Personal Assistant – Legal
Salary: £30,000 per annum, plus company benefits
Location: Oxford, OX4 2HN
Contract: Full Time, Permanent
Shifts: 37.5 hours per week, Monday – Friday, 9am until 5:30pm with 1 hours unpaid lunch break
Work model: Fully onsite
Williams Lea seeks a Personal Assistant to join our team!
Williams Lea is the leading global provider of skilled, technology-enabled, business-critical support services, with long-term trusted relationships with blue-chip clients across investment banks, law firms and professional services firms. Williams Lea employees nearly 7,000 people worldwide, who provide efficient business services at client sites in often complex and highly regulated environments, from centralised Williams Lea onshore facilities, and through best cost company offshore locations.
Purpose of role
The role of the Personal Assistant is to provide enhanced, proactive support to fee earners to enable them to operate efficiently. The support provided needs to be a seamless legal service to clients. The Personal Assistant role is expected to use a high degree of self-management and initiative and to maintain a high level of confidentiality.
The Personal Assistant will act as workflow manager for other support services. This includes delegating and supervising the completion of document production, file management and copying/scanning work which are primarily undertaken by other relevant business support services.
Key responsibilities
In line with policies and procedures, key responsibilities include but are not limited to:
1. Proactively managing complex diaries
2. Answering telephone calls in a timely fashion, taking clear and detailed message
3. Organising internal and external meetings
4. Liaising with clients via email or telephone and acting as a point of contact in keeping with the firm’s standards for client care
5. Assisting fee earners in the billing and credit control process. Generating accurate billing reports, draft bills, and accompanying letters in a timely manner
6. Assisting fee earners with finance tasks, namely requesting cheques, CHAPS/BACS payments, bank transfers and paying in money received, as appropriate
7. Ensuring accurate and timely use of client relationship management tool to facilitate matter opening, maintenance, closure and archiving
8. Maintaining up to date client records on the firm’s client relationship management tool, including client contact details, client specific requests in relation to billing and bill formats, details of other parties etc in line with the firm’s policy and processes
9. Co-ordinating fee earner movements and making travel arrangements
10. Managing the client and matter inception process ensuring files are opened in a timely manner in accordance with the firm’s policies
11. Managing the process of submitting partner/fee earners expenses in a timely manner
12. Co-ordinating the completion of document production (including digital dictations/manuscript amendments), e-filing and file management, photocopying and scanning services, organising couriers, sending out of correspondence
13. Managing the production of official papers including bundles and relevant documents
14. Drafting documents from precedents
15. Liaising with fee earners and support staff based in other offices
16. Actively participating in all relevant training
17. Demonstrating flexibility with working practices/processes in line with the business need, especially in times of pressure/ high workload
18. Assisting other members of the department, both proactively and at the request of the team leader and work effectively with other legal and support departments as required
19. Any other relevant duties as reasonably requested by the fee earners or your line manager
Key Competencies
20. Previous experience in a PA role
21. Previous experience within a legal or professional services setting preferable
22. Exceptional standard of written and verbal communication
23. Proficient multi-tasker
24. Competent with the Microsoft Office suite
25. Team player
26. Excellent interpersonal skills
27. Proven experience in a similar role
28. Solutions focused
29. Have a high level of confidentiality and integrity
30. Exceptional attention to detail
31. Ability to remain calm under pressure and work within tight deadlines
32. Proactive
Rewards and Benefits
We believe in supporting our employees in both their professional and personal lives. As part of our commitment to your well-being, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including but not limited to:
33. 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays(pro-rata for part time roles)
34. Salary sacrifice schemes, retail vouchers – including our TechScheme which can be used on a range of gadgets such as Smart TV’s, laptops and computers or household appliances.
35. Life Assurance
36. Private Medical Insurance
37. Dental Insurance
38. Health Assessments
39. Cycle-to-work scheme
40. Discounted gym memberships
41. Referral Scheme
You will also have the opportunity to work for a global employer who is dedicated to offering each and every employee an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding career with future career development prospects!
Equality and Diversity
The Company values the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation and will not discriminate because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (which includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation (each of these being a “protected characteristic” in discrimination law). It will not discriminate because of any other irrelevant factor and will build a culture that values openness, fairness and transparency.
If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like to make a reasonable adjustment to enable you to make an interview please contact us at (we do not accept applications to this email address).