We are looking for a legal support assistant to join our property team in London.
Roles and responsibilities
* Provide administrative and legal support to assigned fee earners, including timely dealing with dictations and email instructions in order of priority and/or emails, notes and other instructions given from assigned fee earners.
o Where possible, dictations which require significant typing/transcribing should be re-tasked to ATC; manage the timely return of the documents to the fee-earners
* Assist and work cooperatively with other LSAs to provide support to other/non-assigned fee earners as appropriate
* Prompt administration of files including:
o opening files – running conflict checks, obtaining AML documents, creating the e-file and all relevant sub-files
o initial conduct of matters – preparing template letters of engagement and terms of business (if client-specific, check LSA and populate rates/fee estimate for the fee earners to check/confirm); ordering searches and managing the timely return of the same; order title, plans and copy documents from LR; as appropriate, save down relevant precedent documents into the e-file
o ongoing conduct of matters – timely deal with queries raised by search providers, liaise with Post Completions Manager regarding drafting and preparation of LR and SDLT documents, updating reports accordingly
o closing files – organising deeds/documents and accounts/billing (see below), archiving
* Organisation of documents including printing and bundling of documents and engrossments, scanning and organising e-files, timely sending counterparts to relevant parties and/or uploading to relevant client extranets, creating deeds packets
* Accounts/billing responsibilities including dealing with accounts on receipts for monies in and out in accordance with our regulatory requirements, preparing WIP reports, allocating disbursements to matters, preparing draft bills for fee earners' approval, managing bill issuance process
* Collating, analysis and reporting of data as required by fee earners/clients
* Conference and meeting arrangements, diary management – includes diarising LR requisition response dates, SDLT filing dates, etc.
* Other ad hoc duties as required by fee earners
* Draft initial documents using BM precedents/as instructed by fee-earners – includes reports on title and contracts
* Assist with internal team communications
* Attend and participate in legal training sessions
* Participate with Business & Development/Marketing as appropriate
Skills / Experience Required
* IT literate and ability to adapt to new technologies and systems
* Intermediate in use of Word, Outlook and Excel, Teams, Zoom
* Excellent communication skills are essential (oral and written)
* Ability to work productively with Partners and staff across the team
* Able to engage fully with our clients and other professional and organisation contacts to provide an excellent service
* Awareness of GDPR and other regulatory requirements in order to achieve compliance
* Highly numerate
* Strong organisational skills
* Ability to prioritise
* Willing to learn and improve skills
* A willing team player
* Positive and enthusiastic approach
* Attention to detail and accuracy
* Adaptable, flexible and ability to multi-task
* Committed to rigour around treating all clients fairly
* Focused on attributing dedication, determination and loyalty to colleagues, clients and communities
* Able to demonstrate continuous development and diversity in thinking
* Understands and complies with Information Security responsibilities commensurate with this role including Data Protection and the duty of confidentiality
Blake Morgan is committed to adopting Smart Working practices, where appropriate in the context of business needs, and empowering colleagues to maximise their performance. Whilst we strive to ensure consistency of approach across the firm, there will inevitably be some differences in working practices across our business groups and business support functions. We consider each colleague's personal preferences, working styles and development needs when deciding the best arrangements to suit our clients and colleagues. A typical approach would be a blend of working in your usual office, working from another Blake Morgan office, working from a client's office and working from home. A Guide to getting the most out of Smart Working Policy is available for our colleagues. You will be a core part of the team and able to access the technology, support, training and resources you require.
Blake Morgan is one of the UK's leading full-service law firms, with offices in London, Wales, Thames Valley and the South Coast region. We provide our clients with practical and straightforward legal advice whatever their regional, national and international requirements. Our clients are commercial businesses, not-for-profit organisations, government agencies and private individuals.
Our business groups are:
Banking and Finance
Business Support Services
Commercial and Charities
Commercial Litigation
Commercial Recoveries and Travel
Construction
Corporate
Employment, Pensions, Benefits & Immigration
Private Client
Property Services
Regulatory
Our office locations and details of how to reach them are found here.
How to Apply
Please apply on our website through our Online Portal.
Closing Date: Within two months from date of posting but please note we are continually reviewing applications so we would recommend applying sooner rather than later.
Interviews: The interview process will start as soon as suitable candidates have been identified. We will notify you in advance if you are required to carry out a drafting exercise/skills test as part of the interview process.
If you have any questions, please email Rob Brown at rob.brown@blakemorgan.co.uk or telephone on 023 8085 7441.
Your personal data will be processed in line with our applicant privacy policy which explains how we treat your data.
Please note that we are currently only accepting CVs from direct applicants. We do not accept CVs from recruitment agencies unless terms and conditions have been agreed in advance with our Resourcing Team.
Benefits
Some of the benefits of working at Blake Morgan can be found here.