Paralegal

Lewis Silkin works with leading businesses to protect and enhance their most important assets - their ideas, their people, their brand and their future. We call it: Ideas. People. Possibilities.

With offices in London, Oxford, Cardiff, Belfast, Dublin and Hong Kong, we are recognised by clients and industry alike as being distinct for our unique culture, market-leading practice areas, sector focused approach and for providing solutions to complex, multijurisdictional business challenges, with a pragmatic and human touch. We have two things at our core: people — both ours and our clients’— and a focus on creative, tech and innovative businesses.

Our culture is encapsulated by an ethos of bravery and kindness, guided by our values of Integrity, Clarity, Unity and Excellence (our ‘I-CUE’). We aim to provide a supportive environment for our people, clients and wider community and embrace diversity & inclusion, ensuring people are able to bring their full selves to work.

The CMI team

The CMI team is made up of leading advisers for creative, innovative and brand-focused businesses, offering a deep understanding of the industry sectors in which clients operate combined with real expertise across a wide range of legal services.

CMI’s lawyers have decades of experience both within the creative industries and as legal advisers with in depth knowledge and experience of the many sectors that make up the creative world, including advertising and marketing, entertainment and media, fashion, hospitality, technology, retail and sports.

The CMI team’s work comprises a mix of contentious and non-contentious matters.  We have a broad client portfolio, which is testament to the strength and expertise of our people. We undertake a significant amount of business development, including giving seminars, producing Lewis Silkin branded publications and driving client relationships. 

The Dispute Resolution team

We are looking for an enthusiastic and hardworking Paralegal to join our busy commercial dispute resolution team in Cardiff.

The commercial dispute resolution team sits within CMI.  It is an energetic and informal group with an impressive client base. It litigates high value and complex claims at all levels before the English Courts.  It regularly collaborates with lawyers internationally to resolve cross-border disputes. It handles major domestic and international arbitrations (ICC, LCIA, specialist tribunals and ad hoc) and makes effective use of all forms of ADR.

The commercial dispute resolution team has the capacity and experience to handle heavy claims and it consistently achieves excellent results.

The role will involve working alongside market leading partners and associates, handling a variety of commercial disputes. Typically our work involves contractual disputes, professional negligence, director and shareholder disputes, partnership disputes and insolvency issues. Whilst the team’s work is primarily litigation-focused, it also handles arbitrations, ADR and a variety of disciplinary, regulatory and statutory tribunals. 

The role would suit an experienced and talented paralegal with strong analytical capabilities and the confidence to shoulder responsibility for their own matters and deal directly with clients. Prior litigation experience, whether in-house or private practice, is welcome but not a pre-requisite.  We are looking for a team player who will participate fully in all aspects of the life of this strong and growing group.

Key duties and responsibilities:

• Legal and non-legal research
• Preparing ancillary documents such as trial bundles
• Drafting letters and other legal documents for review
• Support business development initiatives
• Analyse and input legal data
• Write initial drafts of articles for internal or external circulation
• Organise case files
• Attend court hearings
• Attend meetings with clients or third parties
• Companies House searches
• Generally assisting secretaries, associates and partners as requested

Abilities and desired qualities:

• Good eye for detail
• Excellent organisational skills, including the ability to manage multiple tasks or caseloads
• Ability to communicate at all levels, including excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong practical and analytical skills
• Ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure
• Enthusiasm
• Professionalism
• Punctual at all times
• Good team player
• The ability to work overtime when required
• Desire to develop your understanding of litigation
• A flexible and adaptable approach to your work

IT Skills required:

Office 365, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, DocsCorp PDF Docs, Word Compare (DocsCorp CompareDocs), Document Management System (Netdocs), Teams, Zoom, PLC (including Westlaw case research) although full in house training will be provided. Time recording (Intapp TIME)

At Lewis Silkin our ethos is simple. We strive to do the best for our clients, our people and the communities in which we operate. We recognise that an inclusive workplace allows for all kinds of ideas and thoughts, a variety of points of view that can trigger discussions or deliver innovative results, and a wide range of versatile skills and expertise. We are proud of the diversity within Lewis Silkin and of our culture that allows people to be themselves at work, ensuring we provide the best possible service to our clients. We are committed to finding the right person for this role and are open to discussing flexible working patterns and office location.