Purpose of job
You will work in the Private Client team to provide professional, pro-active, high level secretarial support on a broad range of issues relating to estates and private property, tax and planning. You will work with an allocated fee earner or group of fee earners as well as supporting the wider fee earning team.
The team covers:
1. Will drafting
2. Succession planning
3. Tax efficient lifetime giving
4. Disputed Wills
5. Creation administration and termination of trusts
6. Advice to Trustees and Beneficiaries
7. Trust Taxation
8. Offshore trusts
9. Lasting Powers of Attorney
10. Administration of Estates
Accountabilities
Technical ability
11. To produce and amend documents with speed and accuracy
12. To format, paginate, number and present documents in Birketts LLP house style
13. To proof read all work, checking for spelling and grammar
14. To be a user of key software packages and take responsibility for any training needs to improve relevant skills needed to meet the needs of the business
15. To proactively work with the fee earners to ensure relevant documentation is produced to meet clients’ expectations and deadlines
16. Use of Isokon for the administration of estates would be a benefit
Administrative skills:
Manage diaries of allocated fee earners in Microsoft Outlook to include:
17. Familiarity with the creation and management of datarooms and file management processes
18. Making appointments
19. Arranging meetings/conferences
20. Sending and responding to invites
21. Process expense claims, payment requisition forms, returned advances
22. To process all forms including new client form, new matter form, money laundering form, training course booking forms etc.
23. To ensure that all electronic filing and paper based filing is up to date and maintained at regular intervals
24. To prepare narratives and bills and keep billing files up to date
25. To carry out photocopying and scanning as required
Professional Skills:
26. To immediately clarify instructions from fee earners should they be unclear or if deadlines are not made explicit
27. To respond to internal and external telephone enquiries politely and professionally and take accurate telephone messages (name /number /company), passing them on to the relevant fee earners etc.
28. To proactively support other members of the secretarial team and to provide cover as and when necessary to ensure that work is completed to a high standard and meets the required deadlines
29. To provide full support to fee earners in the full range of activities that are performed and to carry out any other duties as reasonably requested
General Approach:
30. To show a positive approach and interest in the work that your fee earners are undertaking
31. Show initiative when responding to queries and actively try to seek solutions to problems
32. To support your fee earners when clients are demanding the work product to be delivered
33. To support and build working relationships with your own fee earners as well as other members of the team and to actively work for the interests of the whole team
34. To support and build working relationships with your colleagues in the secretarial team and to actively get involved in working activities within the team
The candidate
You will have the ability to contribute at an operational level, with excellent communication skills and can demonstrate general skills in:
35. Strong administration experience
36. Positive, enthusiastic and professional approach
37. Strong attention to detail, high level organisational skills and reliable
38. Self-motivated with an ability to use own initiative with a desire to learn
39. A desire to share new processes to support the wider team
Skills
40. Strong typing speed of at least 50 wpm
41. Excellent spelling and punctuation
42. Excellent written and verbal communications
43. Ability to use discretion
44. Excellent IT skills, including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel
45. Positive and enthusiastic approach to team work
46. Good telephone manner
47. Adaptable and flexible
48. Self-motivated, ability to use initiative and provide pro-active support to fee-earners
49. Ability to pay attention to detail and check own work
50. Reliable and well organised
51. Ability to remain calm and work under pressure to meet strict deadlines
52. Commitment to ongoing learning and development
Equal opportunities
At Birketts, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth. Alongside a flexible and inclusive work environment, we offer the following core benefits:
53. 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays (rising with service up to a maximum of 30 days).
54. Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
55. Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
56. Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
57. Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme
58. Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
59. Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
60. Paid CSR Day
61. Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
62. Subsidised gym membership
63. Electric car scheme
64. Dress for your Day Policy
Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.
Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or sexual orientation.
We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates, and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.