Office Assistant

Lewis Silkin is a UK top-100 commercial law firm with offices in London, Oxford, Cardiff, Dublin and Hong Kong. The firm is recognised by clients and industries alike as being distinct: for its deep understanding, insight and advice to creative, innovative and brand-focused businesses; for its market-leading international practice in employment, immigration and reward; and for delivering pragmatic, commercial advice in a refreshingly human way.

With 60 partners and more than 340 staff, the firm is structured around two key divisions; the Employment, Immigration and Reward (EIR) and the Creators, Makers and Innovators (CMI).

Lewis Silkin’s employment team is one of the leading employment law practices both domestically and internationally. 

The team’s work comprises a mix of contentious and non-contentious matters for a diverse range of clients.  Our lawyers undertake a significant amount of business development, including giving seminars, producing Lewis Silkin branded publications and driving client relationships.  International advice is central to our practice and we are members of the Ius Laboris international alliance of employment lawyers. 

The Office Assistant will be based in the Hong Kong office of Lewis Silkin and will be responsible for the provision of day-to-day administrative support for the fee-earners based in the Hong Kong office, as well as assisting the office secretary with secretarial tasks as and when required.

• Answering the telephone and greeting clients in a helpful and professional manner, dealing with queries if able and ensuring messages are taken accurately and dealt with appropriately;

• Dealing with office deliveries and orders; including, but not limited to water, fruit, newspapers, coffee and other refreshments;

• Ensuring any office deliveries are correct; suppliers paid on a regular basis and accurate records are maintained;

• Under the direction and guidance of the head of the office deal with basic banking and insurance administration for the office;

• Dealing with the Hong Kong Law Society regulatory requirements including regulatory filings, applying for CPD points and other key regulatory requirements in accordance with local policies and procedures;

• Setting up internal meeting-rooms and clearing up afterwards.Assisting the Secretary scheduling internal and external meetings/events and ensuring all the arrangements are in place;

• A pro-active approach to ensuring that all administration work is completed on a timely basis, using own initiative to pre-empt matters that may arise;

• Photocopying and scanning documents as required.

General Office Support

• Ensuring the stationery cupboard is well stocked at all times;

  Overseeing the despatch of mail, organising couriers and opening and sorting in-coming mail and responding or distributing as appropriate;

• Liaising with local Hong Kong outsourced facilities, property and IT providers under the direction and guidance of the head of the office;

• Assisting with marketing activities including liaising with the London based Marketing team, preparation for seminars and other events as required, as well as proactively ensuring the database of clients and contacts is maintained and reviewed;

• Managing the petty cash float for the office and providing the London-based Finance team with monthly expenditure summaries;

• Preparation of expense claim forms for fee earners and passing these to the UK-based Finance team for processing;

• Booking, organising and co-ordinating travel for the Hong Kong team as required.

• Various other office support responsibilities as required by the secretary and other members of the team in accordance with the level of the role.

IT responsibilities

(Full training will be provided and no previous in-depth experience is required/expected)

• Patching in ports;

• Rebooting/switching on any servers;

• Local fixes to include - Setting up pcs, troubleshooting desktop hardware;

• Liaising with the local IT service company on day to day agreed issues;

• Instructing the local IT service company to attend site from time to time having agreed as necessary with Head of IT/IT Manager in London;

• Attempting local fixes (checking cables plugged in, unjamming printers, etc.).

Candidate profile

The successful candidate must have a professional manner and first class communication skills.  They must be highly organised with excellent administration skills.  They will be able to demonstrate a pro-active approach to their work and be able to work on their own initiative.  They must enjoy working in a collaborative team environment. They will need to have a flexible nature and a co-operative and willing attitude.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• Confidential and diplomatic approach in dealing with clients and colleagues alike;

• Comfortable speaking over the phone in a professional manner and able to build professional working relationships;

• Reliable, trustworthy, and punctual at all times;

• Experience of working to tight deadlines, multitasking and not losing sight of priorities;

• Accurate numerical skills;

• Excellent organisational skills and strong eye for detail;

• Professional in conduct and appearance;

• Proactive and able to work on own initiative without guidance but seeking help if necessary;

• Experience of using all office equipment (e.g. faxes, photocopiers, printers, phones, computer hardware & software, video conference equipment) and being prepared to troubleshoot where necessary, given the appropriate support from London Facilities/IT teams (although full training on our systems will be provided);

• Strong team player, with flexible, can-do attitude;

• Ability to work occasional overtime and to undertake business travel as requested.

IT skills required:

• Proficient IT skills - Office 2007, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Sharepoint, PDF Docs, Word Compare (Deltaview), document management systems and practice management systems, although full in house training will be provided.

Educational and professional qualifications required:

• Good spoken and written English;

• Fluent in Cantonese and ideally Mandarin.

Lewis Silkin is an equal opportunities employer.