Who we are:

The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) represents over 115,000 members and nearly 400 locals across the state and employs a full-time staff of over 150. Our members are public school teachers, faculty, professional staff, and education support professionals working at public schools, colleges, and universities. As a member-driven organization and the largest union in New England, our collective power makes MTA an influential voice for educators, students, and their communities. We are proud to be an advocate for social, racial, and economic justice and for a public education system that provides one of the cornerstones of a democratic society.

Overview of Position:

Provide assistance and litigation support to division attorneys in all aspects of a case or assignment, from start to finish, including but not limited to legal research and document drafting. Provide MTA members assistance in the application and pre-hearing stages of the accidental disability retirement and ordinary disability retirement process. Provide paralegal support to the General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel as needed. Crosstrain with other paralegals for back-up purposes. Assists with training material production, training, and presentations for General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel and staff attorneys.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Researches and analyzes law sources such as statutes, judicial decisions, and legal articles.

• Prepares legal documents such as pleadings, memos, briefs and petitions, discovery requests, requests for information under G.L. c. 150E, or other similar documents.

• Under supervision of staff attorney, directly represents members filing for disability retirements in preparing the application, advising member in gathering necessary documentary evidence in support of claim, appearing with member at medical panels, monitoring the progress of the application through all pre-hearing stages, and keeping local association informed of the claim to the extent relevant and permissible.

• Under supervision of staff attorney, investigates facts and law to assist in case preparation.

• Performs other legal support duties such as scheduling appointments, providing information to members, affiliates, or MTA staff members, composing and typing routine correspondence.

• Attend client meetings, investigation conferences, hearings, and arbitrations in various forums as directed by division attorneys.

• Prepares case- related documents and maintains document file.

• Maintain in-house law library.

• Assist with case management using office filing systems and electronic case management system.

• Ensures proper indexing and filing of original legal documents.

• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• A minimum of five (5) years of paralegal experience in a firm or legal department.

• College degree or paralegal certificate strongly preferred.

• Effective oral and written communication skills. Strong listening skills with ability to follow specific directions.

• Ability to interact and communicate with all levels of personnel, strong interpersonal skills.

• Flexible and adaptive team player.

• Ability to maintain effectiveness in stress and pressure situations.

• Strong planning and organizational skills.

• Persistent, accurate and detail oriented.

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, set reasonable priorities and manage time and deadline driven work.

• Ability to handle frequent interruptions.

• Ability to track projects, tasks, assignments and create reports.

• Prior experience with legal research using Westlaw or other legal resources.

• Strong MS Office skills. Familiarity with technology used within the MTA, including work with spreadsheets and databases.

• Flexible work schedule, including some nights and weekends if necessary.

*MTA reserves the right to waive any qualifications at its discretion*

The MTA is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all staff.

PI255595840

Salary: $72,772.00