Legal PA - Family (12 month fixed term contract)
The role
To provide first class professional Legal PA support to a number of Partners and fee earners within our Family department. This role will delegate work to the Legal Team Assistant and our external outsourcing typing provider. Legal PAs work principally for named Partners and fee earners, however all Legal PAs work as part of a team with shared responsibilities. Legal PAs will be expected to prioritise and share tasks when appropriate in order to meet business needs.
Role responsibility
- Proactively managing and maintaining Partner and fee earners' diaries, making appointments and co-ordinating internal and external client meetings and ensure all work activities are scheduled effectively, including the identification and resolution of potential challenges and clashes.
- Arranging (or delegating to a TA) the booking of meeting rooms, video conference facilities, refreshments, restaurants, taxis etc. and liaise with internal and external meeting attendees. Co‑ordinate fine dining arrangements circulate menus and confirm booking.
- Management of Partners' and fee earners' inboxes when they are out of the office and monitor and respond to post/emails, prioritising correspondence to enable Partners/fee earners to focus on urgent matters and using initiative to route emails to the appropriate individuals for swift response and action; wherever possible, responding to and filing emails in to iManage.
- Printing correspondence for hard copy files as well as electronic files.
- Responding and dealing with external or internal telephone calls and queries in a professional manner, taking clear and concise messages. Establishing relationship with clients and clerks at chambers and being able to give assurance with generic queries, demonstrating knowledge of the files.
- Manage the workflow to our external outsourcing typing provider ensuring dictations and documents are submitted and returned in a timely manner.
- Proofreading all work to ensure consistent accuracy and high standard.
- Typing and drafting where appropriate anything our external outsourcing typing provider is unable to undertake i.e. payment of invoices, acceptance of events etc.
- Preparation of account forms e.g. Chaps payments.
- Produce trial bundles ensuring the relevant court documents are in the relevant section etc.
- Preparing bundles to counsel and indexing documents
- Preparing agendas, presentations and meeting papers, including print production and timely distribution and chasing papers for meetings and ensuring that Partners/fee earners have papers and adequate planning time.
- Demonstrating an understanding of the end-to-end billing process and Elite financial reporting; assisting Partners/fee earners by liaising with the billing team, producing the relevant documentation and reports, and prompting Partners/fee earners to complete all necessary paperwork etc. Creating precedent invoice letters to send to clients.
- Developing system for putting counsel fees on the ledger (received by e mail and hard copy) and ensure these are billed monthly.
- Ensuring BD is fully informed of any BD activities and updating the schedules as required. Identify BD related meetings and colour code so information can be pulled into tracker.
- Taking ownership of the Family BD Database, updating regularly.
- Where applicable, ensuring travel arrangements are made through the correct channels, producing detailed itineraries and ensuring expense claims are completed; Organise any client entertainment for any internal or small external events and liaising with BD.
- Department specific support, such as familiarity with standard Family Court Forms etc.
- Responsible for opening new client and matter files on the Mattersphere and obtaining and co-ordinating CDD. Ensuring department file opening form is also complete.
- Identifying files on Fee Earner matter list to be archived.
- Collating and indexing legal documentation, deeds scheduling and deeds management.
- Undertaking research using the internet, databases etc.
- Small volume photocopying and scanning, with delivery/collection of large volume of photocopying and scanning and couriers to Repro team.
- Support to other Legal PAs where required, especially during any absence.
- Acting as a mentor to the TA.
About you
Ideally you will be able to demonstrate:
- Experience in a high performing professional services environment.
- Excellent diary management skills.
- Excellent organisational and time-management skills.
- Excellent attention to detail.
- Ability to work well under pressure remaining calm and focussed.
- A client service orientated approach.
- Confidence in Excel and PowerPoint
- Discretion when dealing with sensitive information.
- Ability to be flexible and self-motivated.
Benefits
- Competitive salary
- 25 days annual holiday
- Permanent Health Insurance
- Life Assurance
- Interest free Season Ticket Loan
- Private Healthcare
- Pension Scheme
- Staff Introductory Scheme
- Employee Assistance Programme
About us
We are a London based, full-service law firm, specialising in providing straightforward advice to entrepreneurial businesses and individuals on domestic and international matters.
We have grown substantially in recent years, including two mergers and an office move. We’ve also matured in terms of our approach to providing advice to our clients, seeking to simplify and improve the experience of working with a modern, independent law firm.
We’re proud of our journey. Without losing sight of where we’ve come from, we are focused on where we’re going. We are evolving and growing every day. And just like our clients, we are ambitious and moving forward. Many of our clients are entrepreneurial, ambitious enterprises who are often privately or family owned, or private equity backed. We are one of the only London based law firms with a large private wealth offering alongside significant business law capability.
The firm also advises major corporates on particular specialist legal matters who find our straightforward approach a compelling alternative to larger, less personal firms.