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 multi-disciplinary Real Estate group is highly regarded by our clients and within the sector. It comprises not only lawyers but town and country planners, RICS surveyors, property managers and sector focused financial advisers. We’ve brought experts into our services in planning, development, investment, landlord and tenant matters, construction and litigation with a particular emphasis on energy, retail, housing, education, finance and investment funds.

Our plot sales team deals with the legal aspects of plot sales for our clients, including planning, development, investment, construction, litigation and dealing with both landlord and tenant matters. The team regularly acts on behalf of some of the UK’s biggest house builders.

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 be offered on a fixed term contract of 6 months.

Your key duties will be:

• providing timely and effective support to other members of the team
• producing correspondence and documentation with accuracy
• providing support throughout the whole sale and purchase process; including inputting SDLT, carrying out searches and Land Registry applications
• taking phone messages and assisting, where appropriate
• using a case management system to process and progress files
• opening and distributing the post
• managing the opening, closure and archiving of files
• 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:

• ideally 6 months legal secretarial experience gained within a real estate team
• experience of inputting SDLT, carrying out searches and Land Registry applications
• a minimum grade C pass at GCSE (or equivalent) in English Language and Mathematics
• confidence with IT systems, including Microsoft Word, Excel and ideally PowerPoint

Key competencies you will need:

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

About you- you will be:

• 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.