Secretary

Term: Permanent Working hours: Full-time Reports to: Secretarial Coordinator Department: Employment Location: Flexible (London or Leeds) The firm Lewis Silkin works with leading businesses to protect and enhance their most important assets - their ideas, their people, their brand and their future. We call it: Ideas. People. Possibilities. With offices in London, Oxford, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Belfast, Dublin and Hong Kong, we are recognised by clients and industry alike as being distinct for our unique culture, market-leading practice areas, sector focused approach and for providing solutions to complex, multijurisdictional business challenges, with a pragmatic and human touch. We have two things at our core: people — both ours and our clients’— and a focus on creative, tech and innovative businesses. Our culture is encapsulated by an ethos of bravery and kindness, guided by our values of Integrity, Clarity, Unity and Excellence (our ‘I-CUE’). We aim to provide a supportive environment for our people, clients and wider community and embrace diversity inclusion, ensuring people are able to bring their full selves to work. The department The Employment, Immigration and Reward Division is one of the leading employment law practices in the UK and consistently top ranked by independent legal directories, we have more recognised experts in employment than any other UK firm. With over 150 lawyers, Lewis Silkin’s employment and immigration team offers an unrivalled service supporting clients, including many of the world’s leading businesses, on their HR, employment and immigration law needs domestically and internationally. The work of the team as a whole is a mix of contentious and non-contentious matters, for a wide range of clients. The lawyers undertake a significant amount of business development and knowledge-sharing including giving seminars, training the team and creating content for various channels and publications. There is a significant international element to the Division’s work, largely on account of its membership of the Ius Laboris international alliance of employment lawyers. Responsibilities Providing first class support to allocated Partners and Associates within the Employment, Immigration and Reward division. Acting as their ‘ambassador’ both within the firm and externally, being the first point of contact for clients and colleagues. Producing accurate and timely legal documentation and correspondence as required alongside handling administrative duties on behalf of allocated Partners and Associates. Key duties and responsibilities: Be the first point of contact for clients, dealing with them efficiently and appropriately – liaising with them to deal with any queries or issues if able to. Fielding as many calls and matters as possible; Build a working knowledge of the legal area of expertise of allocated Partners and Associates; Ensure sensitivity and confidentiality when dealing with clients, colleagues and private matters on behalf of allocated Partners and Associates; Build a strong knowledge of the firm’s Strategy and an understanding of how the work of allocated Partners and Associates fits with this Strategy; Co-ordinate billing/credit control and accounting matters relating to clients of allocated Partners and Associates including drafting bill requests, bill narratives, and chasing clients for payment of unpaid bills as required; Maintain allocated Partners and Associates diaries by liaising with them on a regular basis to discuss forthcoming appointments and any required arrangements; Schedule internal and external meetings, ensuring that all arrangements are in place and any required materials and documentation are prepared in good time; Assist with marketing activities as required including liaising with the Marketing team and assisting with the preparation for seminars and other events as required; Assist with the preparation of client correspondence and documents as required; Answer the telephone in a helpful and professional manner, dealing with queries if able and ensuring messages are taken accurately and dealt with appropriately; Develop a sufficient knowledge of the division’s work to be able to work with any of the Partners and Associates or with colleagues from the other division when necessary; Build a sufficient knowledge of files and matters to be able to support allocated Partners and Associates in assisting clients and others, as appropriate, in their absence; Take an active part in developing own role and working to provide increasing support for allocated Partners and Associates – ensuring suitable training is undertaken; Assist with workload of secretarial colleagues as required; Any other duties as required in line with the level or the role. Candidate profile: The successful candidate will be experienced at working at a high secretarial level and have a good understanding of how a law firm operates. They must have a professional manner and first-class communication skills. They must be highly organised with excellent administration skills. They will be able to demonstrate a pro-active approach to their work and be able to work on their own initiative, being confident in their own judgement. They must enjoy working in an involved team environment. They will need to have a flexible nature and a co-operative and willing attitude. Specialist experience: We are looking for someone to have at least three years’ legal secretarial experience (ideally within the relevant area of law). Abilities and desired qualities: Excellent typing skills (at least 70 wpm audio/copy typing) as well as accurate numeracy skills; Good eye for detail – a high level of accuracy is essential; Excellent organisational and administration skills – must be highly organised and able to organise others; Ability to manage a heavy workload and support a number of people; Ability to work to tight deadlines in a pressurised environment; A confident and natural communicator - able to communicate at all levels; Ability to be proactive and to work on own initiative without guidance but seeking help if necessary – confidence to use own judgement in relation to current duties, client needs, etc; Ability to motivate and train other members of the secretarial team; Team player and enthusiastic – flexible and willing to take on extra responsibilities to support allocated Partners and Associates and divisional or firm objectives. IT skills required: Proficient IT skills – Microsoft Office 365; Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, Sharepoint, PDF Docs, Word Compare (Deltaview), document management systems and practice management systems, although full in-house training will be provided. Educational and professional qualifications required: Good grammatical English - at least to GCSE standard or equivalent. Additional information At Lewis Silkin our ethos is simple. We strive to do the best for our clients, our people and the communities in which we operate. We recognise that an inclusive workplace allows for all kinds of ideas and thoughts, a variety of points of view that can trigger discussions or deliver innovative results, and a wide range of versatile skills and expertise. We are proud of the diversity within Lewis Silkin and of our culture that allows people to be themselves at work, ensuring we provide the best possible service to our clients. We are committed to finding the right person for this role and are open to discussing flexible working patterns and office location.