forms, statistics, and filing, compiling information with regard to office caseloads and transmitting to others as appropriate.
• Maintaining and servicing office equipment, including but not limited to:
  • postal machine
  • fax machines
  • TTY
  • photocopier
  • computers and peripherals
• Maintaining staff attendance records as directed by the Managing Attorney.
• Working with the Managing Attorney to ensure front office coverage.
• Consulting with the Managing Attorney about circumstances affecting the operations of the front office.
• Use any available language skill which they possess to assist clients whether or not a multi-lingual increment has been approved; however, translation activities shall be commensurate with the administrative secretary’s knowledge and experience and with the demands of other activities in the administrative secretary’s individual work plan, if any.
• Order and maintain an adequate supply of client informational pamphlets for the office.
• Performing other duties as are reasonably related to the functions of an Administrative Secretary as set out in this job description, as assigned by the Managing Attorney/Executive Director or designees.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required; commitment to working clients from all backgrounds who may have experienced poverty, trauma or discrimination required;
• Prior experience advocating or serving the needs of those clients desirable; experience with case management desirable; experience with community education desirable, and prior experience working as An Administrative Secretary or in a similar role desirable;
• Knowledge and experience in various areas of the law desirable, especially with housing, benefits, elder, family law, and consumer legal issues;
• Ability to work independently and as a team member; goal and detail oriented with ability to prioritize;
• Ability to work effectively with people from diverse cultures, with diverse opinions and values, including with staff, volunteers, students, community members and funders;
• Fluency in a second language which reflects our client communities (Spanish, Portuguese, Cape Verdean Creole) strongly preferred;
• Ability to be flexible and multitask; willingness to become familiar with a variety of substantive law matters; ability to establish hybrid client and colleague relationships with a combination of in-person and remote work;
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, social media, or graphic design; familiarity with other technology platforms desirable. Willingness to become effective and efficient in use of case management system required.

Compensation and Benefits:

Salaries are based on a collective bargaining agreement scale range of $54,182.25 – $84,921.75 with yearly standard increases, and an annual increment for demonstrated language skills. Generous benefits package includes health and dental with supplemental coverage, life insurance, disability, flexible spending account, 403(b), and loan forgiveness. Generous paid leave includes sick, vacation, personal, and holidays.

South Coastal Counties Legal Services and its subsidiary are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate on the basis of age, class, color, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender, national origin, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. We welcome all applicants from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. We strive to foster a healthy, inclusive environment where all staff, clients, and community members are valued, empowered and recognized.