Legal Secretary - Employment & Immigration in Guildford

I am currently recruiting for a well-established law firm based in Guildford who is seeking an experienced Legal Secretary to join their Employment and Immigration department. You will be providing legal and administrative support to fee earners across the Employment and Immigration Group, and also to those in the wider Employment Department. You will act as the dedicated support to the teams, assisting team members in their day-to-day work as they may require, as well as overseeing and managing the administrative aspects of the Group's activities; including matter opening and closure, billing, and electronic and manual filing. This role is a 14-month maternity cover contract.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

• Support members of the Group in their day-to-day work.
• Opening and closing files in the case management system.
• Support with maintaining internal file auditing and reviews, dealing with account balances and arranging for them to be put away in storage when all standard procedures have been completed.
• Managing the Group's month-end billing and accounting.
• Dealing with accounts queries and obtaining Partner approval and/or signature on dockets.
• Managing diaries for team members, to include internal, external and client meetings, as well as creating and maintaining reminders for fee earners (for example, Tribunal dates).
• Fast and accurate general typing as required including audio and copy typing to include proofreading, creating and formatting various correspondence.
• Record keeping and maintaining data for reporting purposes.
• Producing any copy documents or photocopying as required.
• Running the monthly live matter and tribunal tracker meetings with fee earners; and updating the relevant records accordingly.
• Handling general telephone enquiries, dealing with telephone calls in the absence of fee earners and reporting back to fee earners.
• Receiving and relaying messages to and from clients and other professionals on behalf of fee earners.
• Maintaining the Group's hard copy files and documents (office-based files and incoming post).
• Maintaining the Group's e-filing systems (accuracy, ability to locate and rectify any misfiled documents, ensuring any non-essential paperwork is shredded or hard filed, as appropriate).
• Participating in and contributing to department and Group activities to help promote an effective working environment.
• Reviewing incoming e-mail in the absence of fee earners.
• Completing standard forms without fee earner assistance, and production of standard letters without dictation.
• Assisting administratively with day-to-day letters or correspondence, general drafting, including proofreading/updating documents like witness statements, exhibits, affidavits, instructions to Counsel etc. as required; to include proofing, paginating, and collating where necessary.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Previous experience of working in an office environment and previous experience in a legal/law firm environment is desirable.
• Previous experience of being responsible for the day-to-day running of administrative aspects of a group (Practice Management).
• Some experience of employment and/or immigration work would be an advantage but is not essential.
• Demonstrable ability to work effectively with in a team and provide support to all team members at all levels, including solicitors, associates and partners, as appropriate.
• Proven strong administrative ability to include maintaining a database and a filing system.
• A good telephone manner, good communication skills more generally and an understanding of the importance of client care.
• Competent IT skills including MS Office 365 (Outlook & Word), Digital Dictation and ideally experience with a case management system.
• Confident Excel skills sufficient to enable the reviewing of relevant matters, to assist with billing, and to track live matter progress.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to produce accurate work of a consistently high standard.
• Good standard of written English, grammar, and spelling.
• Ability to work under pressure and be able to meet sometimes unexpected deadlines.

Benefits:

• 25 days holiday (of which 3.5 are taken during the Christmas period), plus Birthday holiday, plus Bank Holidays.
• Holiday Buying Scheme
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity pay
• Life Assurance
• Private Healthcare
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Sodexo Discounts
• Pension Scheme
• Interest-free season ticket loans
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts on Legal work

Please apply today for further details, this is a great opportunity offering competitive salary, excellent benefits and hybrid working.