Job Details

Owen Reed are recruiting for a Co-ordinating Legal Secretary to join a top London law firm.  The Co-ordinating Legal Secretary will work within the property department.

The Co-ordinating Secretaries key elements are 30% Coordination and management/70% Secretarial.  The department comprises of 24 partners, 32 fee earners, 3 trainees and 19 support staff (including 8 secretaries and 3 property administrators). 

Duties of the Co-ordinating Legal Secretary
Co-ordinating and management responsibilities
We anticipate the time spent on co-ordination and management responsibilities to be approximately 30%. • Responsible for the day to day management of the secretaries, focusing on service delivery and excellence;
• Ensure that fee earners are supported by managing the workflow and resources accordingly from within the secretarial pods;
• Ensure that a consistent approach is being applied within the secretarial pods and resources are being efficiently used, organising cross-pod working when necessary;
• Authorise holiday and be responsible for absence management, liaise with Human Resources where appropriate;
• With guidance and support from HR, manage the performance review process for the secretarial pods and deal with performance issues when they arise;
• Communicate regularly with the secretarial pods, seeking feedback to continually improve the service provided;
• Liaise with other business support areas (such as the document centre, IT, accounts etc.) where secretarial services link up in order to ensure best use of systems and procedures; and
• Provide guidance and advice to the secretarial pods, mentoring and coaching where necessary.

Secretarial support – 70%
• Provide support by liaising with the secretarial pod and property administration team where necessary;
• Type correspondence by copy (and/or audio) and compile draft replies to standard letters, ensuring that all correspondence and documents are produced to the highest standard and are in line with the firm’s house style, liaising with the document centre regarding the production of documents when necessary;
• Be aware of time critical dates and assist with diarising completion dates, SDLY, land registry and companies house etc.;
• Opening a new client , carrying out KYC and conflict checks where necessary;
• Open manual and electronic post, receive and answer communications as directed;
• Liaise with the property administration team regarding searches, land registry downloads and the drafting of property forms;
• Transcribe all statements as requested by the partner;
• Implement good housekeeping with regard to filing (client generated and administrative, e-filing and paper filing), archiving and the document management system by organising and maintaining a comprehensive filing and document management system;
• Screen incoming calls, assisting clients with enquiries where possible; and
• Undertake scanning and copying or co-ordinate through the general office.
• Prepare the partner’s marketing diary;
• Schedule appointments (both internally and externally) using the electronic diary; and
• Book meeting rooms, arrange lunches, travel arrangements and all other appointments as required by the fee-earners.
• Prepare partner’s monthly expense claims; and
• Liaise with the property administration team to prepare billing guides and invoices.
• Represent the best interest of the firm when dealing with people internally and externally;
• Cover and offering help to other secretaries within the group and within the department; and
• follow all reasonable instructions.