Shakespeare Martineau | Client Assistant

Client Assistant – Birmingham – 4 days a week

Meet the team

Our award winning, highly skilled and experienced Private Capital group provide a wide range of services and advice to empowering families to define their unique long-term goals and legacy. We undertake various Family and Private Client work at all levels and across many sectors.

Our Private Client team, including 13 members of STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), provide a wide range of services and advice empowering families to define their unique long-term goals and legacy. We offer advice on the following areas of Private Client law: Capital Tax planning including advising on the most appropriate structures via Wills, Trusts & Family Investment Companies, the creation and administration of Trusts including tax compliance, accounting services and professional Trusteeship, administration of estates (simple to complex), Lasting Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection work, the creation and administration of Charitable Foundations and personal tax advice and compliance. Our clients’ profiles consist of family business owners, landed estates, newly acquired wealth, private individuals with inherited wealth and their families and Trustees of substantial trusts.

Our team was recently voted the winner of the \”National Private Client Team\” in the Modern Law Awards 2023.

The opportunity

For this role you will act as a trusted liaison between the fee earners and our clients as well communicating with our central teams internally to facilitate smooth and efficient outcomes for the team. Working as part of a large and friendly team providing assistance to the private client team

you will be assisting with the following:

• Key point of contact on behalf of the Private Client team
• To assist fee earners in progressing the client files, to include speaking to the client, passing on correspondence, organising meetings with clients and referrers and other professionals such as accountants
• Initial client liaison in person and over the telephone, providing detailed notes of their enquiries and tracking ongoing progress. Arrange appointments with clients and provide comprehensive ongoing updates.
• Land registry, bankruptcy and lawyer check searches
• You will be required to make regular telephone/email communication with professional bodies, such as chasing banks, debtors, HMRC and the probate registry
• Arranging invoice payments and preparation of cheques for onward submission.
• Drafting regular correspondence to Investment managers, auditors, clients, charitable organisations in relation to ongoing trust matters and preparing the regular payments and action donation requests.
• Setting up payments to beneficiaries
• Preparation of Wills, Codicils, Lasting Powers of Attorney and other ancillary documents
• Basic Account reconciliation within Excel for Estate and Trust Accounts.
• Drafting client contract letters and initial letters for probate files, utilising initial information provided by fee earners
• Collating information for fee earners ahead of client meetings
• Filing and file management
• Updating Adherent and case management systems
• Handling incoming/outgoing post
• Diary management for senior fee earners, scheduling team meetings
• Recording expected payments and claiming unreferenced payments including foreign payments and cheque requests
• Engrossing Wills and ancillary legal documents.
• Liaising with paralegals and other team members to ensure matters are progressed
• Supporting fee earners in other office hubs where needed, both remotely and in person if required

What you\’ll need

• Previous legal secretarial or office administrative experience gained within a Private Client team or from within a legal or professional services environment
• Organised and methodical approach
• Confidence with IT systems, including Microsoft Word, Excel and ideally PowerPoint
• The ability to work well in a team and develop good working relationships with colleagues and clients, high levels of emotional intelligence and empathy
• Confident interpersonal skills with the ability to liaise openly and clearly
• Highly enthusiastic, willing to go the extra mile
• Open to new ways of working and happy to challenge to drive improvements

Benefits, Agile Working and Additional information

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work.

We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it.

We have hubs in Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leicester, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Solihull, Southampton, Stratford-upon-Avon, Lincoln and Sheffield.

Want to find out more about our amazing benefits?

Additional information:

Please be aware, for some vacancies, where we receive high numbers of applications we may need to bring the close date forward.

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.

Equal opportunities

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.

About Shakespeare Martineau

Welcome to Shakespeare Martineau, where we\’re more than just a full-service law firm. With over 1100 specialists, including lawyers and business support professionals, we\’re committed to unlocking potential in our people and clients, inspiring confidence, growth, and development.

Our purpose is clear: we provide creative solutions and advice that help individuals and businesses achieve their commercial and personal goals. But what truly sets us apart is our focus on building lasting relationships and championing our clients, ensuring they receive the best possible business and personal advice.

At Shakespeare Martineau, it\’s our people who make us special. We understand what our team members want and give them the support they need to succeed. Recognising everyone\’s contribution and harnessing the unique power of teams, we work together to achieve success.

Diversity is at the heart of our firm. We actively build and develop diverse teams, bringing together different backgrounds, personalities, and perspectives to deliver amazing solutions for our clients. We believe in playing to our strengths, constantly striving to improve, and empowering our teams with individual responsibility for their own learning and growth.

Join us at Shakespeare Martineau and become a valued member of a team where we unlock your potential, appreciate your contributions, and achieve success together.

As part of Ampa, we are part of a large multi-brand group, all of our brands are linked by a shared purpose and set of values that brings about a positive, inclusive and diverse work culture – helping everyone achieve their ambitions.