Legal Secretary - Birmingham

Job Introduction

DAC Beachcroft is looking to appoint an experienced Legal Secretary to join our secretarial teams working within the Claims Solutions group. The purpose of the role is to provide a high standard of secretarial support to Partners/Lawyers across the specified practice.

The position will be based in our office in Birmingham and will primarily support a range of teams based in London.  Some travel to London will be expected.

Role Responsibility

• Preparing and formatting correspondence and documents including from digital dictation (Bighand) alongside proofreading speech recognition dictation
• Answering/making telephone calls to include supporting with diversion of team calls
• Managing the case management system (as appropriate)
• Keeping case files organised and logical
• Preparing documentation bundles and use of e-bundling software such as PDF docs for putting together bundles, editing/redacting of information
• Setting up of new files/archiving of files
• Filing, photocopying, scanning and faxing
• Use of clients external systems/portals for downloading and uploading of documents
• Checking of notification in-boxes and/or homeworker in-boxes
• Copying disks
• Use of encryption software such as Sharefile
• Assisting with the planning and booking of travel arrangements
• Assisting lawyers with admin tasks e.g. expenses, diarising meetings etc.
• Assisting lawyers with finance queries and raising monthly invoices using Elite
• Booking client meetings and assisting with event on the day delegate “meet and greet” at our London office (where possible)
• Assisting with ad-hoc business development and communications activities to include but not limited to producing branded presentations and team sheets in PowerPoint, mail merges in Word, spreadsheets in Excel, client contact reports, printing and collating delegate packs
• An understanding of financial administration e.g. understand financial cycle of bills appropriate to external client, to keep accurate financial data when using the case management system and maintain bills in a logical and organised manner (where appropriate)
• Ensuring client contact information is kept up to date and data is accurate
• Assisting the team to work electronically and maintain a paperless environment
• Helping to maintain a clean office and clear desk
• Working knowledge of our computer systems and packages e.g. Word, Excel and PowerPoint and bespoke DAC Beachcroft packages
• Supporting on cost-saving initiatives such as cheaper travel options and split tickets
• Regularly liaising with lawyers within the team and STL to keep them updated as to workflows
• Ensure lawyers are updated in relation to deadlines for work
• Share knowledge within the team relating to any changes within external client set ups e.g. client contacts leaving/joining the client
• Advising Accounts/IT of any change of address/telephone numbers/change of name of any external client so that databases are updated

The Ideal Candidate

• Previous experience as a legal secretary is essential and knowledge of supporting with Casualty/Criminal Motor Defence and/or Regulatory SHE (Safety, Health & Environment) work is desirable, with a preferred minimum typing speed of 65wpm
• Previous experience of using PDF docs, Sharefile and Elite at an intermediate level is desirable
• A secretarial NVQ / Diploma or equivalent would be beneficial but is not essential
• Must have good IT skills, particularly in Microsoft packages
• Demonstrable ability to multitask for large busy teams
• Ability to prioritise a full workload under pressure
• Ability to work independently and support virtually across locations
• An excellent eye for detail with a concern for quality and accuracy
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely orally and in writing
• A focused client service approach
• Team oriented and collaborative approach with a flexible, can do attitude
• Some travel to our London office

About the Company

We are a leading international legal business with over 2,500 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We have 11 offices in the UK as well as offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Miami. We also have associations/alliances with firms in Malaysia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Central America, the USA, Australia and Germany.

We are a broad-based commercial firm with a strong heritage in insurance, health and real estate. This is complemented by a fast-growing Business Advisory capability. We represent a wide range of clients, ranging from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for all of the UK’s top-ten insurers, we are 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-12 housebuilders.

We have an impressive legal pedigree, with 142 Chambers UK 2021 practice area and individual lawyer rankings. In Legal 500 UK 2021, the firm received a top tier ranking for 37 of its practice areas, and 58 DACB lawyers were singled out in the ‘Leading Individual' rankings.

Our successes have been recognised by the legal industry and the markets in which we operate. These accolades include two top prizes in the ‘Excellence in Business Development’ and ‘Excellence in Technology & Innovation’ categories of the 2020 Law Society Excellence Awards – the highest accolade for law firms in England & Wales. Our health sector team won the ‘Crisis Management Team of the Year’ award at the 2020 British Legal Awards for its support to the NHS at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our Cyber & Data Risk team received the ‘Business Development Innovation Award’ at the 2020 Legal Innovation Awards, as well as ‘Cyber Law Firm of the Year’ at the prestigious Insurance Insider Cyber Rankings Awards, for its market-leading suite of digital tools to help our clients prepare for and respond to cyber and data risk crises.

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. For further details on our work and our culture, please visit www.dacbeachcroft.com.

Application Details

At DAC Beachcroft, we don’t just accept your differences we celebrate them.  From bespoke solutions for our clients, to treating you like 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.  We welcome direct applications and are happy to talk flexible working.

We also want you to be at your very best.  Please feel free to let us know of any changes we can make at any point in the recruitment process that will help support your application.  If this opportunity sounds of interest to you, please make an application and submit your CV.  Your application will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.

Note for Recruitment Agencies – the DAC Beachcroft recruitment team is responsible for managing all current vacancies through direct hiring and referrals wherever possible.  We do work with recruitment agencies and where we require external support we will formally release those vacancies to the agencies on our Preferred Supplier List deemed best placed to assist us.  Speculative CVs sent by any agency to any DAC Beachcroft employee without a specific request by the recruitment team will not be accepted and with no introduction fee applicable.  Our recruitment team can be contacted at recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com

DAC Beachcroft