Legal PA

Shoosmiths - UK Law Firm of the Year Winner at the Legal Week British Legal Awards 2015.

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.

We have over 260 litigation legal advisers based across the UK who are highly skilled specialists with the expertise to solve whatever contentious problem our clients may have.  We cover a broad range of specialisms including commercial litigation, contract disputes, fraud, intellectual property, professional negligence, construction and engineering, regulatory, insurance, IT, real estate and lending and banking disputes.

Main Purpose of job

Providing a full PA/secretarial service Partners and Legal Advisers in the team and where required cover any secretarial absences within the rest of the office where necessary.  This role requires proactive thinking to support the needs of Legal Adviser.

• Typing of correspondence, documents and bills.
• Typing reports, file notes and attendance notes
• Preparing enclosures ready for signing and sending out with the post. 
• Opening and closing client files.
• Filing of incoming and outgoing post and correspondence.
• Compiling and sending bills, undertaking block billing.
• Chasing bills as per Legal Adviser instruction
• Expenses
• Cheque requisitions
• Keeping records of closed files
• Interaction with clients mainly over the telephone
• In house forms, laser forms (credit notes)
• Diary management.
• Organising meetings, travel arrangements etc.
• Answering the telephone and dealing with routine enquiries
• Assisting with administration and reporting on key accounts.

• Excellent and accurate keyboard skills required, as you will be required to obtain typing speeds to a minimum of 60 wpm. 
• Good working knowledge of various applications – Word, Outlook, digital dictation (Powerpoint, Excel and SAP helpful but not a necessity).
• Taking care and attention into all correspondence and documentation
• Previous experience working in a busy legal environment, ideally within a Litigation environment.
• Flexible with the ability to adapt to change, new practices and cope under pressure
• Excellent presentation skills reflected in their work
• A methodical and organised approach with keen attention paid to every detail
• 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
• Ability to prioritise, be organised and efficient
• Ability to work under pressure
• Good listening skills
• Able to integrate within a team as well as working on ones own initiative
• Work as part of a team ensuring telephones/lunch cover
• Ability to deliver a quality service to both internal and external clients.

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.