Residential Property Assistant - Birketts LLP : Job Details

The firm

Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 500 lawyers and legal professionals based in Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: property, corporate services, litigation and private client advisory.

We are defined by our next level law proposition. We work with our clients as a proactive partner, horizon scanning and thinking ahead to the changes, challenges or opportunities that they may face.

Next Level Law is also applied to our people. Our collegiate culture means everyone is encouraged to achieve their next level in everything they do.

With our ambition to succeed, comes a strong desire to make a positive contribution to the communities we serve, and we are committed to delivering the objectives set out in our ESG strategy. Diversity plays an integral part in all that we do, with female partners comprising 40% of our partnership.

The department

Our Residential Property team is dynamic and fast growing with an entrepreneurial flare.

We have 65+ team members across six offices, with Sevenoaks being the most recent addition.

Despite being such a large team, spread across five counties and the capital, we have a unified vision and shared culture which allows our team members to thrive and achieve their goals.

We have a vacancy for a forward-thinking residential property assistant to join the practice.

Purpose of job

To work as part of a very busy and rapidly growing Residential Property team to provide professional support to fee earners.

Accountabilities

• Positive and professional approach
• Attention to the small details
• Show initiative when responding to queries and actively try to seek solutions to problems
• Support and build working relationships with the other assistants.
• Effectively liaise with staff from other departments and external contacts as required
• Accurately maintain and update client and other relevant contact details on the firm’s database
• Process all standard residential property forms including client questionnaires, money laundering forms etc
• Assist in maintaining compliant and accurate file management and office systems
• Develop and maintain a good level of understanding of firm policy and process
• To carry out photocopying and scanning in accordance with the firm’s paper-lite and clear desk policies.
• To proof read all work, checking for spelling and grammar
• Diary management, processing of expense claims and attending to travel and other business development arrangements
• Prepare report bundles both electronically and manually
• Prepare completion statements and accounts forms
• Schedule and manage deeds to ensure records are kept up to date
• Immediately clarify instructions from fee earners should they be unclear or if deadlines are not made explicit
• Proactively support other assistants within the team and provide cover as and when necessary
• Ensure that work is completed to a high standard and meets the required deadlines
• Expert in a variety of software packages such as Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel, to produce correspondence, documents and ensure relevant documentation is produced to a high standard to meet clients’ and fee earners’ expectations and deadlines;
• To format, paginate, number and present documents in BirkettsLLP house style
• Use the HMRC and HMLR portals for submitting Stamp Duty Land Tax returns and HM Land Registry applications
• Self-motivated with an ability to use own initiative
• Reliable and well organised
• You will be able to efficiently and effectively under pressure and to deadlines

The candidate

• Proven IT/typing skills
• The ideal candidate will be an enthusiastic team worker with previous residential property experience used to dealing with volume, looking for an opportunity to join a dynamic market leading firm

Equal opportunities

We are committed to recruiting individuals on merits of suitability for each role, on the basis of qualifications and experience. All applications are treated fairly and equally regardless of sexual orientation, race, disability, religious beliefs and any other protected characteristic, ensuring that there are equal opportunities at all stages of the recruitment process.

Core Benefits

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays
• Long Service holiday award - 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
• Staff Profit Share / Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
• Paid ESG day (Environmental, Social and Governance)
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Subsidised gym membership
• Electric car scheme
• Eye Care Voucher
• Dress for your Day Policy