Litigation Legal Assistant

Shakespeare Martineau is a Top 50 law firm that combines creativity, commerciality and clarity. We work with blue-chip companies, leading organisations, high street brands and individuals across the country.

As enterprising and original thinkers, we’re driven to create exceptional experiences for our clients and our people. We handle personal and business-critical issues and game-changing deals across many dynamic sectors. It’s stimulating and rewarding.

We’re hardworking and deeply ambitious about creating opportunities for our employees; to move forward and achieve our ambition together. We provide an environment in which you’re supported to reach your potential.

Our people have a blend of excellent technical and business skills with the talent to do things differently.

Here you’ll find top quality work, cutting edge training, high profile clients, and supportive colleagues. We think it could be time you joined us.

Our Volume & Consumer Business has been set up to deal with the needs of both businesses and the consumer.

Our Clinical Negligence team deals solely with the needs of claimants. We advise clients who have suffered physical, mental or economic loss as a result of negligent healthcare professionals and guide them through the initial investigation into their claim and thereafter proceeding through the pre-action and post issue phases of County and High Court litigation. We also regularly attend out client’s inquests. Our specialist team have dealt with thousands of claims against hospital trusts, private healthcare providers, care homes, individual GPs and dentists on a variety of different injuries ranging from low to high severity, with particular expertise in relation to fatal claims, industrial disease cases, amputations, brain injury and multiple injuries. We also represent clients in relation to alternatives to litigation, including mediation.

The Clinical Negligence Team is rated in the top tier in both Legal 500 and Chambers .We appear regularly in local and national newspapers , as well as TV and social media . We are one of the fastest growing teams in the Firm.

The role:

We are looking for a Litigation Legal Assistant to join our London-based Clinical Negligence team, part of our firm’s Volume & Consumer group. 

You will provide fee earning support to the team and to help deliver great service to our clients.

Your key duties will be:

• assisting a partner and team on litigated multi-track clinical negligence claims
• co-working with other team members on a  caseload of contentious clinical negligence claims and being responsible for your own diary management
• considering liability by assessing evidence and establishing responsibility
• negotiating liability or quantum with defendant solicitors or insurers
• drafting your own legal proceedings (precedents provided) and dealing with all aspects of litigation / compliance with the civil procedure rules, following through to briefing counsel to attend trials
• instructing counsel to attend hearings, where necessary
• drafting your own correspondence and witness statements etc. (precedents available for witness statements)
• maintaining client relationships
• carrying out general administration tasks to include archiving, billing, file management (filing etc.) for yourself and the other two fee earners in the team
• undertaking conflict searches
• assist on PR/Social media/TV/Google initiatives
• working closely with medical experts

Skills and experience you will have:

• a legal qualification (or equivalent) is not essential but advantageous
• 12 months’ previous experience of legal work at paralegal or higher level
• confidence with IT systems to include Microsoft Word and accurate typing ability
• good letter-writing skills

Key competencies you will need:

• an ability to work in and contribute to a close team environment
• good communication skills - good telephone manner and ability to negotiate on the telephone
• an ability to respond to sudden client demands
• to have an analytical, problem solving outlook
• a pro-active approach in settling claims

About you – you will be:

• motivated and with a desire to succeed
• tidy, well organised 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.

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.