The firm DMH Stallard is an award winning South East law, Legal 100 firm with offices in London, Brighton, Gatwick, Guilford, Horsham and Hassocks. DMH Stallard has grown rapidly since it was established in 1970, and has a headcount of approx 380. Our firm provides a comprehensive range of commercial, dispute resolution and litigation, employment, cyber security and cyber-crime, corporate, intellectual property, real estate and technology, media and telecoms advice to both businesses and individuals. Our clients, our people and our professional networks are the keys to our success. Culture really matters to us. In our most recent staff survey, 98% of our people said DMH is a great place to work, with 90% feeling they have a strong work-life balance, and 92% expressing confidence in the leadership team. We’re committed to building a genuinely inclusive and supportive workplace. Our Women in Law group meets quarterly, and we’re actively working toward gender balance at all levels. We already exceed the industry average, with 40% of our partners being women compared to the sector average at 29%. DMH Stallard are especially proud to achieve gold accreditation from Investors in People, which reflects our strong commitment to people development and leadership. The department Our Planning Team is one of the largest teams of chartered planning consultants within a law firm anywhere in England, providing planning consultancy and advising on a range of issues concerning planning law, environmental law, compulsory purchase, infrastructure and highways. Job Purpose: To provide administrative assistance and technical/legal support to the solicitors and planners within the legal planning and planning consultancy teams in Gatwick. To conduct a variety of tasks to include: Administrative: general administrative tasks and support, speaking to clients and contacts on the telephone, taking messages, arranging meetings and diary management, printing, scanning, photocopying, saving documents and e mails to case plans, binding, preparing engrossments, drafting basic correspondence, assistance with time recording, co-ordinating monthly billing (draft and proforma bills), preparing fee/time breakdowns and reviewing billed fees against quote, sending bills to clients, raising cheques/payment requests and receipts, typing and formatting documents, digital dictation, proof reading, file opening and file closing, preparing client welcome packs, conflict of interest checks, file review support, management of Planning Group e mail inbox, support to Group Head as Treasurer of Constructing Excellence Sussex Club. Legal/technical: preparing court bundles, updating matter spreadsheets for clients, working on basic legal documents, uploading documents to portals, research (i.e. planning histories etc.), submitting planning applications, assistance with pitch documents. We would expect your role to develop as you gain experience but with the role remaining flexible, based on the mix of work at a given time, some of the legal/technical work will be fee earning. Responsibilities and Duties: Personal To participate and contribute to the Planning team and the larger Real Estate group to ensure an effective working environment and to support the other team members. To attend the Firm’s training programme and other relevant technical training to ensure that skills and knowledge remain up-to-date. To attend and contribute to group meetings. Legal/Technical To carry out various tasks as and when required to support the solicitors and planners in the team i.e. - preparing court bundles - updating matter spreadsheets for clients - working on basic legal documents - uploading documents to portals - research - submitting planning applications and appeals/applications on line via the Planning Portal - collating necessary documents for planning application/appeal submissions - submitting online Representations on planning schemes - assisting with BD initiatives, pitch documents, presentations, articles etc. To prepare correspondence and documents from precedents in compliance with DMH Stallard house style guide and client instructions. Time recording. To deliver a high quality service to clients, dealing with them on the telephone, e mail and face-to-face in client meetings. Administrative To carry out general administrative tasks to support other team members - filing, printing, scanning, photocopying etc. To prepare correspondence and documents from audio dictation and manuscript in compliance with DMH Stallard house style guide, including formatting and proof reading. To provide initial drafts and quality bound engrossments for client signature. To complete standard forms without fee earner assistance and produce standard correspondence without dictation. To review incoming post and email and add to ‘Imanage’ and deal as necessary. To deal with general telephone enquiries and resolve specific enquiries, receive and relay messages to and from clients and other professionals on behalf of fee earners. To attend to clients to arrange appointments, take messages, receive and deliver documents, arrange for the signing of documents, take detailed instructions and action where appropriate. To produce fee breakdowns for clients on request, send out bills and monitor financial state of files and chase payments where necessary. To arrange payment of invoices for external suppliers, raise cheques and deal with payment requests and receipts. To maintain and manage fee earners diaries and keep Group diary and sickness records. To carry out conflict of interest checks. To assist with file opening via “Ignite” and prepare client welcome packs. To close files and manage storage. To assist other team members by reviewing fees billed against estimates on matters and updating clients where necessary. To assist with file and document management to include daily filing. To produce draft bills and occasional manual bills. To assist fee earners with time recording where necessary. To request plans and office copies from the Land Registry on line system. To maintain and update third party register. To provide administrative support to Constructing Excellence Club Membership Treasurer, to include raising yearly invoices and maintaining membership spreadsheet. To arrange meetings both internal and external. To process expenses forms. To assist with setting up precedents and risk management protocols, including assistance with file reviews and maintaining file review database. To arrange holiday/sickness cover as required through HR. Ability to work additional hours as required. Risk To be fully familiar with the Money Laundering and FSMA Policies and Procedures and to ensure full compliance with them. To conform to the risk management procedures as stated by the Firm. To attend regular meetings with the group to review all current work and workloads. Other information Knowledge, Skills and Experience required: Previous legal or planning work experience or academic knowledge or secretarial experience with a desire to grow into a part fee earning role. Excellent IT skills with experience in Word, Imanage, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Office Practice and Internet. Ideally previous experience of digital dictation and a case management system. Ability to use track changes, and/or other comparison software such as CompareDocs as appropriate Excellent administrative and organisational skills. Excellent telephone manner. Good level of numeracy. Good standard of written English and grammar, equivalent to GCSE B or above. Attention to detail. Ability to communicate well orally and in writing, including dealing directly with clients when required. Strong team working ethic and ability to provide support to other team members. Flexibility. Ability to identify problems and comply with Firm’s risk management policy. Ability to work well under pressure and be proactive. Ability to effectively manage time to achieve client and internal deadlines. Benefits: 25 days holiday (of which 3.5 are taken during the Christmas period), plus Birthday holiday, plus Bank Holidays. Life Assurance Private Healthcare Employee Assistance Programme Sodexo Discounts Pension Scheme Interest free season ticket loans Cycle to work scheme Discounts on Legal work