Legal Assistant - Private Client
Department: Shakespeare Martineau - Agriculture & Wealth - Private Client - Private Client - 1302
Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time
Location: Nottingham
Reporting To: Lilly Toop
Description
Our Private Client team has a fantastic opportunity for a talented Private Client Legal Assistant to provide proactive and professional support to the wider Private Client team. Our experienced and approachable team works with families and professional advisers across the country.
We are a sociable, friendly team – busy and hardworking, while ensuring a good work/life balance. The work is varied and rewarding, with a good degree of autonomy and encouragement to develop.
For this role you will act as a trusted liaison between the fee earners and our clients as well communicating with our central teams internally to facilitate smooth and efficient outcomes for the team. Working as part of a large and friendly team providing assistance to the private client team you will be assisting with the following:
What you will be doing:
* Key point of contact on behalf of the Private Client team
* To assist fee earners in progressing the client files, to include speaking to the client, passing on correspondence, organising meetings with clients and referrers and other professionals such as accountants
* Initial client liaison in person and over the telephone, providing detailed notes of their enquiries and tracking ongoing progress. Arrange appointments with clients and provide comprehensive ongoing updates.
* Land registry, bankruptcy and lawyer check searches
* You will be required to make regular telephone/email communication with professional bodies, such as chasing banks, debtors, HMRC and the probate registry
* Arranging invoice payments and preparation of cheques for onward submission
* Drafting regular correspondence to Investment managers, auditors, clients, charitable organisations in relation to ongoing trust matters and preparing the regular payments and action donation requests
* Setting up payments to beneficiaries
* Preparation of Wills, Codicils, Lasting Powers of Attorney and other ancillary documents
* Basic Account reconciliation within Excel for Estate and Trust Accounts
* Drafting client contract letters and initial letters for probate files, utilising initial information provided by fee earners
* Collating information for fee earners ahead of client meetings
* Filing and file management - regular retrieval of physical files and both manual/electronic filing
* Updating Aderant and case management systems
* Handling incoming/outgoing post
* Diary management for senior fee earners, scheduling team meetings
* Recording expected payments and claiming unreferenced payments including foreign payments and cheque requests
* Engrossing Wills and ancillary legal documents
* Liaising with paralegals and other team members to ensure matters are progressed
* Supporting fee earners in other office hubs where needed, both remotely and in person if required
What you will need:
* Previous office administrative experience gained within a Private Client team or from within a legal or professional services environment
* Organised and methodical approach
* Confidence with IT systems, including Microsoft Word, Excel and ideally PowerPoint
* The ability to work well in a team and develop good working relationships with colleagues and clients, high levels of emotional intelligence and empathy
* Confident interpersonal skills with the ability to liaise openly and clearly
* Highly enthusiastic, willing to go the extra mile
* Open to new ways of working and happy to challenge to drive improvements
Benefits, Agile Working and Additional information
We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work.
We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it.
We have the following hubs across the UK: Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Sheffield, Solihull, Stratford upon Avon & Tunbridge Wells.
Want to find out more about our amazing benefits?
Additional information: Please be aware, for some vacancies, where we receive high numbers of applications we may need to bring the close date forward.
Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.
Equal opportunities: Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.
J-18808-Ljbffr