Paralegal - Commercial Property in Preston

Harrison Drury is a market leading Firm of solicitors with offices across the North West servicing both business and private clients. We have been successful for a fifth time placing in the Top 100 Best Companies to work for in the UK. We are an employer of choice because we have a culture that challenges the conventional law firm approach and focuses our energy on getting great results for our clients, while attracting and developing brilliant people.

The commercial property team are looking to recruit an experienced paralegal to join their team in the Preston office, with some travel to the Lancaster office required. The overall purpose of this role is to provide accurate, timely, efficient and professional support to the team as well as undertaking transactional fee-earning activities. This will enable the team to ensure they operate within compliance standards and produce excellent Customer Service whilst maximising the opportunity to conduct fee earning work at the right level.

The Role:

• Effective administration of the Files (hard copy and on SOS). This includes Matter Opening, Matter Closing, Matter Archiving and data updates during the course of a matter.
• Ensuring file compliance with relevant regulatory standards and the Office Manual processes.
• The ability to use the information in client files to inform the Fee Earner of required action, keep the critical dates accurate and action upon them as required.
• Management of bill process and interaction with Finance.
• Production and issue of correspondence upon instruction from the Fee Earner and, where done independently, under supervision.
• Attendance at meetings when required, taking minutes when requested and updating Attendance Notes.
• Drafting of documents for clients upon instruction from Fee Earners and under supervision.
• Management of meetings for Fee Earners when requested (including liaison with other party, meeting room booking, car park booking and production of relevant materials/documents).
• Telephone call handling for the team.
• Liaison regarding client queries with the client and the relevant Fee Earner.
• Dealing with new enquiries on the phone or by email.
• Engage with individuals on work experience.
• Complete accurate legal research tasks for Fee Earners.
• Prepare relevant legal updates and blog articles for the website.
• Contributing to operational review/continuous improvement initiatives.
• Providing administrative support to the department to include obtaining searches, downloading land registry documents, information maintenance, file management, financial management, preparing posting slips and bills.

Skills and Experience:

• Previous role as paralegal in commercial property or residential property.
• Intermediate/Advanced use of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Intermediate/Advanced use of Adobe Acrobat.
• Intermediate/Advanced use of Lexis Nexis, Westlaw and/or Practical Law.
• Strong academic record. Maths and English GCSE at grade C or above.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong planning and organisational skills. Ability to prioritise and manage competing demands.
• Legal research skills.
• Ability to work under pressure to tight deadlines.
• Attention to detail/accuracy.
• Ability to work within teams and individually using own initiative.
• Client focused.
• Flexible and adaptable approach to work.
• Commercially aware.
• Self-motivated.

Desirable Experience:

• Experience with SOS case management system.