Legal Secretary - FTC

FQPS Academy Ltd.; Greater London; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Ropes & Gray London is seeking an experienced administrative assistant to support the legal team on a 6-month fixed-term basis. The role focuses on invoicing, travel arrangements, and calendar coordination, working closely with secretaries, fee earners and business professionals.

The ideal candidate brings at least two years' experience in a corporate or legal environment, strong MS Office skills, and attention to detail.

Qualifications

• Two years’ experience supporting at associate level or equivalent in a corporate, legal or banking environment.
• Strong writing and communication skills.
• Well organised with the ability to multitask.

Responsibilities

• Assist with fee-earners' diaries and scheduling.
• File emails to correct client/matter in iManage.
• Prepare, review and process invoices and assist with billing processes.

Skills

Diary management

Filing & data organization

Excellent written communication

Team player

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Ropes & Gray is a global law firm that operates across 17 time zones and has more than 1,400 lawyers based in the United States, Europe and Asia who collaborate seamlessly to provide clients with high-quality representation in innovative industries that shape the global economy. Our clients include private equity firms, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, financial institutions, mutual funds, hospital systems, and more. Client by client, we’ve built a reputation for first-class work, a pragmatic approach, and impeccable standards of service and ethics. We count many of the world’s most respected companies and institutions as longtime clients, and serve organizations at all stages of development. Clients trust us with their most important matters because they know we understand their businesses and deliver the results they need.

Our deeply rooted culture of teamwork means that our lawyers work closely with colleagues around the world to provide support to clients. This collaborative approach encourages our lawyers to work alongside partners and clients on sophisticated matters. We work as a team to support a range of leading legal practices, including private equity, M&A, capital markets, finance, asset management, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, data, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring.

Ropes & Gray London is one of the largest offices in the Ropes & Gray network, and the hub of the firm’s EMEA network and set up in London in 2010. While we are now an established presence in the UK, we’ve retained all the buzz of our start-up years. It makes us a little bit different: it means we have the stature and resources of a major international law firm combined with the pace, inclusivity and career progression of a specialist firm. Our clients like to work with us. We are, of course, always professional, but we are personal, and personable with it. As a group, we’re international, diverse and our team is always professional, but uniquely personable. With around 26 partners, 110+ Lawyers and a trainee intake of 15, everybody in the office knows everyone else. That means that every hire we make is an important investment for the firm, because each team member has a distinct role to play in delivering excellent service to our clients.

The department

To provide administrative support to the team’s legal secretaries on a 6-month fixed term basis, assisting with overflow work, predominantly invoicing and billing, expenses, new matter opening and travel arrangements, and working closely with secretaries, fee earners and business support professionals.

The role

Practice Group Overflow

• Assists with fee-earners' diaries, scheduling appointments.
• Assists with filing emails to the correct client/matter in iManage.
• Preparing, reviewing and processing invoices and assisting with the wider billing process, liaising with the Accounts team, secretaries and fee earners to ensure bills are issued accurately and on time.
• Assisting with opening new clients and matters, including gathering the required information, running conflict checks and preparing or amending engagement letters for review.
• Arranging travel (flights, rail, hotels and transfers) in line with firm travel policy and preparing itineraries.
• Completing and submitting expense claims using the correct client or office charge code, checking receipts and supporting documentation and resolving queries.
• Sorting and processing incoming and outgoing mail.
• When required, inputting timesheets onto Intapp Time.
• Answering telephone calls promptly in a professional manner i.e., full message taking, actioning, and following up. Checking voicemail regularly in the absence of fee-earners and responding to messages where appropriate.
• General administrative tasks as required to support the secretarial team, including scanning, photocopying and filing.
• Working closely with the secretaries to understand priorities, take on overflow work promptly and keep them updated on progress.
• Recognises the importance of working as part of a team, promotes team spirit both within own group and firm-wide. Willingly assists other team members and shares knowledge.

Partner Integration Project

• Predominately working on the Firm’s CRM (Interaction), including adding contacts to interaction, data audits, creating working group lists etc.

Qualifications and Skills

• At least two years’ previous experience of supporting at associate level or equivalent in a corporate, legal or banking environment.
• Proficiency with MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) applications.
• Strong writing and communication skills.
• A critical eye for detail and consistency.
• Well organised and demonstrates the ability to multi-task.
• Positive, professional attitude and able to remain calm under pressure.
• Ability to prioritise and use initiative.
• Highly motivated and confident.
• Able to pick up new processes quickly and hit the ground running on a fixed term basis.
• Willingness to work flexibly across the team, supporting different secretaries as workloads require and promoting team spirit.
• Professional demeanor and style appropriate for an international law firm.