Legal Executive Assistant: Diary, Billing & Client Support

Allhires; Greater London; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits and wellbeing package

Job summary

Watson Farley & Williams is a leading international law firm seeking a capable legal secretary to support allocated fee earners across a busy practice. You will manage diaries, coordinate internal and client meetings, prepare documents and assist with billing.

We value accuracy, discretion and a professional approach, with strong MS Office skills and a proactive, collaborative mindset. The role offers a supportive environment, clear career paths and opportunities to develop within a global firm.

Qualifications

• Several years’ previous experience in a legal secretarial role.
• Excellent knowledge of Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Clear and professional in both written and verbal communication.
• Highly organised, skilled in prioritising multiple tasks and able to remain calm under pressure.
• Accurate, with high level of attention to detail.
• Professional and articulate: able to build positive relationships with stakeholders.
• Enthusiastic, can-do, positive approach to tasks and situations, as well as requests for action outside normal scope of duties.
• Takes ownership, maintains tact and diplomacy, is confidential and inspires trust.

Responsibilities

• Proactively manage and maintain diary planning and coordination for allocated fee earners, making appointments and co-ordinating internal and external client meetings, identifying, and resolving potential challenges and clashes.
• Travel management, booking transport, hotels, client meetings and producing detailed itineraries.
• Coordinating business development and client liaison initiatives for fee earners, including updating database information, and assisting with marketing initiatives and events (including occasional support at event e.g. registration desk).
• Proactively dealing with all aspects of claiming expenses, including InterAction entries.
• Liaising with the Firm's clients in a confident and professional manner, building strong working relationships with clients and internal contacts.
• Dealing professionally and promptly with client (internal and external) telephone calls and communications, including calls diverted to the team.
• Creation, uploading and general maintenance of client sites and extranets.
• Monitoring fee earners' mailbox when they are out of the office or attending a long meeting, responding to emails as necessary and prioritising correspondence to enable fee earners to focus on urgent matters.
• Using initiative to route emails to the appropriate individuals for swift response and action; wherever possible, responding to and filing emails in Filesite on behalf of partners and fee earners to reduce volume.
• Preparing bills, including resolving queries and dealing with outstanding fees, maintaining accurate billing/contact details, preparation of narratives and drafting first bills with covering correspondence for partner approval. Assisting fee earners by liaising with the billing team and following up with debt recovery as requested.
• Proactively ensuring Carpe Diem is updated for all allocated fee earners, particularly for holiday or sickness absence. Informing team co-ordinator if fee earner is working from home or absent due to holiday or sickness.
• Providing secretarial assistance to assigned fee-earners, which includes audio typing, copy typing, formatting documents, creating correspondence, pitches, and presentations. Delegating complex and lengthy documents to the Document Production Team, ensuring requirements and timescales are clearly set out.
• Coordinating the opening of new client matters and assisting with Anti-Money Laundering processes. Undertaking as much research as possible before passing over to the Partner for approval.
• Organising client documents (delegating scanning, formatting, photocopying, and collating of information where necessary) for client meetings or hearings and carrying out research as required.
• Management and delegation of client filing and regular updating of client relationship management systems (Interaction), archiving historic files or closed matters.
• Working with a LPA Buddy or within the LPA team to provide assistance to lawyers in the group, prioritising own workload as required.
• Working closely within the team to provide general support to the Group across rotas or core hours, including assisting during periods of high demand or helping other practice areas when required.
• Liaising with team, stakeholders and clients in a professional and courteous manner, building and maintaining effective working relationships.
• Attending and participating in LPA team meetings.
• Pro-active and flexible attitude for any other ad-hoc tasks.

Skills

Legal secretarial experience

Outlook

Word

PowerPoint

Excel

Communication skills

Organisational skills

Job description

Watson Farley & Williams is a leading international law firm seeking a capable legal secretary to support allocated fee earners across a busy practice. You will manage diaries, coordinate internal and client meetings, prepare documents and assist with billing.

We value accuracy, discretion and a professional approach, with strong MS Office skills and a proactive, collaborative mindset. The role offers a supportive environment, clear career paths and opportunities to develop within a global firm.