DescriptionWorking as part of a team, you will be required to provide an excellent standard of secretarial support to the Professional & Commercial Risk team. You will also be required to provide support across the other practice groups in Professional & Commercial Risk as and when required. Working individually and as a team to act as a point of contact for lawyers and to ensure the effective completion of their work, as well as undertaking a variety of secretarial tasks (as listed below). Provide a high quality, comprehensive workflow management and organisational service to lawyers in the group and exceptional client service.
Key ResponsibilitiesClient Relationship ManagementResponsible for keeping up to date with client specific protocols and processes and implementing.
Administrative
Handle outgoing correspondence including electronic communications.
Create new case files as appropriate.
Prepare and create client reports and documents for fee earners.
Collate enclosures for outgoing correspondence, instructions to Counsel, experts etc using electronic bundling and encryption software.
General knowledge of case management systems.
Email management – filing, saving, locating, deleting, responding where applicable and referring incoming mail to others as necessary and managing Inbox on behalf of colleagues as and when required.
Print, file, photocopy, scan, fax and archive documents as and when required.
Ensure that client contact information is kept up to date.
Update document bundles for fee earners.
Using OneDrive, Sharefile and Client Connect for the safe exchange of client information.
Keep case files organised and logical.
Assist with incoming billing and accounts queries.Draft emails and correspondence on behalf of fee earners.
Answer and make telephone calls.Book client meetings.
Assist with the planning and booking of travel arrangements.
Assist with ad-hoc business development and communications activities e.g. client contact reports, delegate packs etc.
Assist in organising client events as and when required.
Maintain a level of individual knowledge required for the role.
Occasional preparation of correspondence and documents from digital dictation.
Help maintain a clean office and clear desk.
Handle confidential information in line with the firms data security protocols.
Communication
Key point of contact for lawyers to maintain relationships and ensure a high level of support is always provided by the team.
Monitor post and/or emails and dealing with as appropriate ensuring all client related correspondence is passed on to an appropriate lawyer and actioned as necessary; proactively responding to and drafting responses on behalf of others, prioritising emails, collating necessary paperwork and e-filing.
Liaising with and providing support to their immediate colleagues in the department, and where practical, other legal and support departments as requested by STL. Assisting others where there is spare capacity or it is evident that a colleague needs assistance with their workload.
Answering phone calls for other members of the team when they are away from their desk.
Liaison with and taking direction from your STL.
Liaise with the STL over any planned absences, arranging cover as necessary and communicating this to the relevant lawyers.
Financial
Assisting lawyers with billing related tasks.
Log with accounts expert/counsel disbursements onto Chrome River and ensuring appropriate matter allocation.
Request cheques, bank transfers, and paying in money received, as appropriate.
Supporting the co-ordination of the WIP process.
Dealing with matter related finance administration to include BACs, TTs etc.
Dealing with submission of fee earner expenses.
Take ownership of billing and account queries and work with fee earners and support teams to resolve these.
Maintain spreadsheets and assist with monthly MI report completion.
Customer Service
Arranging and attending team meetings.
Liaising with lawyers, STLs and Secretarial Managers (SM) to take instruction and liaise on work requirements.
Consistently and appropriately update service users on progress where appropriate.
Regularly offer assistance wherever possible.
Firm wide:
Understands DAC Beachcroft is an international firm. Works with awareness of this structure to operate as one team/brand.
Actively operates in the best interests of the firm at all times internally and externally.
Operates in a regulated environment, effectively managing risk and compliance issues including data security.
Works in partnership with others to manage and mitigate commercial risk.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Assist with incoming billing and accounts queries.
Draft emails and correspondence on behalf of fee earners.
Answer and make telephone calls.
Book client meetings.
Assist with the planning and booking of travel arrangements.
Assist with ad-hoc business development and communications activities e.g. client contact reports, delegate packs etc.
Assist in organising client events as and when required.
Maintain a level of individual knowledge required for the role.
Occasional preparation of correspondence and documents from digital dictation.
Help maintain a clean office and clear desk.
Handle confidential information in line with the firms data security protocols.
Communication
Key point of contact for lawyers to maintain relationships and ensure a high level of support is always provided by the team.
Monitor post and/or emails and dealing with as appropriate ensuring all client related correspondence is passed on to an appropriate lawyer and actioned as necessary; proactively responding to and drafting responses on behalf of others, prioritising emails, collating necessary paperwork and e-filing.
Liaising with and providing support to their immediate colleagues in the department, and where practical, other legal and support departments as requested by STL. Assisting others where there is spare capacity or it is evident that a colleague needs assistance with their workload.
Answering phone calls for other members of the team when they are away from their desk.
Liaison with and taking direction from your STL.
Liaise with the STL over any planned absences, arranging cover as necessary and communicating this to the relevant lawyers.
Financial
Assisting lawyers with billing related tasks.
Log with accounts expert/counsel disbursements onto Chrome River and ensuring appropriate matter allocation.
Request cheques, bank transfers, and paying in money received, as appropriate.
Supporting the co-ordination of the WIP process.
Dealing with matter related finance administration to include BACs, TTs etc.
Dealing with submission of fee earner expenses.
Take ownership of billing and account queries and work with fee earners and support teams to resolve these.
Maintain spreadsheets and assist with monthly MI report completion.
Customer Service
Arranging and attending team meetings.
Liaising with lawyers, STLs and Secretarial Managers (SM) to take instruction and liaise on work requirements.
Consistently and appropriately update service users on progress where appropriate.
Regularly offer assistance wherever possible.
Firm wide:
Understands DAC Beachcroft is an international firm. Works with awareness of this structure to operate as one team/brand.
Actively operates in the best interests of the firm at all times internally and externally.
Operates in a regulated environment, effectively managing risk and compliance issues including data security.
Works in partnership with others to manage and mitigate commercial risk.
We are happy to talk flexible working with our Flex Forward scheme. We would encourage you to talk to us about our approach to flexible working during the hiring process if you would like to explore this further.
Note for Recruitment Agencies
DAC Beachcroft manages all vacancies via our in-house recruitment teams, prioritising direct sourcing and referrals. When external support is required, roles are released to selected agencies on our Preferred Supplier List (PSL).
Speculative CVs sent to any DAC Beachcroft employee without prior instruction from our recruitment teams (LLP and CSG) will not be accepted, and no fees will be payable.
For PSL queries, please contact: recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com or csgrecruitment@dacbeachcroft.com
We are a leading international legal business with over 3,000 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We are market leaders in insurance, health and real estate but with a full-service offering, including growing Financial Services and Tech capabilities. We represent a wide range of clients – from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for nearly all of the top-20 UK and global insurers, we're market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise all of the UK’s top-five housebuilders.
We are a fast-growing international business with offices around the globe. In addition to our 11 UK offices, we also have offices in Bogota, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Lima, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, New York, Paris, Rome, Santiago de Chile, and Singapore plus a representative office in Miami and broad network of affiliations across the globe.
At DAC Beachcroft we are committed to and recognise the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion across the board, including and beyond the protected characteristics. We take decisions based solely on merit. We value, welcome and seek out people with different backgrounds and life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, ways of thinking and identities.
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