Paralegal Specialist

Agency Overview: The Department of Revenue's Division of Local Services is responsible for ensuring fairness and equity in local property taxation, overseeing local accounting and treasury management, interpreting state laws that affect local governance, distributing monthly local aid to cities, towns and school districts, and maintaining a comprehensive municipal finance data warehouse.

Division of Local Services:  The Division of Local Services assists Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns in sound and efficient fiscal management. Our vision is to conduct our operations in a manner that inspires public confidence in government by administering and enforcing tax, child support and municipal finance laws in ways that are innovative, customer-focused and transparent. 

Municipal Finance Law Bureau: The Bureau of Municipal Finance Law provides legal and policy advice to DLS/DOR managers and staff, and other DOR Divisions, on the municipal tax and finance laws within the regulatory purview of DLS.  Its attorneys draft and review legislation, draft advisories, opinions, guidelines and other public written statements that interpret municipal tax and finance laws and explain DLS policy and practice to local officials, participate in training programs for local officials and perform certain statutory duties of DOR regarding municipal tax administration.

Duties and Responsibilities (these duties are a general summary and not all inclusive): 

The paralegal specialist will be tasked with researching and analyzing law sources; preparing legal documents; analyzing proposed legislation; responding to inquiries concerning formal interpretation of agency laws, rules, and regulations, and perform related work as required.  The basic purpose of this work is to provide legal assistance to state attorneys.

• Research and analyze law sources such as statutes, judicial decisions and opinions.
• Prepare administrative proceedings by collecting and organizing case related documentation and drafting responses for review and approval by legal counsel.
• Prepare reports.
• Respond to inquiries from local officials and internal and state staff.
• Maintain case tracking systems.
• Prepare and send correspondence, and schedule appointments.

As part of the Future of Work initiative, the agency is adopting a hybrid work model.  Hybrid work is a mix of in-office work and telework. The position will work remotely some days and in-person on other days. 

An external candidate recommended for a position with the Department of Revenue will be subject to a background check that includes checks for: state and federal tax compliance; child support compliance; education