Legal Secretary

Job Description

The firmBirketts is a full service, top 50 UK law firm, operating in Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, Norwich and the surrounding areas.With a rich heritage spanning over 150 years we’ve built an enviable track record advising businesses, institutions and individuals in the UK and internationally.Throughout our history our ethos has remained simple: we provide clear legal advice and value and insight to our clients.We set out to truly understand our clients’ needs and help realise their ambitions.

• Manage diaries of fee earners in Microsoft Outlook
• To scan and save incoming and outgoing post
• Familiarity with the creation and management of datarooms and file management processes
• To add and amend data on Intapp, including contact details intermediaries, and referrals into and out of the team
• To open new clients and to open and close matters and carry out conflict checks where appropriate
• To complete the client engagement process, including preparing letters of engagement and sending Thirdfort invitations
• Making appointments
• Arranging meetings/conferences
• Sending and responding to invites
• To arrange payments
• To ensure that all electronic filing and paper based filing is up to date and maintained at regular intervals

Professional Skills:

• To immediately clarify instructions from fee earners should they be unclear or if deadlines are not made explicit
• To respond to internal and external telephone enquiries politely and professionally and take accurate telephone messages (name /number /company), passing them on to the relevant fee earners etc.
• To proactively support other members of the secretarial team and to provide cover as and when necessary to ensure that work is completed to a high standard and meets the required deadlines
• To provide full support to fee earners in the full range of activities that are performed and to carry out any other duties as reasonably requested

General Approach:

• To show a positive approach and interest in the work that your fee earners are undertaking
• Show initiative when responding to queries and actively try to seek solutions to problems
• To support your fee earners when clients are demanding the work product to be delivered
• To support and build working relationships with the secretaries and fee earners in the team and to actively work for the interests of the whole team and firm

The candidateYou will have the ability to contribute at an operational level, with excellent communication skills and can demonstrate general skills in:

• Strong administration experience
• Positive, enthusiastic and professional approach to all work
• Strong attention to detail and high level organisational skills
• Self-motivated with an ability to use own initiative and a desire to learn
• A desire to share new processes to support the wider team

Skills

• Strong typing speed of at least 50 wpm
• Excellent spelling and punctuation
• Excellent written and verbal communications
• Ability to use discretion
• Excellent IT skills, including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel
• Positive and enthusiastic approach to team work
• Good telephone manner
• Adaptable and flexible
• Self-motivated, ability to use initiative and provide pro-active support to fee-earners
• Ability to pay attention to detail and check own work
• Reliable and well organised

Core benefits:

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays
• Long Service holiday award - 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
• Staff Profit Share / Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
• Paid ESG day (Environmental, Social and Governance)
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Subsidised gym membership
• Electric car scheme
• Eye Care Voucher
• Agile Working Policy
• Dress for your Day Policy