Conveyancing Assistant

Closing date: 08/12/2017
Experience level: Entry level
Term: Permanent
Working hours: Full-time (37.5 hours per week - Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm plus one late shift and Saturdays on a rota basis)
Team: Conveyancing
Location: Northampton
The firm

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.

The team

Shoosmiths Private Client Conveyancing Team offers a highly professional conveyancing service designed to make the process of buying or selling your personal property anywhere in the world as efficient and stress-free as can be.

Shoosmiths remains the largest firm of conveyancing solicitors accredited under the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme. The conveyancing service provided by our Private Client Practice maintains the same high standards corporate clients have come to expect of Shoosmiths and is consistently commended in national consumer service awards.

The role

Our Residential Conveyancing Department are seeking a number of Conveyancing Assistants to join them in our Northampton office. This is an exciting opportunity for anyone looking to move into Conveyancing as a career and you will join a vibrant, collaborative and supportive department named 1st preferred Legal Partner with Which? and are one of the leading Conveyancing Departments in the UK.

If successful, you will go through a structured training programme to cover all aspects of running a Conveyancing case from beginning-to-end, which will be delivered by our own dedicated Conveyancing Trainer. 

Moreover, there are excellent career development opportunities with Conveyancing Assistants progressing to Case Handler level after a period of 12-18 months, at which point you will then be given accountability for managing your own caseload. 

Main responsibilities

As a Conveyancing Assistant, you will proactively support Case Handlers in the progression of conveyancing transactions, ensuring customers and other third parties (such as mortgage providers, builders, estate agents and other solicitors) are kept updated throughout the process. This will require excellent communication and customer service skills, as you will deal with a range of customers from first-time buyers to experienced sellers.

You will also draft non-standard, non-technical correspondence initially, as well as prepare draft contract packages, all searches, exchange and completion letters. Therefore you will have excellent attention to detail. 

Skills and qualifications

The ideal candidate will have excellent written and oral communication skills gained from previous experience working in a customer service position, preferably in an office environment. You will enjoy working as part of a team and also adaptable to the changing requirements of the range of clients dealt with.

You will be passionate about helping people and like to be thoroughly organised to prioritise work independently. A legal qualification (LLB, CILEX, CLC, etc.) is not an essential requirement, but you must be able to demonstrate a keen interest in building a career within Conveyancing.

Essential knowledge & skills:

  • Excellent customer service expertise
  • Good written, numeracy and oral communication skills.
  • Accuracy and attention to detail.
  • IT literate including sound knowledge of Word, Excel and the internet.
  • 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.

Desirable knowledge and skills:

  • Prior experience within a law firm, financial services/mortgage provider, estate agency or other property-related organisation.
  • Basic knowledge of the conveyancing life-cycle (including post-completion).
  • Legal qualification such as LLB, CILEX or CLC.

You may also have experience in one of the following roles: Conveyancing Assistant, Property Assistant, Estate Agent, Sales Progressor, Mortgage Advisor, Customer Service Assistant, Sales Negotiator, or Residential Property Paralegal.

Benefits package

Shoosmiths has an outstanding benefits package; we believe that all staff should be rewarded for their commitment to the continued success of the firm. These can include:

  • A pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5.5%
  • Generous life assurance cover for peace of mind, up to 8 times salary
  • Up to 23 paid working days holiday per annum with the option to buy up to 8 additional days. You can choose to 'flex' twice a year - January and July
  • 'Happy Birthday!' - have a free day off to celebrate and a £50 voucher to spend! (We won't take it from your annual entitlement)
  • Childcare vouchers which are not subject to tax or NI
  • Interest free season ticket loans
  • Staff introduction bonus scheme
  • Corporate discounts on a wide variety of products and services
  • Discounted conveyancing and legal advice, for instance for wills and family trusts
Equal opportunities

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.