Legal Secretary

Shakespeare Martineau is a law firm with big ambitions for both our clients and our people. We are one firm of original thinkers, inspired to create an outstanding future for our clients, our people and our community. 

Working with organisations of all sizes our team delivers a broad range of specialist legal services, and has particular expertise across sectors including but not limited to; energy, education, banking & financial services, investment funds and advanced manufacturing.  

Our vision is to be the outstanding legal force in our specialist sectors and markets. Our people are renowned for their flair and individuality.  We recruit people who have a blend of excellent technical and business skills with the talent to do things differently.

We firmly believe that people and spirit are at the heart of everything we do. Our commitment is to help all our people fulfil their careers and ambitions and we strive to create an environment where each individual can understand and then achieve their full potential. Great performance for us is a blend of excellent technical and business skills and the talent and drive to do things differently.

Our highly skilled and experienced Private Capital group provide a wide range of services and advice empowering families to define their unique long-term goals and legacy. We undertake various Family and Private client work at all levels and across many sectors.

Our highly skilled and experienced Private Client Team, including 13 members of STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), provide a wide range of services and advice empowering families to define their unique long-term goals and legacy. We offer advice on the following areas of Private Client law: Capital Tax planning including advising on the most appropriate structures via Wills, Trusts & Family Investment Companies, the creation and administration of Trusts including tax compliance, accounting services and professional Trusteeship, administration of estates (simple to complex), Lasting Powers of Attorney and  Court of Protection work, the creation and administration of Charitable Foundations  and personal tax advice and compliance. Our clients’ profiles consist of family business owners, landed estates, newly acquired wealth, private individuals with inherited wealth and their families and Trustees of substantial trusts.

The role:

You will work as part of a team to provide secretarial and administrative support to help our legal teams deliver great service to our clients, this will include the following:

Your key duties will be:

• providing timely and effective support to requests for assistance from members of the team
• accurate production of correspondence and documentation, this includes the use of digital dictation
• attending to clients in person and on the phone taking messages and assisting where appropriate
• use of a case management system to process and progress files
• opening and distributing the post
• managing file opening, closure and archiving
• producing bills and other financial administration
• managing diaries for the team, planning and organising meetings and making travel arrangements
• organising and maintaining departmental filing systems and document storage
• photocopying, scanning, faxing, printing, filing and other general administrative tasks

Skills and experience you will have:

• fast and accurate audio typing skills
• previous experience working in a legal secretarial role, ideally within a private client team
• a minimum grade C pass at GCSE (or equivalent) in English Language and Mathematics
• confidence with IT systems to include Microsoft Word, Excel and ideally PowerPoint

Key competencies you will need:

• the ability to work well in a team and develop good working relationships with colleagues and others
• confident interpersonal skills with the ability to liaise openly and clearly with colleagues and clients
• to be able to produce a high standard of work, often to tight deadlines, whilst maintaining accuracy and good attention to detail
• ability to prioritise well and be able to cope with changing demands
• to be able to demonstrate professionalism, flexibility, initiative and self confidence

About you - you will be:

• interested in providing an excellent ‘audio typing’ service to the team
• highly enthusiastic, willing to go the extra mile and be happy to go beyond the job description
• respectful towards others and have a positive, willing and ‘can do’ attitude
• keen to learn, interested in driving your own career progression and be proactive in taking ownership of this

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.