Researcher

Ridge & Partners Llp; Manchester; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Ridge & Partners Llp in Manchester seeks a capable Researcher/Administrative Assistant to support the Expert Witness and Advisory Services (EWAS) team. You will handle proofreading, document reviews, and data management to ensure high-quality inputs for solicitors and clients.

No prior law or construction experience is required; the role emphasizes accuracy, organisation, and the ability to work with large volumes of evidence.

Qualifications

• Qualification in any subject at least a 2.1 degree.
• Proficient in MS Word and Excel.
• Strong written and verbal English.
• Experience in admin or research beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Proofreading of reports and documents from the experts
• Assisting with documents reviews and synopses
• Assisting with audits and team QA
• Governance tasks for new matters and submissions
• Updating the enquiry register
• Maintaining the contacts database

Skills

Analytical mindset

Organised

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Education

2.1 degree or higher

Tools

MS Word

Excel

Job description

The Expert Witness and Advisory Services team members are busy, often working to tight deadlines on high‑pressure assignments. The work undertaken by Researchers and the PA must be right, because much of it feeds into evidence presented by the experts or is directly given to solicitors and clients. Their work is often voluminous, and they need help.

This opportunity is for an intelligent, resourceful, motivated, collaborative team player to join the team to carry out all tasks that are required. No experience of law or construction is required.

Working in the Expert Witness and Advisory Services team at Ridge offers intellectual challenges and the opportunity to grow and progress in an expanding and interesting sector. The role is unique and would suit someone who assimilates new concepts quickly, has a can‑do attitude, has the patience to work with large volumes of evidence, can juggle competing demands, can maintain spreadsheets and databases accurately and quickly, and is willing to work on any given day on the most immediate tasks to help the team.

Who are we?

Ridge Expert Witness Advisory Services (EWAS) is a specialist team of construction experts providing support to solicitors in respect of property litigation. The team includes Architects, Structural engineers, Fire engineers, MEP engineers, Façade engineers and Building Surveyors.

The Responsibilities of the role include:

Your role will typically be a combination of administrative and researcher tasks to assist the team. Such tasks may include the list below, and where necessary appropriate training will be provided to allow you to develop the role further.

• Proofreading of reports and documents from the experts
• Assisting with experts with document reviews and the preparation of synopses
• Assisting with audits and team QA
• Assisting with governance related tasks for new matters and submissions
• Updating the enquiry register
• Helping to update the contacts database
• Assisting with marketing tasks and research
• Document control – downloading documents received from solicitors and saving them into folders for the experts
• Maintaining a log of documents received and with the guidance of the expert on the matter, producing document request lists for the solicitor
• Assisting with invoicing and sending reminders for payment

Wider details of the role will be discussed in depth during the interview.

To be successful in this role, you will:

• Possess a can‑do attitude and excellent attention to detail.
• Have an analytical mind and be highly organised with a willingness to work flexibly, whilst demonstrating commercial awareness.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English
• Be a dedicated team player, who is determined, and has stamina to work with the team to produce work on time.
• Be conscientious with an eye for detail as the work you do will feed directly into high‑value legal disputes, so it must be right.

This role will offer you a range of experiences that will allow you to take your career to the next stage, and you will be exposed to senior professionals both in Ridge and externally. Highlights include:

• Being involved in interesting projects that are often high profile.
• Being part of a successful, internationally recognised team of professionals.
• First‑hand experience of different types of dispute resolution including mediation, adjudication, international arbitration, and litigation.
• Developing commercial awareness.
• Opportunity of progression.

What you need to do to be effective in this role:

• Learn the role and be able to carry out any of those duties.
• Carry out accurate and efficient reviews and proofreading of documents
• Maintain a spreadsheet of enquiries that the team receives.
• Carry out conflict checks in the company’s systems.
• Create new ‘projects’ and maintain ‘projects’ in the company’s system.
• Download documents from clients and solicitors.
• Prepare spreadsheet‑based lists of documents for each project.
• Be part of a team and producing whatever work product is needed in each situation.

The skills and experience you need to have for this role

• A qualification in any subject (to a minimum of 2.1 degree level, with a higher degree or work experience highly desirable).
• Experienced user of MS Word and proficient with Excel.