Paralegal Advocate

PARALEGAL ADVOCATE

CPR is a national legal advocacy center that has been advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities for 50 years. CPR is dedicated to enforcing and expanding the rights of people with disabilities and others who are in segregated settings. CPR uses legal strategies, advocacy, and policy to design and implement systemic reform initiatives to promote their integration and full community participation. Working on state, national and international levels, CPR is committed to equality, diversity and social justice in all its activities.

The Paralegal Advocate is a key member of the CPR legal team and provides litigation support to attorneys throughout CPR on complex litigation and is supervised by the Legal Director. 

In this position, the Paralegal Advocate will maintain complex litigation files; prepare and file legal documents, including pleadings, discovery, and trial and appellate briefs, and assist attorneys and litigation teams in state and federal court proceedings. The Paralegal Advocate works independently under the direction of the attorney responsible for the litigation and regularly provides technical assistance and support across the organization. The Paralegal Advocate also provides data analysis and administrative support for attorneys.

Job Requirements

The ideal candidate:

1.     Is highly organized, adaptable, and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a collaborative, mission-driven environment where needs and deadlines may evolve quickly.

2.     Thrives in fast paced environment with constantly shifting priorities.

3.     Can work additional hours as needed to meet litigation deadlines or to complete special projects.

4.     Can travel as needed (generally less than 20%).

5.     Works a minimum of one day every other week in the Easthampton office or other Massachusetts location.

Essential Skills and Abilities

1.     Provide litigation support to CPR attorneys on complex litigation and appeals in state and federal courts;

2.     Act as liaison between court administrators, attorneys and judges;

3.     Interview clients to gather relevant information on their status;

4.     Monitor individual named plaintiffs in the implementation stage of litigation.

5.     Identify and address implementation problems experienced by individual named plaintiffs;

6.     Prepare legal documents including pleadings, discovery and trial and appellate appeals and maintain and organize complex litigation files including sharing documents with co-counsel (e.g. draft pleadings and discovery shells);

7.     Assist experts in collecting documents, conducting reviews, preparing reports, and attending deposition and trial;

8.     Gather, review, facilitate and produce discovery; develop and update discovery production tables; stamp and record all document production; maintain discovery logs; organize discovery documents; assist in preparation for depositions; and schedule and coordinate depositions and court reporters;

9.     Process document production and perform document review;

10. Prepare pleadings, rebuttals, and exhibits for use at trial;

11. Answer and direct litigation client calls;

12. Draft and review outgoing correspondence related to individual named plaintiffs;

13. Conduct basic legal research, cite check legal pleadings, Shepardize briefs and research local rules for state and federal courts;

14. E-file and access all electronic documents and coordinate courtesy copies as necessary;

15. Produce quality, error free, written materials both printed and electronic;

16. Effectively and regularly communicate with CPR attorneys and co-counsel; employees, clients, court administrators or administrative staff for opposing parties and the public at the individual, team and organizational levels;

17. Maintain thorough and complete case records; and

18. Maintain the confidentiality of client information required by the attorney-client and work product privileges and any relevant state and federal laws.

Required Qualifications       

1.     Bachelor’s Degree.

2.     Paralegal certification from a nationally recognized credentialing organization.

3.     Three years of full-time experience in complex paralegal work.

4.     Demonstrated success in working with people with disabilities.

5.     Exceptional project coordination skills.

6.     Familiarity with billable hours and ability to track efficiently.

7.     Advanced writing and verbal communications skills including the ability to do so in a concise manner, even when doing so regarding complex issues to a variety of people.

8.     Excellent interpersonal, relationship-building and collaboration skills to be able to work effectively with others.

9.     The ability to take initiative, direction and independently follow through on all instructions with minimal supervision and guidance.

10. Ability to interview people with disabilities, their families and staff

11. Comfort in direct attorney interaction and providing daily reminders.

12. Detail-orientation, follow-up skills and organizational skills.

13. The ability to multi-task and work under challenging conditions on advanced and complex projects while meeting required deadlines.

14. Demonstrated ability to manage complex workload so that services are delivered timely and appropriately.

15. The ability to work well independently but also in a team environment.

16. Mastery of Microsoft Office suite especially Outlook, Word and Excel.

17. Working knowledge of Westlaw.

18. High degree of integrity, ethics and judgment.

Preferred Qualifications      

1.     Five years of full-time experience in paralegal work.

2.     Experience with complex systemic litigation.

3.     Advanced knowledge of complex legal support tasks.

4.     Regular, weekly presence in the Easthampton, MA office.

5.     Extensive experience with document review software such as Relativity.

6.     Sense of humor.

Salary and Benefits

CPR offers an excellent salary, and a unique benefit package, including health insurance; disability insurance; paid time off, including generous vacation, sick, and personal days; retreat time and a flexible spending account; and a 403(b)-retirement plan. The salary range for 3 years of experience is $62,500 and for 5 years $65,500 FTE. The annual salary for the position will be adjusted to reflect additional relevant paralegal experience.

Work Hours and Location

Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm, with some required flexibility for evening, overnight, and weekend needs.

Application Instructions

Please send cover letter and resume to Heather Alibert (she/hers), Center for Public Representation, 5 Ferry Street, Suite 314, Easthampton, MA 01027, or by e-mail to hiring@cpr-ma.org, by June 15, 2026. If you are having technical difficulties while applying, or need assistance/accommodation to apply, please call (413)586-6024.

• CPR is committed to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in our work and within our organization.  We believe that excellence is best achieved by bringing together and embracing a variety of different lived experiences and perspectives. We therefore encourage and welcome applications from members of the BIPOC and disabilities communities, as well as candidates from other historically under-represented communities.