Legal Secretary

Role Overview

• Providing timely and effective support in response to requests for assistance from fee earners and members of the team.
• Attending to clients in person and over the phone, providing updates, taking messages and assisting where appropriate with the progress of their matters.
• Using a case management system to gather 'Know Your Client' (KYC) and Source of Funds information, and to process and progress files.
• Managing file opening, closure and archiving (with the assistance of the Managed Central Services team where appropriate).
• Taking instructions for opening new clients and matters, ensuring compliance with all internal procedures and regulatory requirements.
• Managing diaries for the team, arranging meetings and coordinating travel where required.
• Organising and maintaining departmental filing systems and document storage.
• Photocopying, scanning, printing, filing and undertaking general administrative duties.
• Managing the accounting and billing process, including obtaining and processing WIP reports, drafting bills and collating accounting information (with the assistance of the Managed Central Services team where appropriate).
• Acting as the first point of contact with the Accounts team for client and billing enquiries.
• Assisting with insolvency-related completions, payments into and out of client account, and liaising with insolvency practitioners, administrators, liquidators and other third parties where appropriate.
• Preparing court bundles, filing documents with the court and Companies House, and supporting fee earners with time-sensitive insolvency and restructuring transactions.
• Any other duties as reasonably required, including attending offices other than your usual place of work from time to time if necessary.
• Assisting the team with CRM entries, maintaining CRM records and helping to compile client and guest lists for events.
• Supporting the team's business development activities, including preparing pitches, legal updates and client events.
• Attending Super Team meetings and liaising with Legal Support colleagues to help manage workloads.
• Recording time on the relevant system as and when required.

Requirements

• Previous experience in a Secretarial role is essential.
• Any experience within Restructuring & Insolvency, Litigation, Banking, Corporate Recovery or another
• Excellent organisational and administrative skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• The ability to work collaboratively within a team and build strong working relationships with colleagues and clients.
• Confident interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to liaise professionally with clients, insolvency practitioners, barristers, courts and other external contacts.
• The ability to produce work to a consistently high standard, often to tight deadlines, whilst maintaining excellent attention to detail.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise competing demands in a fast-paced environment.
• A professional, proactive and flexible approach, demonstrating initiative, resilience and confidence in supporting a busy legal team.

Benefits

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work.****We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it.****We have the following hubs across the UK: Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Sheffield, Stratford upon Avon & Tunbridge Wells.****Want to find out more about our amazing benefits? ******Additional information:****Please be aware, for some vacancies, where we receive high numbers of applications we may need to bring the close date forward. Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.**Equal opportunitiesShakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.