Administrative Assistant (Professional & Commercial Risk) - Leeds

Job Introduction

DAC Beachcroft has an exciting opportunity for someone to join our Professional & Commercial Risk (North) team as an Administrative Assistant on a full-time, permanent basis. Although not essential, this role would suit someone who has previous administrative experience, ideally within a law or professional services environment. 

This role is fully office based, in our centrally located Leeds office. Working hours are typically 9am - 5pm.

Reporting into the Secretarial Team Leader (STL), the role will provide administrative support across the team with work coming directly from either the Team Leader or Secretaries. The role is accountable for establishing and maintaining an ongoing service-based relationship with the team they support, and recognising and translating the needs and expectations into a responsive service.

The Professional & Commercial Risk teams located across 4 locations in the North.  The Leeds P&CR team consists of 6 Partners, 3 Legal Directors, 12 fee earners and 2 paralegals supported by 3 secretaries.  

The team provide expert legal advice to clients across an engaging mix of professional disciplines including Professional Indemnity, Financial Institutions, Directors and Officers, Cyber, Warranty and Indemnity, and Construction. As a member of our team you will play an active part in the continued growth and success of the team in collaboration with the wider practice in the North, nationally and internationally. We act for all the main Insurance companies and Insured professionals in the supply chain. We deal with the full spectrum of Insurance work from Policy cover, recovery and strategic advice to Insurers. 

We are a Disability Confident employer and guarantee to interview anyone with a disability, long term health condition or neurodiversity whose application meets the essential criteria for the role as set out in this advert.  If this applies to you contact disabilityconfident@dacbeachcroft.com in confidence, quoting the reference number for this vacancy in the subject box of your email, and a member of the team will be in touch. 

We are happy to talk flexible working and have in place a Flex-forward working 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.

Role Responsibility

General

• Ensuring current protocols and practices within the Department are followed, sharing knowledge with the Team Leader and wider team so these can be built into current practices where necessary
• Assisting the Team Leader and Secretaries as directed in the organisation of internal and external events, seminars, conferences and training sessions as well as arranging DACB merchandise where required, IT assistance, travel booking, printing/circulating materials
• File opening - matters are set up on the relevant case management system, along with any supporting documents to be saved and communicating any financial requirements at set up stage to the Accounts Department/updating the matter clearly as to those instructions
• Closing and archiving –  undertaking all file closing/archiving procedures ensuring compliant at all times
• Arranging meetings both externally and internally, arranging any travel and catering required
• Arranging travel bookings (train/taxi/hotel and flight bookings) as requested
• Arranging hand deliveries and courier requests, and other adhoc requests
• Printing/copying/scanning of documents flowing to Office Services for support with high volume jobs, as appropriate
• Dealing with incoming post – managing distribution of electronic post to the fee earners, saving to the matter file using protocol and naming conventions in line with DACB guidelines`
• Collating and indexing legal documentation/bundles, using PDF documents
• Typing of standard letters i.e. correspondence/documents/notes (Bighand dictation)
• Arranging TTs/BACs/Faster Payments – as well as verifying bank details and carrying out sanction checks
• Providing live financial stat figures for individual matters when requested
• Creating or amending presentations
• Managing expenses as requested

Communication

• Liaising with fellow team members on workloads and ensure deadlines are consistently met
• Answering internal calls to other members of the team
• Liaising with and taking direction from your Team Leader and Team Secretaries as well as lawyers where necessary

Financial

• Assisting with billing queries as and when required
• Dealing with matter related finance administration including matter set up billing criteria and figure stats from 3E
• Assisting with expenses as required
• Assist with drafting emails to send out invoices for fee earners
• Drafting for approval emails sending out invoices for fee earners

Processing

• Responsible for managing priorities and workloads to ensure deadlines are met.  Liaising with Team Leader where challenges arise
• Responsible for creating and uploading information to client data rooms, in line with instructions from Team Leader or Team Secretaries
• Production of court bundles, both paper and electronic copies, ensuring bundles are sent out on time or uploaded to electronic platforms in line with lawyer instructions and court rules; suitable delivery methods pre-booked as needed
• Ensuring compliance with firm wide/department policies and procedures
• Responsible for checking post and/or emails and dealing with as appropriate ensuring all client related correspondence is appropriately filed in firm’s document management systems
• Ensuring all filing into Visual Files/i-manage is done for the team if cc'd into correspondence or requested

Customer Service

• Attending team meetings
• Liaising with lawyers and Team Leader to take instruction and liaise on work requirements
• Regularly offer assistance wherever possible

The Ideal Candidate

• Previous experience within a legal environment is preferred, insurance background welcomed
• An ability to use accounts packages and get involved in queries for the team and work with accounts 
• Must have good IT skills, particularly in Microsoft packages
• An excellent eye for detail with a concern for quality and accuracy
• A focused client service approach
• Team orientated and collaborative with a flexible, can do attitude
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely orally and in writing
• Demonstrable ability to multitask and prioritise a full workload under pressure with  the ability to work independently.

About the Company

We're a leading international legal business with over 3,000 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We're 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 Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Rome, Singapore, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Miami, plus a broad network of affiliations across the globe. 

Working with us

Our vision is to be leading business advisers, recognised for our insight and our outstanding commitment to clients, and for being the place where talented people want to work. Combine this with our supportive culture and hybrid working model, and you have: a Life that Works.

Our flexible approach means that we help our colleagues to be their best at work, while recognising that they have all sorts of different interests and commitments outside work.

We pride ourselves on our supportive, approachable culture. We are trusted, appreciated as individuals and embraced as part of a team. At DACB, we don’t just accept your differences, we celebrate and advocate for them. From bespoke solutions for our clients, to treating you as an individual. Our strength comes from your diverse ideas and bringing the ‘whole you’ to work. So if you’re good at what you do, come as you are!

Note for Recruitment Agencies – the DAC Beachcroft LLP resourcing team is responsible for managing all current vacancies through direct hiring and referrals.  Whilst we do work with recruitment agencies, we will formally release those vacancies to instructed agencies deemed best placed to assist us.  Speculative CVs sent by any agency to any DAC Beachcroft employee without a specific request by the resourcing team will not be accepted and no introduction fee will be applicable.  Our resourcing team can be contacted at recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com.

DAC Beachcroft