Engagement & Client Terms Paralegal

Exchange House Services Ltd - London; Greater London; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is seeking a diligent paralegal to support the General Counsel and Risk teams with engagement letters and client terms across matters. You will manage the lifecycle from request to filing, ensuring accuracy, compliance and timely escalation where needed.

You will liaise with partners, lawyers and business development to maintain records, log documents, and update matter registers while supporting audits and billing readiness.

Qualifications

• Degree educated or similar level.
• LPC qualified desirable.
• Previous paralegal experience desirable (with a preference for experience in a City practice)

Responsibilities

• Liaise with partner, lawyers and business development teams to obtain outstanding or missing engagement letters and client terms.
• Monitor and chase outstanding engagement letters and client terms to ensure complete records are maintained across all active matters.
• Review incoming correspondence and identify documents requiring logging or storage.
• Request updated terms where existing documentation is out of date or has expired.
• Review retrieved documents to confirm they are complete, properly executed, and meet the firm's internal requirements.
• Cross-reference client terms against the firm's standard terms of business to identify any deviations or bespoke provisions that require escalation to a supervising lawyer.
• Check engagement letters for accuracy, including correct client names, matter descriptions, fee arrangements, and signatory details.
• Flag any unsigned or incomplete documents to the relevant matter team.
• Upload all client terms and engagement letters into the firm's central repository in accordance with established naming conventions and filing protocols.
• Maintain an accurate and up-to-date matter register or tracker recording the status of engagement letters and client terms across all active matters.
• Ensure documents are attached to the correct client and matter records and are accessible to authorised personnel.
• Apply appropriate key term tagging.
• Archive superseded or expired terms in accordance with the firm's document retention policy.
• Escalate any concerns regarding missing, conflicting, or non-compliant documentation to reporting manager promptly.
• Assist with periodic audits of client files to verify that engagement documentation is complete and correctly stored.
• Maintain and update internal tracking spreadsheets or databases to record the receipt, status, and location of all client terms and engagement letters.
• Respond to internal queries from matter teams and secretarial staff
• Liaise with the finance team to confirm that matter opening requirements, including signed engagement letters, are satisfied before billing commences.
• Provide regular status updates to supervising fee earners regarding outstanding engagement documentation.

Skills

Degree educated

LPC desirable

Paralegal experience

Education

Degree educated

Job description

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is seeking a diligent paralegal to support the General Counsel and Risk teams with engagement letters and client terms across matters. You will manage the lifecycle from request to filing, ensuring accuracy, compliance and timely escalation where needed.

You will liaise with partners, lawyers and business development to maintain records, log documents, and update matter registers while supporting audits and billing readiness.