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The Public Defender Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), the Massachusetts public defender agency, is excited to announce the opening of a new Conflict Advocacy Office in Hampden County. We are seeking an Administrative Assistant to support the Attorney-in-Charge running the day-to-day duties of a busy trial office. PDD provides legal representation to adults in criminal court cases, including District and Superior Court.

Staff who have worked in other CPCS Hampden County non-conflict offices within the past three years are not eligible to work in the Conflict Advocacy Office.

We fight for equal justice and human dignity by supporting our clients in achieving their legal and life goals. We zealously advocate for the rights of individuals and promote just public policy to protect the rights of all.

Our Values

Courage      Accountability      Respect      Excellence

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MISSION STATEMENT

CPCS is committed to protecting the fundamental constitutional and human rights of our assigned clients through zealous advocacy, community-oriented defense, and the fullness of excellent legal representation.  We are dedicated to building and maintaining strong professional relationships, while striving to accept, listen to and respect the diverse circumstances of each client, as we dedicate ourselves to meeting their individual needs.  It is our CPCS mission to achieve these goals, and in furtherance thereof, we embrace and endorse diversity, equity and inclusion as our core values as we maintain a steadfast commitment to: (1) Ensure that CPCS management and staff members represent a broad range of human differences and experience; (2) Provide a work climate that is respectful and supports success; and (3) Promote the dignity and well-being of all staff members. CPCS leadership is responsible for ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion. The ability to achieve these goals with any level of certainty is ultimately the responsibility of each member of the CPCS community.

AGENCY OVERVIEW

CPCS is the state agency in Massachusetts responsible for providing an attorney when the state or federal constitution or a state statute requires the appointment of an attorney for a person who cannot afford to retain one.  The agency provides representation in criminal, delinquency, youthful offender, family regulation, guardianship, mental health, sexually dangerous person, and sex offender registry cases, as well as in appeals and post-conviction and post-judgment proceedings related to those matters.

The clients we represent are diverse across every context imaginable and bring many unique cultural dimensions to the matters we address. This reality creates a critical need for CPCS staff to be culturally competent and able to work well with people of different races, ethnicities, genders and/or sexual orientation identities, abilities, and limited English proficiency, among other protected characteristics.

OFFICE OVERVIEW

The newly created Hampden County Conflict Advocacy Office ("CAO") will be located at 1441 Main Street in Springfield. The CAO will represent clients throughout Hampden County in the District and Superior Courts and act as the Conflicts Office for the Public Defender Division when a conflict of interest prevents a PDD staff attorney from representing a client.

The CAO will be considered  a separate law firm from all other CPCS offices for conflict of interest purposes. To this end, the CAO will have a separate managerial system, separate physical offices and computer/technology systems, and other mechanisms in place to ensure its separation for conflicts purposes from other CPCS offices.  

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Public Defender Division for CPCS is seeking to fill a Senior Administrative Assistant position in the newly created Hampden County Conflict Advocacy Office to work with attorneys that provide legal representation and advocacy to indigent adults in criminal misdemeanor and concurrent felony cases in area courts. The Senior Administrative Assistant is a key member of CPCS trial office staff, supporting the Attorney-in-Charge in running the day-to-day duties of a fast-paced legal office environment.  The Senior Administrative Assistant must be able to provide excellent support for the staff in the office as well as coordinate communications with other CPCS units such as HR, Facilities, and IT.

The Senior Administrative Assistant reports to the Attorney-in-Charge.

This is a full-time (35 hours/week) position.

MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

The ideal candidate will be a person who is both highly organized and detail oriented, and yet enjoys interacting with people in a friendly work environment and will take satisfaction from working in an agency whose commitment is to protecting the fundamental legal rights of indigent persons. Candidates should possess:

• Associate's degree in related area;
• A minimum of two years of experience as an administrative assistant or office manager; executive level secretarial skills; or an equivalent combination of education, training, experience, and skills are required. Proficiency with MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Windows also required; and,
• Access to a personal computer with home internet access sufficient to work remotely.

QUALIFICATIONS/SKILLS

Candidates should possess:

• Proficiency in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint);
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written;
• Strong organizational abilities;
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and to exercise considerable judgment and discretion;
• Previous administrative assistant, office manager or similar experience and knowledge of general office procedures (e.g., correspondence, scheduling, filing);
• Ability to handle multiple tasks, prioritize effectively, meet deadlines, and deliver high quality work;
• Proficiency and experience with scanning, optical character recognition processing (experience working with and entering text into spreadsheets is preferred);
• Ability to establish effective working relationships and to work as part of a team;
• Good problem-solving skills;
• Project management experience is preferred; 
• Previous experience in a legal setting is preferred; and, 
• Bilingual Skills preferred.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Supporting the Attorney-in-Charge on day-to-day duties of running the office as well as special projects and coordinating communication, support, and resources with HR, Facilities, and IT;
• Providing administrative support, including word and data processing, filing, copying, scanning, and handling correspondence;
• Coordinating and assisting with projects relating to personnel management, program evaluation, and other areas;
• Creating statistical reports regarding attorney caseloads and disposition of cases and maintaining data collected;
• Planning, coordinating, and calendaring meetings and events;
• Assisting with other projects to improve the quality of legal representation and to enhance client services;
• Ensuring that office systems and agency procedures and practices are administered effectively; communicating effectively with internal and external contacts at all levels;
• Managing the front desk including all receptionist responsibilities as needed; and,
• Handling other duties as assigned

EEO Statement

The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran or military status, genetic information, gender identity, or sexual orientation as required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other applicable federal and state statutes and organizational policies.  Applicants who have questions about equal employment opportunity or who need reasonable accommodations can contact the Chief Human Resources Officer, Sandra DeBow-Huang, at sdebow@publiccounsel.net