Paralegal (12 month FTC)

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer's Global Arbitration practice is ranked in the top five in the world for the quality and high-profile nature of its work. This role is for a paralegal to work as an integral member of the London-based arbitration group, offering support to the partners and fee-earners and to the Arbitration practice manager/Knowledge Counsels (KCs) within the group.

This full-time, dual role will therefore involve:

• Supporting fee earners in the team with legal research and other substantive tasks on client matters. The candidate will also assist in helping to prepare materials for hearings and help to organise the administrative and logistical aspects of hearings (including in-person and virtual hearings) under the supervision of the fee earner team.
• Supporting the Practice Managers/KCs in Knowledge, practice management, BD and external-facing profile work. This will include legal research, drafting legal notes, maintaining and updating model forms, drafting blogs, helping with the production of client-facing materials, managing, and organising practice and pricing data, maintaining and populating blogs, assisting with knowledge and data management and organisation and helping with practice management tasks.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE ROLE

• Support for the fee-earners and partners: You will be providing dedicated support to partners, associates and trainees on a specific matter within our arbitration group. The work you will be doing may include:

• Assisting with general document and matter management including compiling bundles.
• Assisting with electronic and hard copy disclosure exercises.
• Proofreading, sense-checking and cross-referencing submissions.
• Conducting legal research.
• Conducting searches on document and knowledge databases.
• Assisting with ad-hoc queries and requests from the team.
• Hosting and organising virtual and in person hearings.
• Assisting with billing.

• External facing firm profile work, including blog management, helping to maintain and populate client-facing arbitration webpages.
• Helping to produce and edit blog posts and other thought leadership.
• Researching and collating knowledge material, as well as preparing draft presentations.
• Internal knowledge management, including precedent management, maintaining and amending intranet pages, liaising with the Library and library management.
• Assisting with preparing submissions and surveys regarding the profile of the practice.
• Maintaining the Global Arbitration practice management system, Genesis, training associates and trainees on how to use Genesis, working with Digital team and data scientists to improve data collection and analysis.
• Assisting in training trainees on research skills.
• Ad hoc research and general queries - for KCs and fee earners.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• Knowledge of, or willingness to be trained in, commercial and investment treaty arbitration and public international law.
• Law degree or undergraduate degree (ideally 2:1 or first).
• Completion of LPC/BVC/SQE and office administration or paralegal experience ideal but not required.
• Interest/experience in business development and practice management.
• Excellent analytical skills and interest in the use of data to drive change and to win business.
• Excellent communication skills, oral and written.
• Excellent client service skills and commercial awareness.
• Experience of, or willingness to be trained in, management of blog and internet pages.