Litigation Legal Assistant

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 Litigation & Dispute Resolution group has a long-standing experience of working with some of the most successful and influential businesses in the UK and also internationally. Our specialist teams combine expertise with a sound understanding of the commercial landscape to provide exceptional solutions for every aspect of our clients’ corporate requirements.

Our experienced Construction & Engineering team is well known for being genuinely unique by the construction industry by including not only lawyers, but chartered construction professionals, including a building surveyor and chartered quantity surveyors, and an experienced tribunal member. We provide a legal and industry support service from inception to completion of construction projects with specialist ability to advise clients during life of contract/project to avoid disputes or lessen impact on progress of project/costs. We carry out all standard non-contentious and contentious work as well as specialising in managing risk in bespoke procurement. We also have significant experience in adjudication both as tribunal and representing parties. Our construction expertise spans across a range of sectors including commercial, industrial, healthcare, residential, retail and education.

The role:

You will provide fee earning support within our Construction & Engineering team to help deliver great service to our clients and will have the opportunity of conducting your own caseload under supervision. 

Your key duties will be:

• working closely with a partner  to provide excellent client service
• having regular contact with clients
• providing paralegal and administrative support to the team
• opening and closing files and conducting conflict searches
• dealing with general correspondence
• handling telephone calls, and handling queries and enquiries where appropriate
• producing forms and documentation
• drafting documents

Skills and experience you will have:

• 6 months previous experience in a paralegal or administrative role is desirable, not essential
• confidence with IT systems to include Microsoft Word, Excel and ideally PowerPoint

Key competencies you will need:

• good attention to detail and accuracy
• strong IT skills and fast, accurate typing ability
• willingness to work hard with drive and enthusiasm
• to be respectful towards others and have a positive, willing and ‘can do’ attitude

About you – you will be:

• self motivated and with a desire to succeed
• tidy, well organized and motivated
• able to self-manage and take ownership of problems
• 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

Ideally candidates will have a legal qualification and be interested to pursue a career in the law.

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.