Maryland Legal Aid (MLA) advocates for Marylanders experiencing poverty to achieve equity and social justice through free civil legal services. They are seeking a Telephone Intake Paralegal to handle all functions related to client intake in their Centralized Intake Unit, which will be 100% remote after a training period.
Responsibilities
- Conduct initial interviews with clients and follow-up communications with clients
- Screen clients for eligibility for MLA services
- Complete intakes and transfer calls to intakes to staff attorneys using MLA’s case management system and client contact service center software
- Obtain and verify client information and supporting documentation
- Make referrals, as appropriate
- Conduct legal issue spotting and factual analysis
- Maintain familiarity with legal services programs and community resources
- Prepare affidavit and other email correspondence
- Manage high-volume inbound and outbound calls while maintaining service standards
- Transfer calls and cases accurately based on legal issue, jurisdiction, and capacity
- Adhere to quality assurance and performance metrics
- Assist with training or onboarding of new team members
- Participate in team meetings and process improvement discussions
- Support and collaborate with a team of 35 + staff to ensure effective operations
- Ensure compliance with intake protocols, eligibility guidelines, and confidentiality requirements
- Maintain client confidentiality and comply with ethical standards
- Participate in required training and continuing education
- Perform other duties as assigned
Skills
- Individuals must have basic written and oral communication skills, computer proficiency, strong reading comprehension, and the capacity to perform paralegal duties with appropriate training and supervision
- Strong client/customer service skills, including the ability to empathize and assist people who are distressed
- Experience with Microsoft Office Suite (e.g., Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint)
- Ability to work independently, prioritize, and multitask
- Ability to learn specialized software of the firm
- Responsible, reliable, honest, and ethical
- Performs other duties as assigned within the scope of the position's essential functions
- Paralegal certification or equivalent experience desired
- Experience working in a law firm or legal services
- Spanish language proficiency is strongly preferred
Benefits
- Health, dental, vision, life insurance
- A 401(k)-retirement plan
- 3 weeks paid time off
- Sick leave
- 14 annual paid holidays
- A standard 35-hour work week
- A hybrid work arrangement
Company Overview
The Maryland Center for Legal Assistance (MCLA) operates the Maryland Court Help Centers through a contract with the Maryland Judiciary. It was founded in 2017, and is headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland , US, with a workforce of 51-200 employees. Its website is http://mdcla.org.