We are looking for a Legal Secretary to support our Commercial Property team in our Maidstone office.
The Role
Alongside another Secretary, you will be carrying out a range of legal secretarial duties, supporting Legal Advisors in our Commercial Property team. You will be expected to efficiently utilise our systems and processes as part of your daily work to ensure the delivery of excellent client service and consistent contribution to the profitability of the team/firm.
The responsibilities of this role include:
Technical Ability
* Proactively work with Legal Advisors to ensure relevant documentation is produced to meet the clients’ expectations and deadlines
* Produce and amend documents with speed and accuracy as directed by / digitally dictated from Legal Advisors
* Proof read all work, checking for spelling and grammar
* Use key software packages and take responsibility for any training needs to improve relevant skills needed to meet the needs of the business
Administration
* Ensure that all electronic filing and paper-based filing is up to date and maintained at regular intervals
* Undertake file opening and closing activities
* Support Legal Advisors with file archiving
* Manage allocated Legal Advisors’ Microsoft Outlook Calendar
* Arrange appointments and book meeting rooms
* Prepare billing guides
* Send out invoices and other accounts related transactions
* Prepare deed packets
* Carry out searches with the relevant providers
* Liaise with the Land Registry to make applications and enquiries Complete SDLT returns
* Photocopying and scanning as required
* Processing incoming and outgoing post
* Engrossing documents
Professional Skills
* Liaise with clients in person, by telephone and email, including taking messages
* Attend team, partnership and training meetings as required
* Proactively support and collaborate with the other Secretary and provide cover as and when necessary to ensure that work is completed to a high standard and meets the required deadlines
* Provide full support to Legal Advisors in the full range of activities that are performed and to carry out any other duties as reasonably requested.
The team currently consists of nine team members including Partners, Associates, Solicitors, Paralegals, Legal Assistants and Secretaries. You will be expected to work in a team alongside fellow team members, as well as independently assisting with a range of interesting work.
Are you the right person?
Previous legal secretarial experience is desirable and experience of working within a Commercial or Residential Property team would be an advantage; although full supervision, training and development opportunities will be provided.
You should have strong IT skills including Microsoft Office, as well as the ability to learn new systems and processes quickly. If you are a confident, friendly and ambitious individual with a desire to gain valuable experience in a professional environment, we would like to hear from you.
You will need to demonstrate a high level of attention to detail and have a desire to complete your work accurately and to a high standard with excellent personal organisational skills. Additionally, strong communication skills are essential as you will be required to respond to clients and colleagues through written and verbal means.
You will need to be punctual, reliable and a real team player who is willing to be flexible to meet the needs of the team/firm. Due to the nature of our work, you must also be able to appreciate the need for discretion and confidentiality.
Why Brachers?
We’ve been delivering legal services for over 125 years and we’re passionate about enriching people’s lives with collaborative and client-focused legal support. We believe in empowering the people we work with to succeed, combining our legal expertise with innovation and great communication to achieve the right result and deliver on our promise, to be ‘with you all the way’.
This promise also extends to the wider communities we serve, as part of our belief in making a positive difference to our local area. That’s why, alongside our work with our clients, we focus on charitable giving, minimising environmental impact and fostering diversity and inclusion to contribute to a more sustainable future for our firm and our community.
Achieving our vision and ambition comes down to our people and at Brachers you’ll find people with drive and ideas underpinned by impressive skills and expertise, who see opportunity in challenge, embrace change and are committed to delivering the best service. We have an open, supportive and friendly culture, where collaboration and innovation are encouraged and where people feel happy. This is endorsed by feedback from our staff, which informed our accreditation by employee engagement specialist, Best Companies, as an ‘outstanding’ place to work.
We value the contribution each person makes to our firm and in return we invest in their professional and personal development so that they can progress and have a rewarding and interesting career. We’re proud to have created a workplace where our people are given the right balance of support and autonomy to take initiative, make decisions and take ownership of their career journey.
Alongside this, we offer a range of benefits, including a competitive salary, annual discretionary bonus scheme, annual salary reviews, hybrid working, pension, up to 27 days holiday per year, a paid volunteering day (in addition to holiday), life assurance, private medical insurance, group income protection, staff discounts, social events and much more