Legal Assistant - Financial Services

Mills Oakley; Sydney; On-site; AUD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Parental leave up to 26 weeks

Paid superannuation

4 weeks leave purchase annually

Job summary

Clayton Utz in Sydney is seeking an experienced Legal Secretary to join our Financial Services team as a Practice Administrator (PA) on a full-time, permanent basis. You will provide high-quality administrative and secretarial support to one partner and a small team of lawyers, collaborating with PAs across the group for ad-hoc support.

This role emphasizes a proactive attitude, excellent communication, and strong organisational skills to ensure smooth practice operations, billing accuracy, and

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in a legal secretarial role supporting Partners or C-level executives.
• Proactive mindset with initiative and teamwork.
• Positive, friendly, solutions‑focused approach.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Flexible and collaborative with stakeholders.
• Organised, efficient, able to prioritise to meet deadlines.
• Experience with billing processes, including Aderant / CMS or similar software.
• Intermediate level skills with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.

Responsibilities

• Provide high‑level secretarial and administrative support.
• Diary management and arranging client meetings and travel.
• Manage phones, email, electronic diaries and voicemails.
• Oversee billing process and monthly client reporting.
• Inbox management and prompt authors where required.
• File and matter management, including opening/closing matters.
• Undertake conflict searches and prepare conflict emails.
• Manage practice expenses and financial hygiene.
• Administer quality and risk responsibilities for the Practice.

Skills

Diary management

Client meetings scheduling

Phone/email management

Billing processes

Conflict checks

Travel arrangements

People management

Microsoft Office

Tools

Aderant/CMS

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

We currently have an exciting opportunity for an experienced legal secretary to join our market‑leading Financial Services team in Sydney as a Practice Administrator (PA) on a full‑time, permanent basis. In this pivotal role, you will provide high quality administrative and secretarial support to one partner and a small team of lawyers. You will also work collaboratively with other PAs across the group to provide additional ad‑hoc support to other partners when needed. This team is highly collaborative with other members of the broader team and with other practice groups nationally. They actively promote a warm, positive and supportive team culture that thrives on face‑to‑face and human collaboration.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide high‑level secretarial and administrative support.
• Take charge of diary management, including organising client meetings and facilitating travel arrangements.
• Actively manage phones, email, electronic diaries and voicemails.
• Manage the billing process and accounts on a monthly basis, including client reporting requirements.
• Inbox management and proactively prompt authors where required.
• File and matter management, including the opening and closing of matters.
• Undertake conflict searches on the firm's database and prepare conflict emails with efficiency.
• Manage practice expenses, reporting and financial hygiene.
• Administer quality and risk responsibilities for the Practice, ensuring compliance at the highest level.

Skills & Experience

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in a legal secretarial role supporting Partners or C‑level executives.
• A proactive mindset – the ability to jump in, take initiative, and actively contribute to the smooth operation of the practice.
• A positive, friendly, solutions and team‑focused mindset.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A flexible and collaborative approach to working with different stakeholders and their unique styles.
• An organised, efficient approach to administrative tasks with the ability to effectively prioritise to meet deadlines.
• Experience with billing processes, including using Aderant / CMS or similar financial software.
• Intermediate level skills with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).

Why Join Clayton Utz?

At Clayton Utz, we’re more than just a law firm – we’re a community that values our people and their contributions. When you join us, you’ll enjoy:

• World‑class infrastructure and resources to keep your skills sharp and ahead of the curve, including leading AI platforms, Harvey and Claude.
• A focus on health and wellbeing, with initiatives to support your physical and mental health, including lifestyle and gym membership discounts via our partnership with AIA Vitality.
• Up to 26 weeks’ paid parental leave, with flexibility over two years, plus paid superannuation.
• The option to purchase up to 4 weeks of additional leave annually.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to provide a positive, barrier‑free recruitment process. Do you require any support or reasonable adjustments to complete your application? If so, please contact the recruiter via the above telephone number or via email to .

Agency submissions

Clayton Utz does not accept agency submissions unless the agency is specifically contacted by a member of the Clayton Utz Recruitment Team. Please do not forward candidate profiles or resumes to Clayton Utz partners, hiring managers or other employees – this will not constitute as an introduction to the firm and Clayton Utz will not be liable for a fee.