Private Client Legal Assistant Tunbridge Wells

Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent, South East
Salary: Highly Competitive
Job Type:

Job Ref. Number:MM039

Job Title: Private Client Legal Assistant
Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Salary: Highly Competitive

The Company:

Cripps Harries Hall LLP is a leading regional law practice in the South East. Based in Tunbridge Wells, they currently have 41 partners and employ over 250 people. Although Cripps’ have an office in London all staff are located in Tunbridge Wells.
The firm are highly ranked in the legal directories for providing clients with the highest quality of legal services for both commercial and private clients. Turnover for 2006/2007 was £17.5 million.

Cripps Harries Hall LLP pride themselves on offering both clients and staff an excellent alternative to City law firms. Although they also attract individuals from other regional firms, many of their partners and staff have moved to the firm from London. The firm offer them the opportunity to continue to enjoy the quality of work and clients they previously experienced in the City but without the commute. Many of their clients, whether corporate, institutional or private clients, have relocated all or part of their legal work from London to benefit from their lower overheads.

As a forward-thinking practice Cripps Harries Hall LLP recognise the vital contribution of skilled professionals to their continued development. The firm’s business is providing clients with the highest quality of legal services.

The Role:

The role will include fee earning work plus administration.
Much of the work will be IT-based.
The postholder will have day to day contact with clients although a partner will remain the client manager with the overall view of the client’s work.

Main Duties:

• Fee earning tasks as assigned by partner in charge
• Preparation of Wills, Codicils, LPA’s, Advance Decisions and other related documents
• Dealing with correspondence
• Assisting with follow-up correspondence on matters
• Providing assistance for the Estates Team when required
• Providing assistance for the TAM group when required
• Attending clients with fee earners in the team (where appropriate)
• Planning and organising workload appropriately and discussing it with partners/other fee earners as necessary
• Ensuring that the client’s requirements are understood and taking appropriate instructions from clients
• Reporting progress and outcomes to clients, fee earner and partner in charge on a regular basis
• Inform clients about fees in compliance with Rule 15
• Preparing and delivering fee invoices at monthly or other agreed intervals
• Advising clients accurately and effectively on the legal issues that arise
• Managing client’s expectations about what they want to achieve
• Carrying out client’s instructions on all business for which you are responsible
• Assisting with all aspects of monthly billing/archiving
• Keeping an effective filing system, being able to retrieve requested files and documents with minimum delay
• Running a diary system, flagging documents for review/deadlines in a timely fashion
• Ensuring a smooth running of diary management, taking a pro-active role in entering all deadlines
• Handling incoming telephone calls in an efficient and courteous manner, dealing with queries where possible and passing them on in a timely fashion as appropriate
• Acting as a focal point for queries regarding day to day office procedures including authorisation procedures and other private client department and firm wide standards

The Successful Candidate:

. Experience within a legal (ideally private client) environment
. Ability to deal with external clients, partners and fee earners at all levels in person and on the telephone as appropriate to the level of the post
. Ability to deliver work to deadlines
. Ability to work without close supervision
. Ability to demonstrate confidentiality and integrity
. Solid competence and accuracy in producing IT work – wp and ideally spreadsheets plus databases and other IT systems

The Benefits:

Salary reviewed annually in May. There will be 25 days holiday pa. In addition, other benefits will be available after a suitable qualifying period: a contributory pension scheme, free private medical care; free permanent health insurance and free life cover.

NB: PQE levels are illustrative only and serve purely as a guide to candidates. Emerson Chase will welcome applications from individuals with more or less relevant experience than stated since such candidates may well be of interest to our clients.

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