Paralegal

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 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 Social Housing Sales team is one of the largest in the Midlands specialising in all aspects of property acquisition and disposal for more than 60 Registered Providers across the country. We lead our competitors in the delivery of extracare housing for people over the age of 55. In the last 12 months we have disposed of more than 250 void residential dwellings, 450 extracare properties and 300 shared ownership units.

The role:

We are looking for a paralegal to join the vibrant Social Housing Sales team, part of the firm’s Real Estate group.

The role is to work with the team to provide a high quality legal service to Housing Association clients, dealing with a variety of sale transactions including shared ownership, ‘right to buy’ and large volume staircasing.  The role will also provide technical support to the team including lease extensions and dealing with site set ups.

Your key duties will be:

• providing paralegal and administrative support to a large team
• dealing with Housing Association clients in a professional manner, and maintaining close contact
• liaising regularly with Housing Associations, and providing regular updates within specific timeframes on progress with plot sales
• handling own caseload
• handling queries and enquiries efficiently
• providing technical support to the team
• maintaining good file management
• working to strict deadlines
• participating in department and team meetings in a positive and proactive manner

Skills and experience you will have:

• a minimum of 12 months practical experience of social housing conveyancing work
• previous responsibility for dealing with shared ownership, ‘right to buy’ and large volume staircasing

Candidates will receive additional training from senior members of the team

Key competencies you will need:

• strong IT skills
• a high degree of initiative and an ability to cope in a demanding environment
• to be tidy, well organised and motivated
• to be able to self-manage and take ownership of problems
• the ability to work well in a team and develop good working relationships with colleagues and others
• good communication skills with the confidence to liaise openly and clearly with colleagues and clients
• the ability to produce a high standard of work, sometimes under pressure, whilst maintaining accuracy and good attention to detail

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

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.

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.