Role: Paralegal / File Handler / Fee Earner – Personal Injury Litigation
Location: Southampton
Contract: Permanent
Job Purpose:
Keoghs are seeking a Complex Injury Paralegal to join our Complex Injury Team in Southampton.
The role offers an excellent opportunity to gain experience in large loss and complex injury work including assisting on both catastrophic cases and large loss cases valued from £100k to £5M. You will also have the opportunity to develop your understanding of liability issues in motor claims.
We have two roles available at present working with Lead Lawyers in their specialist areas. The roles are based in our Southampton office and there is a requirement to attend the office 1 day per week.
In this role you will be required undertake a variety of file handling tasks to support a small team within our Complex Injury Claims Team. Your work will be supervised and feedback given as you develop your skills in this area. The role would particularly suit someone who already has experience working in a paralegal or similar role in a personal injury team and is looking to develop their skills and career in complex injury claims.
Key Accountabilities:
You will work as part of a team, supporting those with responsibility for progressing each file from receipt of papers from the insurer client to resolution of the claim. The role will include:
* Delivery of agreed performance targets and quality standards
* Preparing basic court documents; filing and serving court documents; and diarising of court orders and hearing dates
* Liaising with experts and counsel regarding CVs, fees and availability for conferences, JSMs and hearings
* Liaising with insureds and witnesses regarding attendance at conferences, JSMs and hearings. Drafting of witness summons.
* Liaising with courts regarding hearings, applications and consent orders
* Registering and updating CRU, notifying CRU of settlement
* Maintaining experts summary, interim payment records and offer history within case management system
* Arranging appointments for claimants to be seen by medical experts; chasing for reports; drafting medical records mandates; applying for records and police accident reports
* Review of medical records and drafting summaries of those reviews using the records review spreadsheet
* Review of photographic evidence and surveillance footage and preparing a precis of the evidence
* Redaction of documents to ensure legal privilege maintained and/or no GDPR breaches
* Fielding telephone calls and dealing with general queries received from parties involved in the claims including the insureds, insurers, experts and witnesses
* Arranging payments where required
* Conducting legal research.
Working Hours:
35 hours per week, Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm with 1 unpaid hour for lunch.
Primary location for this role is Southampton Office.
Essential Skills and Attributes:
1. Minimum education standard of 5 GCSEs grades 5 or above or A-C with established interest in law either through further education (e.g. LPC or ILEX) or experience within a legal environment
2. Experience of and understanding of the litigation process, preferably in a file handling role
3. Good telephone and communication skills with people at all levels inside and outside the business
4. An ability to organise and prioritise tasks using initiative
5. Calm under pressure with the ability to re-prioritise and delegate effectively when required
6. An ability to maintain attention to detail when dealing with repetitive tasks
7. Self-confidence, with good literacy and IT skills
8. Good team worker with the flexibility to do what is required to get a result and ensure client service levels are met
9. Ability to work effectively within the Keoghs shared values framework
Values
Our culture is focussed on making Keoghs sustainable and successful for our people and clients, with this our four values are at the heart of everything we do. Keoghs values:
ü We are connected
ü We are dynamic
ü We are innovative
ü We succeed together