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| Main duties and responsibilities
A legal secretary’s principal role is to provide lawyers with the support they need to perform the task of providing legal services to clients. A legal secretary should help the fee earner to maximise the amount of time they are able to spend fee-earning and other essential non fee-earning tasks by assisting in the management of their day to day workload. The main duties of a legal secretary will therefore include:
• Monitoring post and/or e-mails and dealing with as appropriate and ensuring that all
client related correspondence is passed on to an appropriate fee-earner if the relevant
person is out of the office;
• Taking internal and external telephone queries, responding as appropriate and/or
ensuring that all messages are passed on in a timely manner ;
• Typing and amending of correspondence, documents, reports, faxes etc whether from
the digital dictation system or other sources;
• Photocopying, organising couriers, sending out of letters, faxes etc;
• Opening and closing of general files, general filing, record keeping and archiving of files;
• Drafting general and basic correspondence;
• Managing diaries, ensuring they are up to date and reminding fee-earners of meetings
etc on a daily basis;
• Maintaining, updating and being familiar with the fee earner’s contact and client lists;
• Using an effective system such as a to do list/reminders to ensure that longer term
tasks are completed;
• Arranging meetings, booking conference rooms, refreshments, checking rooms prior to
meetings etc and liaising with other attendees, both internal and external;
• Organising travel arrangements, booking and confirmation of reservations and dealing
with related invoices;
• Assisting the fee-earner in the billing and credit control process by liaising with the fee-
earner and Accounts department, to include the production of financial/time reports
through Elite and draft manual bills as necessary;
• Requesting cheques, bank transfers and paying in money received, as appropriate; and
• Liaising with the department’s Secretarial Coordinator over any planned absences,
arranging cover as necessary and communicating this to the relevant fee earners.
Other duties and responsibilities
In addition to providing support to the fee-earner(s) to whom they report, a legal secretary should also provide assistance to their immediate colleagues in their department and, where practical, other departments. Team duties will therefore include:
• Regularly checking the digital dictation system and assisting wherever possible with
any backlog;
• Assisting others in the department whenever there is spare capacity or it is evident
that a colleague needs assistance with their workload;
• Picking up telephone calls for other members of the department when they are away
from their desk;
• Participating in a lunch time telephone rota;
• Assisting other members of the department at the request of the Secretarial
Coordinator;
• Working effectively with other legal departments and support departments as
required; and
• Any other duties as reasonably requested by a person of an appropriate seniority.
Skills set
A legal secretary also has a responsibility to ensure that his or her skills set is up to date and he or she is familiar with the firm’s internal systems and procedures. This will ensure that he or she is able to carry out his or her role effectively and, where appropriate, discuss any training requirements with the relevant person(s).
Accurate typing speed of at least 65 words per minute
Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Word, Lotus Notes/Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, CMS, Elite, Winscribe and the Internet (training to be provided where appropriate)
Excellent telephone manner and, after training, competent knowledge of telephone system
Excellent communication, organisational and team skills
Excellent attention to detail
Flexible and dependable, able to take the initiative
Able to remain calm under pressure
We are especially interested in candidates with experience in Commercial and Dispute Resolution.
If you are interested in applying for this vacancy please submit a covering letter, together with your CV, by e-mail to career@capsticks.co.uk or, alternatively, by post to:
The Human Resources Department
Capsticks
77/83 Upper Richmond Road
London
SW15 2TT
Capsticks is an equal opportunities employer
Capsticks is committed to providing equal opportunities and encouraging diversity in employment. All job applicants will receive equal treatment regardless of sex, marital status, race, colour, nationality or national or ethnic origins, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
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