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.

The Asset Based Lending team is part of the Business Advisory Division of Shoosmiths, one of the UK’s largest national law firms 

Required to work as part of a team dealing with litigation on behalf of banks and finance houses, in the fields of asset finance, invoice finance and general banking.  You will be expected to both deal with your own caseload and support others in the team, as well as colleagues in other teams within the Division when needed.  Work may include:

• pre-legal investigation and correspondence
• negotiations
• drafting statements of case, applications and witness statements
• legal research
• managing lower value and less complex disputes effectively and efficiently through all stages of the litigation process, in accordance with current legislative and regulatory requirements
• communicating with clients, opponents, courts and other third parties in a courteous and professional manner
• business development

If you are well-organised, keen to develop your skills and enjoy working hard and getting results, then this is the job for you!

You will be expected to attend and complete mandatory training and may be required to attend client meetings. You will also be expected to assist the team in reaching financial targets and to support marketing initiatives where required.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE:

• Legal background with either ILEX, LLB or LPC qualification
• previous experience acting for financial institutions
• previous experience dealing with Consumer Credit Act disputes
• knowledge of the FCA Consumer Credit Act regime

DESIRABLE KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE:

• working at or acting for a bank or finance house
• knowledge of asset finance and invoice finance products
• enforcing guarantees and other securities
• payment services
• satisfactory quality disputes
• wrongful interference with goods

SKILLS: 

• IT literate with experience of using Word, Excel and the internet
• Good written, numeracy and oral communication skills
• Ability to deal with difficult telephone conversations with any of the key stakeholders in the recoveries process confidently and calmly and refer if appropriate
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• Ability to prioritise, be organised and efficient
• Flexibility with the capability to adapt to change, new practices and cope under pressure but with the ability to recognise when to seek assistance
• Able to integrate within a team and able to work on your own initiative
• Friendly and helpful approach                     

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.  These checks will include references, proof of ID and current address, Personnel Vetting credit search (which will only highlight insolvency or County Court Judgements); Terrorism Check (against data supplied by the Bank of England) and a Criminal Records check.

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.