Legal Support Assistant - Private Client

Are you keen to find an exciting new role where you will be part of a dynamic, forward-thinking, agile team? If so, come and join us on the journey.

Why Michelmores? Michelmores is the destination law firm for the ambitious, the imaginative and the distinctive. We help enterprises and individuals navigate change to find a positive future. We are a flexible, friendly and inclusive organisation with as clear a focus on fresh thinking as we have on growth and success. We value and nurture our people’s potential and inspiration and give them a creative, open and collaborative environment in which to develop a career and succeed. As a firm we strive to be more understanding, more flexible and less prescriptive about how we enable our people to succeed in their roles. Central to our culture is our nurturing, friendly and flexible environment which genuinely allows our people to grow and flourish. We’re always thinking about how we can improve what we do, moving forward, together. From day one we encourage people to believe that there’s no such thing as a bad idea and creativity and innovation is highly prized throughout the Firm.

What sort of work? Right now, we have an exciting opportunity for a Legal Support Assistant (LSA) to join our ambitious Professional Support Services (PSS) team in our Exeter or Bristol offices. In this role you will provide proactive and professional support for lawyers within the Private Client group with a focus on our Agricultural Property team. This will include:

• Assisting lawyers with the billing process, drafting narratives and covering letters.
• Looking after credit control, ensuring bills are sent out in a timely manner and liaising with departmental Administrators to ensure all systems and processes are up to date.
• A central point of contact for clients and third parties over the phone and via email.
• Collating information for preparation of regular client updates or reports as and when required.
• Liaising with support departments to resolve problems on lawyers' behalf, taking ownership of the issue and following up where appropriate.
• Ensuring regular legal team meetings are arranged, and then actively participating in these meetings.
• Organising client events/seminars in conjunction with Marketing, attending to meet and greet clients where appropriate.
• Building and maintaining effective relationships with lawyers and clients and developing knowledge of the group's clients and their business.

Why this team? Our PSS team provide our lawyers with invaluable support in servicing our clients. The team is made up of Legal Support Assistants, Management Support Assistants and Department and Office Administrators, all of whom are aligned to a particular legal group where they can build and develop their specialist knowledge. As well as assisting lawyers with administrative tasks, the PSS team get involved in complex diary management, drafting communications on behalf of lawyers, the financial management of legal matters and the management of lawyer tasks. The team also work alongside Marketing to arrange client events and collate information for bids and tenders. The PSS team work closely together and build strong 1-2-1 relationships with the Partners and lawyers that they regularly support.

How do we work? We take a flexible, agile approach to working patterns. As a team we agree together on the best working arrangements that will enable each of us to provide exceptional client service, to collaborate and connect with colleagues, and to achieve the right home/work balance. As a Firm we are committed to supporting our people across all levels to achieve the balance they need. We are open to talk flexible working and to empower any candidate to put forward a flexible working pattern to meet their needs.

Who are we looking for? We are looking for somebody who will understand our values and thrive in our culture. The role will be based in our Exeter or Bristol offices and the ideal candidate will have:

• Recent experience in legal support (PA, Legal Secretary, LSA, etc).
• Recent experience of assisting lawyers with the billing process including, but not limited to, interpreting lawyers WIP reviews and processing bills.
• Experience in diary management and the ability to multi-task.
• Experience of working to compliance and file maintenance procedures.
• Ability to book and organise international travel and assist with sector related events.
• Fast, accurate typing skills.
• Competent with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook etc.) and data management systems.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; effective communicator at all levels (written and verbal) and ability to build rapport.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• A commercial, pro-active and professional approach to work.
• Excellent telephone manner.
• Must be self-motivated, committed to working towards goals with strong enthusiasm and a desire to provide high levels of client service.
• Excellent organisational skills, demonstrable examples of multi-tasking and an ability to juggle competing and changing priorities and work under pressure.
• Ability to work independently as well as a team player, prepared to go the extra mile in supporting colleagues.
• Understand the importance of confidentiality and use of discretion.
• Must be flexible, successfully adapting to changing demands and conditions.
• Demonstrate self-confidence, initiative and be an innovative thinker.

This is a great opportunity to join a Firm which believes potential, inspiration, and teamwork should be valued and nurtured. We work hard to create and sustain an open and collaborative environment. We embrace change and constantly evolve to meet our people’s diverse needs, in the same way that we help our clients to navigate and stay ahead of developments, to move forward together.

Next Steps To apply please click below or if you would like to talk to someone about the role, please call Sarah McLean in our Recruitment Team on 07754 555106.

Michelmores LLP is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We do not discriminate on grounds of race, gender, marital status, age, religion, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, disability or sexual orientation in the selection, recruitment and treatment of our staff.

As part of our recruitment policy our candidates are subject to pre-employment screening checks. The Employee Screening Process includes DBS screening, adverse media checks, financial screening, and will also involve verification of employment history, your right to work in the UK and any relevant qualifications and memberships.

If you would like further information around this, at this stage, please get in touch with our recruitment team.

No agencies please – any agency assistance will be via invitation only. Please note any speculative candidates submitted via agencies without invitation will not be considered as represented by that agent.