The Bethlehem office has an opening for a legal Secretary to join a staff of 12 attorneys and six paralegals. The office serves clients in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

Background:

North Penn Legal Services (NPLS) is the regional civil legal services provider in Northeast Pennsylvania. We are a Pennsylvania non-profit organization with a mission to provide professional legal representation, advocacy, and community legal education to low-income individuals and families.

We seek staff who are committed to civil legal justice issues and helping clients resolve cases related to housing, public benefits, employment issues, family law, and other areas of public interest law. NPLS maintains staff in nine offices across twenty counties, and outreach to all counties.

NPLS is an equal opportunity employer. We offer frequent opportunities for professional growth and development through local, state, and national trainings as well as collaboration with program and statewide law groups.

Salary is commensurate with relevant experience based on a salary scale. We offer an excellent benefits package that includes health and dental insurance, a 401(k) plan and generous paid leave and time off for holidays. Employees may qualify for and choose to elect compensation in lieu of some of these benefits. Additionally, employees may qualify for loan repayment assistance or forgiveness as we are an eligible employer for several programs. Contact HR for details 570-320-8712.

Job Requirements and Duties Include:

• Assist advocates with document preparation including, but not limited to, initial and/or final word processing and/or formatting of legal documents and letters; bankruptcy data entry; electronic court filings; medical record compilation.
• Perform client screening through central intake system on limited schedule.
• Responsible for income and outgoing mail both from USPS and court house.
• Comply with systems necessary to meet funding source requirements, including review of files to be closed.
• Assist with the maintenance and/or coordination of PAI, including referral of clients to private attorneys and tracking these cases.
• Oversee maintenance of copiers, postage meters, other office equipment
• Order office supplies
• Manage client trust account
• Attend to waiting room arrivals and departures
• Answer main telephone line, schedule appointments
• Serve as back up to other support staff during absences and when workload permits or as directed by supervisor
• For bilingual staff: provide oral and written translation to assist office staff and provide translation in court and administrative proceedings (when court personnel or other translators are not available)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Expertise in word processing
• Ability to use efficiencies in document assembly, including Hot Docs
• Knowledge of general legal terminology and legal principles
• Ability to speak Spanish (requirement to be determined at time of hiring)
• Knowledge of and competence with central intake telephone system
• Knowledge of and competence with case management system as it relates to client eligibility
• Ability to conduct telephone interview with caller and to record relevant information in data base software
• Ability to use screening questionnaires when required
• Knowledge of case acceptance criteria
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with others.
• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing
• Ability to organize and prioritize workload
• Ability to understand and follow written and oral directions
• Ability to use and adapt to modern office equipment and systems including voice mail, e-mail, fax and copier, VOIP software, NPLS intranet software (e.g., SharePoint)
• Ability to type at least 60 words per minute
• Ability to work independently
• Sensitivity to the needs of an economically, socially and ethnically diverse group of people

Minimum Qualifications:

A high school diploma or general equivalency diploma and demonstrated proficiency with secretarial skills.

Compensation:

Salary DOE. $20.04 to $20.81 per hour (2-4 years range) plus employer paid insurance, noted above.

Additional Considerations:

Applicants will be evaluated on their oral, writing and advocacy skills as well as prior experience. An applicant’s ability to speak Spanish is helpful and advocates who are fluent in Spanish are eligible for additional add-on compensation.

Except as required by Sections 1006(b)(6) and 1007(a)(8) of the Legal Services Corporation Act, and Part 1616 of the Corporation Regulations, when any position for employment is available, North Penn Legal Services will seek qualified applicants without regard to color, sex, race, religion, disability, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identification, veteran’s status or any other consideration prohibited by law.

What to Include in your application:

Please reply to resumes@northpennlegal.org. When responding, please include a statement about your specific interest in public interest law, how your experiences can contribute to our mission, and how our position meets your goals. Applications with a cover letter as well as a resume will be given preference.

Applications reviewed until position filled.

Reference: BethlehemLegalSecretaryNovember2025