Paralegal - Real Estate - Bristol/Leeds/Manchester/Newcastle

Job Introduction

This role is to work as part of the portfolio management team, which is a national team of paralegals which support the real estate team across the UK. This role can be based in either the Leeds, Bristol, Manchester or Newcastle office. Our Real Estate Team covers every aspect of commercial real estate work including planning and environmental, development, investment, asset management, funding, construction, landlord and tenant and dispute resolution. Clients include property management and development companies, health trusts and government bodies (local and central), owner occupiers and institutions, both in the UK and overseas.  The role will provide support to fee earners across our real estate team and also be responsible for a small number of files. The work will include preparation of legal forms and drafts, reporting on title, preparing and circulating client reports, general assistance to fee earners on a variety of client matters and general administrative support.

Role Responsibility

• Drafting of legal documents including leases, transfers, deeds and licences.
• Provide support to fee earners on a varied caseload, with an appropriate level of supervision. This may include reporting on title, reviewing legal documents and preparing client reports
• Taking instructions and advising the clients as to progress
• Liaising and negotiation with solicitors on a daily basis
• Preparing SDLT and Land Registry applications
• Arranging for the execution of documents
• Managing own caseload of matters from file opening and receipt of instructions to matter completion, billing and file closure
• Assume responsibility for quality control and benchmark compliance on own caseload, including accuracy and timeliness of management reporting and information
• Maintain an awareness of firm's procedures and strategies
• Maintain and develop technical knowledge through attendance at training sessions and reading appropriate publications
• Deal with telephone enquiries from clients, lay clients, and agents
• Handle confidential information in line with the firms data security protocols

The Ideal Candidate

Technical Skills & Experience:

• Experience in Commercial Property is not essential but would be advantageous as is an interest in this area
• Good organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and manage tasks within a time-scale.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• IT literate with working knowledge of Word and Excel. Knowledge/ previous experience of case management systems would be an advantage but training will be provided. Good keyboard skills are also essential.
• Must be flexible and self-motivated team player who is able to respect and support others within the team to achieve common goals.
• The ability to produce work to high standards and a high level of accuracy.
• Ability to communicate confidently both verbally and in written form in a clear, concise and friendly manner.
• Excellent attention to detail and a concern for quality are essential.
• Must be able to work under pressure to meet required deadlines.
• Must be able to work on own initiative and unsupervised.

Personal Skills:

• Client focused and confident with an ability to build strong relationships with client and third party contacts at all levels
• Highly organised and able to work to deadlines, prioritise own workload effectively under pressure and manage conflicting priorities
• Proactive and energetic with a tenacious approach to identifying issues and solving problems
• Quality and customer service oriented with a concern for accuracy and an eye for detail
• Team oriented. A collegiate approach to sharing knowledge and working with colleagues across the team is essential
• Able to progress tasks using own initiative, seeking guidance and input from others where appropriate
• Committed and enthusiastic with a professional attitude to work and a desire to commit long term to a career in this field
• Confident oral and written communication skills
• Able to adopt a commercial perspective in relation to legal issues with a concern for quality of service

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