Legal PA- Dispute Resolution/Litigation

Role: Legal PA- Dispute Resolution/Litigation (Perm)

Hours: 9:30 to 5:30 (Hybrid)

Salary: Competitive

Location: Manchester

Duties & Responsibilities

Diary management:

• Ensure client meeting clashes do not occur
• Partners/fee earners have all the required materials for their client meetings
• Arrange meetings on behalf of partners/fee earners/clients
• Ensure business travel information is entered into calendars
• File management responsibilities - Opening and closing files including ensuring electronic filing systems are maintained accurately and up to date
• Mailbox management with the ability to prioritise, categorise and respond to basic client requests and draft responses accordingly
• Monitoring and being the gatekeeper to fee-earners' mailbox in their absence
• Communicate regularly with fee earners to ensure that both parties are clear on priorities and what is on the 'to do' list
• To undertake limited typing i.e urgent short documents (digital and non-digital dictation)
• Proactive client liaison including take messages, pass on information and deal with simple queries
• Pro-actively delegate work to the relevant secretarial resource e.g Document Production team, Practice Administration to ensure that PA time is maximised and the newly introduced model is being followed
• Management and co-ordination of the Partners’ billing and financial requirements which includes:-

Proactive billing and credit control:

• Check InTapp time to ensure that partners / fee earners time recording is up to date – remind where necessary and remind Partners / senior associates of final billing day for the month end
• Liaise with Billing for Partner WIP reports - run WIP reports, distribute to Partners and chase Partners for client matters numbers for printing billing guides and draft invoices
• Check with Partners/senior associates to ensure that all matters they want to invoice have been billed
• Build an understanding of each client's different billing requirements to ensure that invoices are not rejected
• Prepare specific draft billing narratives where required
• Prepare draft letters/emails to accompany sensitive invoices, thank you letters etc.
• Submit invoices on behalf of Partners and respond to clients on billing issues
• Build relationships with Client PAs/accounts departments to ensure that billing issues are resolved quickly

Marketing Support:

• Photography
• Liaise with Concierge to have new fee earner photos taken
• Saving photos in correct house style and in appropriate Marketing filesite folders
• Digital/Website
• Uploading and updating content on the website including; creating lawyer profiles, blogs and briefing papers
• Upload photography to fee earner profiles on the website
• Upload files to the website to create links for hyperlinking in emails
• Proof reading and hyperlinking keywords in the text to relevant target pages on all content added to the site
• Bids
• Collating and maintaining Master CVs for each fee-earner and sorting by partner, director and other grade
• Updating bids credentials lists with matters from Chambers after each directories round
• Credentials database – adding to it by practice and sector
• Bidding library - adding to it by sector and sub-sector
• Key information on Risk, Insurance, International and Financial

Business Development:

• InterAction – management of fee earners' contact data including recording BD activities, updating marketing lists, assisting with pipeline/opportunity updates
• Collating information for expressions of interests and credentials documents
• Providing About Us documents
• Organising conference calls on behalf of the fee earners
• Organising transport, accommodation and related documentation for international travel as required - produce itinerary as appropriate
• Assisting with workload of team members within practice group and across the firm as required
• Any additional ad hoc tasks as required

Other:

• Support with the opening of new clients with the firm's client onboarding platform, InTapp Intake.

Experience and Knowledge

• Legal PA experience
• Ability to liaise with Courts and Counsel
• Experience of producing court bundles (hard copies and soft copies) to a high standard.
• Time Recording
• Excellent diary management, organisation and prioritisation skills
• Communicate effectively and build good relationships with clients and staff within the firm
• Must work well as part of a team
• Competent, fast and accurate typist
• Competent at producing legal documents to a high standard
• Professional telephone manner and the ability to accurately record and pass on messages
• Sound technical skills in the following areas: Microsoft Office IT skills – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Outlook
• Proven document or case management skills
• Proven experience of using a legal computerised finance system
• Proven experience of using a Client Relationship Management system