Job Details

The Firm Mishcon de Reya is an independent law firm, which now employs more than 900 people with over 550 lawyers offering a wide range of legal services to companies and individuals. Based in London and Singapore, the firm services an international community of clients and provides advice in situations where the constraints of geography often do not apply. The work it undertakes is cross-border, multi-jurisdictional and complex, spanning six core practice areas: Corporate; Dispute Resolution; Employment; Intellectual Property; Private; and Real Estate. Mishcon de Reya has grown rapidly in recent years, showing more than 70% revenue growth in the past five years alone. In 2015, the firm moved into a purpose designed building on Kingsway, and has converted to both an alternative business structure and LLP. Mishcon de Reya prides itself on the diverse range of people who make up the firm. The central role played by the Academy, the firm’s in-house place of learning, development and new thinking, and its active and innovative social impact strategy are reflected in its Investors in People Platinum standard. The Department Mishcon de Reya LLP has one of the largest and most comprehensive Dispute Resolution offerings in London; over half of the Firm's lawyers are litigators. From a core of Fraud litigators we have built a team that covers most major areas of the Dispute Resolution world including: White Collar Crime & Investigations, Tax, Competition and Anti-Trust, International Arbitration, Intellectual Property and Fraud Defence & Business Disputes. Each dispute requires a bespoke solution, sometimes aggressive, sometimes measured. We fight our client’s corner: we take ownership of our client's dispute so that we can resolve it as effectively as possible. We fiercely guard our clients' interests. Duties and Responsibilities • To provide comprehensive support to allocated Partners and fee earners (as well as others as and when required); • To provide all aspects of general administrative support including, but not limited to, diary management, travel planning, expenses, maintenance of calendars and contact lists, management of client files and folders, filing, photocopying, arranging couriers and updating contacts on Interaction. • Proactive and advance monitoring of fee earner diaries, reminding fee earners of diary commitments and taking responsibility for ensuring that they have all supporting paperwork and information for each meeting or appointment. • Plan, coordinate, schedule internal/external meetings and conference calls (UK and overseas). • Dealing with telephone enquiries, managing client enquiries/requests for meetings and taking accurate messages and passing them on promptly or trying to assist and responding on behalf of the fee-earner, if appropriate. • Overseeing and prioritising incoming email, post and voicemail when fee earners are out of the office, acknowledging receipt and responding on behalf of the fee-earner, if appropriate. • Dealing with all internal and external clients in a timely, professional and courteous manner. • Prepare and type, proofread and amend documents, either from dictation, general instruction or by personal drafting. Documents will include letters, reports, attendance notes, memos, faxes, and emails, ensuring that all copies (electronic and paper) are retained and filed accurately. • Preparing presentation slides and materials for internal/external meetings and seminars in the Firm's house style. • Create files and manage the filing system for fee earners (paper and electronic) by ensuring all relevant documents are sorted and accurately filed regularly. When required, the management of closed files, ensuring, these are effectively archived. • Assist with maintaining routine billing records, prepare billing guides and assist with the monthly billing process. • Opening and closing of files including completing conflict checks, preparation of client engagement letters, collating all the relevant information required and updating client files regularly. • Checking accounts system for monies on account and whether bills have been paid. • Liaising with support departments to resolve problems on fee-earner's behalf, taking ownership of the issue and following up where appropriate. • Proactively managing all tasks related to administrative support using initiative and common sense ensuring a responsive stance on all matters. • Providing support for ad-hoc project work • Providing assistance to other Partners and fee earners during the absence of other secretaries/PPAs in the team, as and when required. Skills/Experience • Strong PA/secretarial skills from a top firm; • A positive "can do" attitude and willingness to take on additional tasks and assist others when required; • Ability to work in a fast-paced and demanding work environment whilst effectively managing your own workload; • Ability to work with people of all levels of the business and handle all responsibilities with a high level of diplomacy and professionalism; • Strong drafting skills; • Excellent organisational, communication and administrative skills; • Excellent attention to detail with a near perfect standard of accuracy; • An ability to work under pressure, prioritise, multitask and balance various work requests; • A self-starter with a team focussed approach; • MS Office package knowledge is required specifically PowerPoint, Excel & Word. Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested. Diversity & Inclusion lie at the heart of our core values. At Mishcon de Reya, our aim is to promote and foster a culture which embraces diversity, respect for the individual and the expression of talent, to empower individuals to fulfil their, and the firm’s, potential. In order to support this, we recognise the importance of flexible and agile working and are open to having conversations on how this could work for you and our business.