Legal Assistant

ENGINEERINGUK; London, Greater London; On-site; GBP 26,000; Full time

Job description

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Employer: Miles and Partners

Location: London Liverpool Street Station, London (Greater)

Salary: £25,750

Closing date: 21 Apr 2025

Sector: Legal

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: Full Time

We are seeking bright law graduates at Miles and Partners, with a professional outlook to join our team as Legal Assistants providing paralegal support to our busy specialist award-winning lawyers in our Family, Housing/JR, and Court of Protection Teams. The roles begin in June/July 2025 and will suit LLB or equivalent graduates who have completed at least a year of LPC/BPTC, completed SQE 1, or completed 6 months relevant work experience after graduating from their LLB or equivalent.

Experience of working in a busy legal environment with Legal Aid and CCMS will be an advantage but is not essential. We are committed to agile working, so you need to be self-motivated and possess a willingness and ability to work independently whilst maintaining professional standards. The successful applicants will also have a positive outlook, good communication skills, numeracy and IT skills, a willingness to learn and accept responsibility, enthusiasm, commitment, and the ability to work well in a team.

The posts on offer have a wide range of duties ranging from clerical work to liaising with the Legal Aid Agency, the courts, experts, counsel, etc., attending interviews with experts to take notes, assisting in arrangements for conferences, preparation of court bundles and accompanying documentation, preparation of documents for Counsel, and occasionally attending Court with Counsel. With appropriate experience and training, we would expect you to progress to preparing statements and applications, attending clients and taking instructions, and legal research.

We recruit on merit, irrespective of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race or ethnicity, marital status, religion, sex, sexual orientation. We are seeking a minimum engagement of twelve months. Salary £25,750 pa.

Job Purpose

• To provide support to a designated fee earner and deal with a variety of legal matters under the supervision of a designated fee earner.
• To contribute to the overall provision of legal services given by the firm, by conducting all matters as assigned, ensuring that the professional standards of the firm are adhered to.

Description of Duties and Responsibilities

• To assist the designated fee earner under supervision including specific items of casework administration, telephone attendances, administration of costs to include taxation/costing procedure and claiming payment from the Legal Aid Agency, research, liaising with the Legal Aid Agency, attending court as advocate where appropriate, predominantly with counsel, and attending on clients where appropriate.
• To record all work carried out accurately and appropriately on the firm’s computerised time recording system.
• Maintain professional standards of work and comply with external and internal franchising requirements where relevant, comply with internal policy and provide a service in accordance with the policy set out in the office manual.
• Follow all office and administrative procedures.
• Liaise at all times with the fee earner supervising.
• Attend departmental meetings and staff meetings.
• Provide advocacy services where appropriate, e.g. District Judge of the day appointments.
• Attend court with counsel and take detailed records of hearings, negotiations, and attendance.
• Maintain files and report back immediately to fee earner on any issue/complaint regarding professional conduct, client dissatisfaction, potential negligence, or actual conflict of clients' interests and cost implications for the firm.
• Provide support to other fee earners as required.
• Facilitate teamwork. Be well presented and a good representative of the firm in outside dealings and court appearances.
• Liaise with the Legal Aid Agency.
• Keep diaries up to date and accurate.
• Keep supervising fee earner and reception informed of daily movements.
• When out of the office, keep in contact with the office.
• Be aware of changes to legislation.
• Read and action internal memos.

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Skills

• Analytical skills
• Written and oral communication skills
• IT skills

Knowledge

• Law firm operation
• Some degree of legal knowledge

Experience

• Previous experience of legal work

Qualifications

• Completed LLB or equivalent (2.1)

Then:

• Completed at least a year of LPC/BPTC (or equivalent)

or

• Completed SQE 1

or

• Completed 6 months relevant work experience following LLB or equivalent