Legal Secretary

The Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs; Brierley Hill; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking firm that values relationships and excellence. As a Secretary in the Legal Services Department, you'll provide essential support to lawyers, ensuring smooth operations and superior service delivery. This role requires a blend of exceptional communication and organizational skills, along with a proactive approach to tasks. You'll thrive in a supportive environment that encourages personal growth and teamwork, while also embracing flexibility in a hybrid working policy. If you're enthusiastic about making a positive impact, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Qualifications

• Familiarity with the Firm’s departments and internal systems is crucial.
• Experience in Private Client work is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Manage dictation queues and prioritize tasks across departments.
• Support fee earners with document production and filing.
• Liaise with Office Assistants for administrative task delegation.

Skills

Excellent telephone manner

Communication skills

Organisational skills

Flexibility

Proactivity

Calm under pressure

Tools

Microsoft Office 365

AdobePro

Excel

Job description

Salary Competitive salary and benefits package,

Job title

Secretary

Department

Legal Services

Specific Hours

Monday - Friday (9am-5pm) The firm operates a hybrid working policy.

Our Purpose

To forge long-term relationships that have a positive impact on our people, our clients, our business partners, and our community.

Our Commitment to Our People

We do not think there is a magic formula to the Higgs culture. The key is to listen to and respect our people. If we take care of our people and our people take care of our clients, then everything we want as a firm will take care of itself. We are friendly and open to new ideas.

Our Core Values

Higgs core values are “CLEAR” – Care, Legacy, Excellence, Authenticity, Relationships

Role Purpose

Our Secretaries work collectively as a centralised resource within the Legal Services Department. The team provide a comprehensive level of support to our lawyers across all departments. We aspire to deliver technically superior service. We will ensure that our people have the knowledge and skills to achieve at the highest level.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure that dictation queues are checked regularly throughout the day, picking up tasks across departments in order of priority
• Liaise with our Office Assistants to delegate administrative tasks, tracking progress through to completion
• Deal promptly with any finance requests such as billing, TT’s in/out and any other queries that may arise
• E-filing, hard copy filing and file maintenance
• Typing letters, emails and file notes as dictated by our fee earners
• Document production, amending and creating documents from our standard templates in line with our standards experienced with track changes and create comparison documents
• Preparing bundles
• Liaise with the PA team as and when required
• Support fee earners with file opening process
• Arrange or, where not appropriate, conduct photocopying, printing, or scanning so relevant documents are collated and distributed in a timely manner
• Liaise with other Secretaries to share tasks and discuss deadlines
• Manage queries, responding as appropriate and/or ensuring that all messages are communicated and responded to

Person Specification

The Secretary has responsibility to ensure they are familiar with the Firm’s departments, key people, clients, internal systems and procedures. Any training requirements should be discussed with the Head of Legal Services.

In addition, our Secretaries are expected to demonstrate:

• Excellent telephone manner and communication skills
• Exceptional organisational skills with an eye for detail
• Team orientated personality with the ability to work independently and with others
• Flexibility and dependability
• Ability to take the initiative and demonstrate proactivity
• Ability to remain calm under pressure and work to tight deadlines
• Conscientious, approachable and enthusiastic
• Have a positive approach to daily tasks
• Ability to embrace change and do so in a positive and energetic way
• Experience of working within Private Client is advantageous

Technical Knowledge

• Accurate typing speed of at least 60 words per minute
• Excellent IT skills, proficient in Microsoft Office 365, AdobePro and Excel