Legal Secretary x 2 - Employment Liverpool Street

Job Description

Legal Secretary - to support 2 Partners dealing with Employment law for an incredibly friendly law firm on the doorstep of Liverpool Street.ResponsibilitiesClient relationship management

• The primary point of contact with clients in relation to onboarding and billing
• Communicating with clients and counterparties in relation to diary management, administrative queries, and associated matters

Managing the administration of the practice

• Assume overall responsibility for the management of the administration of the practices of the partners for whom the Legal Secretary works
• Manage and monitor diaries, ensuring they are up to date, arranging meetings with clients and key stakeholders, liaise with other attendees, and reminding lawyers of meetings etc. on a daily basis, and making associated travel arrangements
• Monitor emails
• Responding promptly to client and other emails relating to the administration of the practice
• Arrange travel bookings including flights / hotels and related details to be made through the support teams. Producing detailed itineraries Manage arrangements for lawyers attendance at international and local conferences
• Client / matter administration including client onboarding; AML process (including effective liaison with the Compliance team) and creation of client engagement agreements; arrange for files to be closed, supervise general filing requirements and recordkeeping
• Develop and implement effective systems to ensure that both short and long term tasks are completed within required timescales, delegating where appropriate to the administration team.
• Support lawyers in marketing activities including involvement in preparation of pitches and presentations

Financial

• Proactively undertake the billing process by liaising with the lawyer and accounts, producing draft and finalised bills
• Produce standard financial/time reports through the system using all resources available at present to support the lawyers in their financial management of the practice
• Support lawyers and credit control with effective financial hygiene (including overseeing the processing of disbursements, write offs and monies on account)
• Request bank transfers and paying money received, as appropriate

Communication

• Take internal and external telephone queries, responding as appropriate and ensuring that all messages are passed on in a timely manner
• Monitor post and/or emails, dealing with as appropriate and ensure that all client related correspondence is passed on to an appropriate lawyer if the relevant person is out the office
• Liaise with business support departments to ensure effective provision of support to lawyers and great service to clients
• Liaise with the Legal Support Manager over any planned absences, arranging cover as necessary and communicating this to the relevant lawyers

Document production

• Creating documents / letters / correspondence
• Check correspondence, attachments, documents, reports, presentations etc.
• Type urgent/short/confidential correspondence and emails
• Produce and maintain Excel spreadsheets as required. Assist with the completion of PowerPoint Presentations.

Other duties and responsibilitiesIn addition to providing support to the lawyers to whom they report, a Legal Secretary will also provide assistance to their immediate colleagues in the department and, where practical, other departments.Team duties will therefore include:

• Assisting others in the department whenever there is spare capacity or it is evident that a colleague needs assistance with their workload
• Dealing with internal / external calls as appropriate
• Assisting other members of the department, both proactively and at the request of the Legal Support Manager
• Working effectively with other legal and support departments as required
• Any other duties as reasonably requested by lawyers or the Legal Support Manager or a person of an appropriate seniority

Personal attributes and skillsA Legal Secretary has responsibility to ensure that their skill set is up to date and they are familiar with the firms departments, key personnel, clients, internal systems and procedures.In addition to this, they should have the following:

• Trustworthy and able to handle confidential information / sensitive situations discreetly
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, research tools and other systems implemented by the firm (especially the firms accounts system in so far as it is relevant to the role) to be able to utilise their time as efficiently aspossible
• Knowledge of law firm financial systems and billing arrangements
• Accurate typing speed of at least 60 words per minute
• Excellent telephone manner and competent knowledge of telephone system
• Excellent communication, organisational and team skills, unflappable
• Excellent attention to detail
• Flexible and dependable, able to take the initiative
• Able to remain calm under pressure and work to tight deadlines
• Able to quickly build confidence, respect and trust with others
• Have a positive attitude to daily tasks and have a solutions focused working method

Keyskills :
Commercial LitigationEmploymentLitigationLegal SecretaryLegal PADisputes