Paralegal

A leading UK law firm with a network of offices from the South Coast to Scotland, working together as one national team. An innovative practice and the first top 100 law firm to achieve “Gold Standard” Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm. The lack of barriers between departments, a real lack of hierarchy, zero tolerance for arrogance and pomposity makes Shoosmiths a fantastic place to work.

Shoosmiths' litigation team in Belfast is expanding and this is an exciting opportunity to join this team as a paralegal. We currently have a team of 12 staff, both legally qualified and administrative support, which is led by two partners Gillian Crotty and Jason Byrne.  We specialise in all forms of civil litigation, and in particular secured and unsecured debt recovery for banks, financial institutions and large commercial clients.  We are looking for a hard-working, enthusiastic and proactive individual to join and provide paralegal support to our solicitors and partners. 

• Supporting other legal advisors with ensuring high levels of client care to ensure smooth progression of advice and case progression within the secured, unsecured and general litigation caseloads
• Dealing with a wide and varied caseload with a particular emphasis on civil litigation
• Communicating effectively and confidently with clients, external solicitors, the courts and other professional contacts
• Completing internal and external reporting, telephony and regulatory requirements
• Assisting with a wide range of administrative tasks within the secured, unsecured and general litigation caseloads
• Assisting with the preparation of files for hearing, briefs for Counsel and trial bundles
• Assisting with the internal and external reporting, telephony and regulatory requirements
• Attending Court and Counsel as required and to taking contemporaneous notes
• Attending networking events as required

• A law degree
• Previous solicitor office and civil litigation experience desirable, but not essential
• Excellent client care skills
• Self-confidence and ability to demonstrate initiative
• Ability to grasp things quickly and easily.
• Enthusiastic, energetic with a positive, can do attitude
• An excellent telephone manner and the ability to deal with both clients and our clients’ customers in a professional and FCA compliant manner
• A driving licence and access to a vehicle is preferable
• Flexibility to travel throughout Northern Ireland, England and Scotland to attend training sessions, internal and external meetings and presentations as required
• Good working knowledge of various applications – Word, Excel, Outlook as well as the ability to quickly learn new case management systems
• Taking care and attention to all correspondence and documentation
• Flexible with the ability to adapt to change, new practices and remain calm under pressure and find solutions
• Excellent presentation skills reflected in their work
• Good organisational skills to ensure that the tasks are effectively scheduled within working time available and that urgent work is completed and returned within the specified timescales.
• Friendly and helpful approach to dealing with queries
• Excellent communication skills
• Able to integrate within a team as well as working on one’s own initiative

Shoosmiths is a committed Equal Opportunities employer promoting equality of opportunity. This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.