The departmentWe have one of the best regarded and largest dedicated property departments within the country, numbering over 100 specialists. Our property lawyers are particularly experienced in dealing with development and investment, planning, secured lending and landlord and tenant matters.Our lawyers come from a range of backgrounds, including major City practices, other major national and regional firms, industry and local government and include individuals with construction, planning and commercial expertise. The depth and range of expertise means the team can work together in major and complex transactions on cost effective terms, providing our clients with true value for money. The team currently comprises a number of specialist qualified Commercial Real Estate solicitors and Partners, making us one of the largest Commercial Real Estate teams in the East of England.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.The property team has experience in all areas of contentious and non-contentious legal matters, representing clients from a broad range of public and private organisations as well as individuals and senior executives and we are proud to act for sector leading clients nationwide and some of the East of England’s most important businesses and institutions.Purpose of jobThis is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious Secretary to join our successful and growing Commercial Real Estate team in Ipswich. We are seeking someone who will work as a member of our existing team of secretaries and administrators to support the lawyers in all aspects of their work. We are looking for the right person for this role, and all applicants will be considered on their individual merits, regardless of their prior experience – we are as happy to work with someone at the start of their career as we are someone with decades of experience; what matters to us is your ability to work effectively and efficiently as part of a team, supporting others and being supported by them. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with our lawyers in delivering excellent client service on the full range of Commercial Real Estate deals, both locally and nationally, including residential and commercial development, investment sales and purchases, leasing and asset management (acting for both landlords and tenants), real estate finance and general advisory work. AccountabilitiesTechnical ability:Producing and amending documents with speed and accuracyFormatting, paginating, numbering and presenting documents in house styleProof reading all work, checking for spelling and grammarA user of key software packages and applications, including the Land Registry portal, DocuSign and third party search providers, and taking responsibility for any training needs to improve relevant skills needed to meet business requirementsWorking proactively with colleagues to ensure documentation meets client expectations and deadlinesProcessing property searches, responding to search provider queries and collating/tracking results for lawyers to review.An understanding of ledgers and the ability to deal with any enquiries relating to credit/debits and client account balances. Administrative skills:Managing the diaries of lawyers in Microsoft Outlook to include: Making appointmentsArranging meetings/conferencesSending and responding to appointmentsBooking restaurantsProcessing expenses claims, payment requisition forms and returned advancesMaintaining and updating accurate client and other contact details on our databaseProcessing forms including new client forms, new matter forms, money laundering forms, training course booking forms and similarEnsuring that all electronic and paper filing is up to date and maintained at regular intervalsPreparing narratives and bills and keep billing files up to dateCarrying out photocopying and scanning as requiredScheduling deeds and documents and making arrangements for their storageAssisting lawyers with their file management, including monitoring inactive files and dealing with file closing formalities.Professional Skills:Promptly clarifying instructions should they or deadlines be unclearResponding to internal and external telephone enquiries politely and professionally, taking accurate telephone messages, and passing them to the appropriate personSupporting other secretarial team members proactively and providing cover when necessary to ensure that work is completed on time and to a high standardProviding full support to lawyers in the full range of their activities and carrying out any other duties as reasonably requested.General ApproachShowing a positive approach and interest in the work of our teamShowing initiative when responding to queries and actively trying to solve problemsSupporting the lawyers to meet clients’ demandsBuilding and maintaining strong working relationships with other members of the team, including lawyers and other secretaries and administrators, and actively working in the interests of the whole firm.The candidateSecretarial qualification or educated to GCSETyping speed of at least 50 wpmExcellent spelling and punctuationExcellent written and verbal communicationsAbility to use discretionExcellent IT skills, including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and ExcelPositive and enthusiastic approach to teamworkGood telephone mannerAdaptable and flexibleSelf-motivated, ability to use initiative and provide pro-active support to fee-earnersAbility to pay attention to detail and check own workReliable and well organisedAbility to remain calm and work under pressure to meet strict deadlinesCommitment to ongoing learning and development
Job Title
Legal Secretary