Paralegal

Shakespeare Martineau is a leading law firm that combines creativity, commerciality and clarity. We work with blue-chip companies, leading organisations, high street brands and individuals across the country.

Our multi-disciplinary team delivers a broad range of specialist legal services, and particularly stands out for its expertise across sectors including, but not limited to: energy, education, banking and financial services, investment funds, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. 

We’re proud of our people’s varied backgrounds and expertise. Our different qualities stand out and make us interesting to our clients.

We firmly believe in working hard and being ambitious. We look to recruit and develop talented people to achieve their potential - and who will contribute to achieving ours too.

Here you can fulfil your ambitions, whatever they are and however rapidly you want to achieve them. Together, and individually, we create exceptional results.

Our Corporate and Commercial group undertakes various corporate, commercial, tax, banking and employment work at all levels. Our specialist teams combine unsurpassed expertise with a sound understanding of the corporate landscape to provide exceptional solutions for every aspect of our clients’ corporate and business law requirements.

Our Employment team provides commercial, practical advice to employers and senior employees on all aspects of employment law. The team comprises a number of highly skilled litigators and is known for its successful handling of Employment Tribunal litigation, including large complex discrimination cases, and largely undertake our own advocacy in Tribunals. We also have experience of dealing with cases in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and European Court of Justice. Our specialist lawyers train and advise managers to handle staff effectively and to deal with disputes where and when they arise, including fighting court and tribunal cases where necessary. We have a strong, local, national and multinational corporate client base, particularly in industry sectors such as education, logistics, food and drink, retail, transport and manufacturing. The team also includes specialist advisors on business immigration and provide that support to many clients in most sectors.

We currently advise over 100 Further and Higher Education institutions across England and Wales, including some of the biggest names in the sector. We are recognised as one of the leading firms advising the sector nationally and are ranked tier one in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners UK. Aside from our university and college client base, we also act for a number of sector bodies and regularly participate and speak at sector conferences and events. We advise on constitutional and regulatory matters; corporate governance; freedom of information and data protection; student relations and disputes; and international ventures.

The role:

We are looking for a Paralegal to join the Education and Employment team. This role will focus predominantly on Employment work.

Your key duties will be:

• opening all new files, including carrying out all necessary money laundering procedures and producing standard letters and documents where applicable
• attendance at client meetings alongside more senior fee earners
• taking attendance notes
• dealing with telephone enquiries from clients and third parties
• making telephone calls to clients and third parties
• drafting correspondence to third parties and clients
• drafting and preparing responses to claims
• preparation and collation of trial bundles in readiness for court deadlines
• collation and review of witness statements and other information
• legal research
• drafting instructions to counsel
• keeping a strict diary note of deadlines and timescales whilst in control of the file
• dealing with general file maintenance and closure including dealing with financial balances
• generally providing support and assistance to the team on ongoing client matters

Skills and experience you will have:

• ideally some previous paralegal experience in employment law
• an ability to work well under pressure and deal efficiently with a busy workload whilst maintaining a high degree of accuracy
• enthusiasm and a keen interest in this area of work
• the ability to process information accurately
• an organised and methodical approach to work
• competent IT skills

Key competencies you will need:

• 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
• to be able to demonstrate flexibility, initiative and confidence in your own ability
• willingness to learn

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.