The firm
Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.
The department
The team currently comprises over 28 specialist lawyers, including eight partners. We have the strength and depth of expertise to ensure we deliver the service you would expect in respect of technical quality, practical approach and timeliness of advice. We act as trusted advisers to individuals, families, family or owner-run businesses both in the UK and internationally. The team won the Lexis Nexis award for the best family team to work for in 2024. We are a collaborative and supportive team and pride ourselves on our sense of community and belonging.
Purpose of job
You will work in the Family Team to provide professional, pro-active, high level secretarial support on a broad range of issues relating to all aspects of the family law services we offer.
You will work from our Chelmsford office and provide support to our fee earners in the London office. The team covers:
Divorce
Separation
Relationship difficulties
Modern Families - includes surrogacy, adoption, fertility law
International family issues
Pre and post marriage agreements
Children arrangements
Mediation
One Couple One lawyer
Arbitration
Financial arrangements
Accountabilities
Technical ability:
To produce and amend documents including PDF court bundles with speed and accuracy.
To format, paginate, number and present documents in Birketts LLP house style
To proof read all work, checking for spelling and grammar
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
To proactively work with the fee earners to ensure relevant documentation is produced to meet clients' expectations and deadlines
Administrative skills:
Manage diaries of fee earners in Microsoft Outlook
To scan and save incoming and outgoing post
Familiarity with the creation and management of datarooms and file management processes
To add and amend data on Intapp, including contact details intermediaries, and referrals into and out of the team
To open new clients and to open and close matters and carry out conflict checks where appropriate
To complete the client engagement process, including preparing letters of engagement and sending Thirdfort invitations
Making appointments
Arranging meetings/conferences
Sending and responding to invites
To arrange payments
To ensure that all electronic filing and paper based filing is up to date and maintained at regular intervals
To keep team spreadsheets up to date
To carry out photocopying and scanning as required
Be the coordinator for mediation enquiries and matters
The candidate
You will have the ability to contribute at an operational level, with excellent communication skills and can demonstrate general skills in:
Strong administration experience
Positive, enthusiastic and professional approach to all work
Reliable
Strong attention to detail and high level organisational skills
Self-motivated with an ability to use own initiative and a desire to learn
A desire to share new processes to support the wider team
Skills
Strong typing speed of at least 50 wpm
Excellent spelling and punctuation
Excellent written and verbal communications
Ability to use discretion
Excellent IT skills, including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel
Positive and enthusiastic approach to team work
Good telephone manner
Adaptable and flexible
Self-motivated, ability to use initiative and provide pro-active support to fee-earners
Ability to pay attention to detail and check own work
Reliable and well organised
Ability to remain calm and work under pressure to meet strict deadlines
Benefits
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:
25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays
Long Service holiday award - 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme
Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
Paid CSR Day
Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
Subsidised gym membership
Electric car scheme
Agile/Hybrid Working Policy
Dress for your Day Policy