We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Legal PA to join our leading Dispute Resolution practice.
In day-to-day business as in life, conflict can be unavoidable. Our team of highly experienced dispute experts offers specialised, professional and strategic commercial advice when it matters most. Skilled in litigation, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution procedures such as mediation, our lawyers are committed to the client's best outcome.
Inclusiveness and Diversity
At Fieldfisher, led by the social model of disability, we are working towards removing accessibility barriers and maximising disability and neurodiversity inclusion in our recruitment processes.
Should you have any accessibility requirements, please contact a member of Fieldfisher's Recruitment Team who will work with you to implement suitable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. All conversations are treated in the strictest of confidence and we would appreciate your feedback to ensure we can provide an accessible and enjoyable recruitment process.
For accessibility information on our Birmingham offices, please visit our website.
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 (Fieldfisher uses Microsoft 2010)
- Proven document or case management skills (Fieldfisher use Worksite)
- Proven experience of using a legal computerised finance system
- Proven experience of using a Client Relationship Management system (Fieldfisher use InterAction)