Paralegal - Employment in Sevenoaks

About us

Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals and over 600 staff based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.

The team you will join

Our Employment Team sits within the wider Corporate Division. The team specialise in all aspects of employment law facing employers and HR professionals - from everyday operational challenges through to advising on strategic issues.

The team currently comprises of specialist qualified employment law solicitors, including partners, working across all offices, making us one of the larger employment teams across the East and South. We have the strength and depth of expertise to ensure we deliver the service you would expect in respect of technical quality, practical approach, and timeliness of advice.

Birketts’ Employment Team has experience in all areas of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters, representing clients from a broad range of public and private organisations as well as senior executives. We are proud to act for sector leading clients nationwide and some important and high-profile businesses and institutions across a number of key sectors.

Our employment advice is supplemented by a well-developed in-house employment client training offering (known as Shaping Excellence), an immigration team, an employee incentives group and Resolve, which consists of an HR consultancy service, a workplace investigations service and a team of accredited mediators.

The work you will be doing

This role will involve being responsible for the administration of our contracts with our professional regulatory clients and assisting with the preparation of cases for professional conduct hearings.As a Paralegal, you will be given training and support to develop expertise in professional discipline matters and the chance to get involved in some really interesting and complex matters.

You will:

• Have primary responsibility for our work undertaken on behalf of a large regulatory body including:
• Regular client contract to receive and confirm instructions;
• Allocatingnew instructions to team members, including ensuring compliance with Lexcel standards;
• Administrative tasks including ensuring the hearings spreadsheet is kept up-to-date at all times;
• Monthly reporting to the client and billing;
• Reviewing a bundle of documents and identifying key pieces of evidence to refer to when preparing the key documentation referred to below;
• Preparing key documentation for hearings including decision documents and legal advice, to be used by the legal adviser at the professional discipline hearing; and
• Liaising with the client and team members on day to day administrative matters.

You may, on occasion, assist with broader employment work, including to:

• Prepare training materials.
• Review and draft legal documents including settlement agreements, employment contracts, handbooks etc.
• Assist with the preparation and filing of pleadings.
• Prepare matters for hearings including preparing bundles.
• Liaise with the employment tribunal and the employment appeal tribunal.
• Conduct legal research and preparation of advice notes.
• Draft emails and letters to the client, employment tribunal and other parties.
• Undertake general office work and administration including organisation of files and billing.

Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.

What we are looking for

• Law degree or equivalent experience
• Demonstrable interest in and/or knowledge of relevant law and legal procedure
• Ability to undertake legal work requiring technical and procedural understanding
• Competence in accurately recording time and understanding chargeable work
• Strong legal research and investigative skills
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to analyse information and present findings clearly and precisely
• Strong attention to detail to produce work documentation which is consistently of a high standard
• Professional integrity and a commitment to providing excellent client service
• To be competent in using Microsoft Word, Excel, time recording software, case management, Outlook and digital dictation

Hybrid Working

Due to the nature of work required, this role is fully office based.

We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and part-time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application.

Benefits

As a Birketts colleague, you will be eligible to receive a wide range of benefits:

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays
• Long Service holiday award - 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme
• Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
• Paid CSR Day
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Subsidised gym membership
• Electric car scheme
• Dress for your Day Policy

You can find out more on our website: https://www.birketts.co.uk/recognition-reward-benefits/

Inclusivity and Culture

At Birketts, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth.

Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or sexual orientation.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates, and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.

If you require this advert in an accessible format, please visit https://diversityjobsgroup.com/company/birketts/

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

At Birketts, we recognise the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal profession and recruitment. We welcome innovation and understand that candidates may use AI tools to support their job applications. However, we expect all applicants to use AI responsibly and ethically.

Our expectations regarding AI use in applications:

• Your application should reflect your own voice, experiences, and insights. AI may assist in structuring or refining your responses, but it must not replace your personal input.
• Do not use AI to misrepresent your qualifications, experiences, or skills. Any form of exaggeration or fabrication may result in rejection from the process.
• If you have used AI tools to assist with your application, be prepared to discuss how and why you used them during the interview process.
• Do not submit content generated by AI tools that may include personal or sensitive data not intended for public disclosure.
• AI-generated content should be reviewed and edited by you to ensure accuracy, relevance, and alignment with the role and our firm’s values.

We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment practices. The use of AI should enhance, not compromise, your application. We encourage candidates to demonstrate critical thinking, commercial awareness, and a genuine interest in our firm.

If you have any questions about our expectations or the use of AI in your application, please contact our Talent Acquisition Team via talent@birketts.co.uk

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