Practice Assistant

Owen Reed; Slough; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Owen Reed is seeking an experienced Practice Assistant to join the Charity & Community team in London. The role is hybrid, with three to four days in the office initially, then two days per week.

Responsibilities include diary management, document production, client liaison, and maintaining CRM and filing systems, requiring proven secretarial experience in a law firm and strong IT skills.

Qualifications

• GCSE Maths and English at grade C/level 4 or equivalent is essential.
• Previous secretarial experience in a law firm is essential.
• Experience in Charity and Community work is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Manage diaries proactively and coordinate workloads with minimal supervision.
• Process applications, forms and searches as required.
• Provide exemplary client service to internal and external clients and maintain confidentiality.

Skills

Diary management

Client service

Proofreading

IT proficiency

File management

Education

GCSE Maths and English

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

CRM system

Job description

Owen Reed is looking for an experienced, proactive and highly organised Practice Assistant to join the Charity & Community team of a top law firm in London.

Hybrid Working: Three to four days in the office during the first two months, reducing to two days per week afterwards.

Working Hours: 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday to Friday. It is essential that the successful applicant is committed, flexible and prepared to work beyond normal office hours when necessary and in response to demand.

Responsibilities

Organisational Support

• Effective and proactive diary management, and awareness of Fee Earners' workloads to plan ahead, with minimal supervision
• Processes relevant applications, forms or searches, with minimal supervision
• Has a good knowledge of all systems/processes used within the Department

Client Relationship and Business Development

• Provides excellent service to clients, both internal and external, in a timely and professional manner, presenting a positive image of the Firm at all times
• Acts as a first point of contact for Fee Earners
• Provides assistance in the delivery of marketing communications, and records all business development meetings in the CRM system
• Recognises, respects and honours client confidentiality at all times

Document Production

• Creates typed work of a high quality, formatting in accordance with house style, at high speed, with accuracy and following internal guidelines
• Makes effective use of the Document Management System
• Creates new documents from the Firm’s templates, using contact data from the CRM system where appropriate
• Proof-reads all documents for spelling, grammar and sense, querying wording where appropriate

IT Skills and Systems

• Maintains a high level of proficiency in core IT applications including the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook)

File Management

• Adopts a pro-active approach and works with Fee Earners effectively, to maintain regular file management, to ensure all files are up to date, closed and archived, as appropriate
• Keeps accurate records of all files sent to off-site storage via Records

Financial Risk Management

• Prepares bills, as required by Fee Earners
• Prepares AML documentation and obtains relevant documentation from clients in a timely manner, as required by Fee Earners
• Carries out conflict searches and correctly identifies the work type

Skills and Experience

• Qualified to GCSE standard, grade C/level 4 (or equivalent) at Mathematics and English essential
• Previous secretarial experience in a law firm essential and previous experience working in Charity and Community would be helpful