Team Administrator

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.

Birketts is recruiting for an ambitious, driven and forward-thinking Administrator to join our growing CLDR Team on a full time, permanent basis. The role will be based from our modern office in Ipswich town centre, situated a 5 minutes’ walk from the train station.

Our CLDR Team works with its clients to avoid disputes but where a dispute does arise, we have the skill, expertise and experience to achieve a positive resolution as swiftly as possible. Our specialist team of over 20 lawyers act for a broad range of clients from individual business owners to listed companies and multi-nationals.

Our lawyers routinely conduct litigation in the High Court and the Court of Appeal as well as engage in commercial arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

Our opponents are typically major London and international law firms. We have strong links with proven junior and leading counsel in leading London commercial chambers.

Birketts has more ranked contentious lawyers than any other firm in East Anglia. Interviewees in Chambers [UK 2021] describe the Litigation Team as "at the top of its game".

This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious Administrator to join our successful and growing CLDR team in Ipswich. We are seeking someone who will work as a member of our existing team of secretaries and administrators (who are based in our other offices) to support the lawyers in all aspects of their work.  We are looking for the right person for this role, and all applicants will be considered on their individual merits, regardless of their prior experience – we are as happy to work with someone at the start of their career as we are someone with decades of experience; what matters to us is your ability to work effectively and efficiently as part of a team, supporting others and being supported by them. 

The requirements of the role include:

• Completing conflict checks
• File opening/closing
• Drafting Client Care Letters
• Managing Anti-Money Laundering checks
• Processing payments
• Dealing with incoming payments
• Assisting the Team with billing
• Assisting with the Team with the recovery of outstanding invoices
• Managing key dates and Court dates
• Distributing post
• Fielding new enquiries
• Preparing/formatting correspondence and accompanying documents
• Preparing PDF bundles (including paginating, bookmarking and hyperlinking)
• Photocopying and scanning
• Updating internal marketing systems

Professional Skills:

• Promptly clarifying instructions should they or deadlines be unclear
• Responding to internal and external telephone enquiries politely and professionally, taking accurate telephone messages, and passing them to the appropriate person
• Supporting other secretarial team members proactively and providing cover when necessary to ensure that work is completed on time and to a high standard
• Providing full support to lawyers in the full range of their activities and carrying out any other duties as reasonably requested.

General Approach

• Showing a positive approach and interest in the work of our team
• Showing initiative when responding to queries and actively trying to solve problems
• Supporting the lawyers to meet clients’ demands
• Building and maintaining strong working relationships with other members of the team, including lawyers and other secretaries and administrators, and actively working in the interests of the whole firm.

You will have the ability to contribute at an operational level, with excellent communication skills and can demonstrate general skills in:

• Strong administration experience;
• Positive, enthusiastic and professional approach;
• Strong attention to detail, high level organisational skills and reliable;
• Self-motivated with an ability to use own initiative with a desire to learn.

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.

Benefits

One of the best things about joining Birketts is our rewards package. At Birketts we’re appreciative of the people who work for us and our rewards package is reviewed regularly to reflect that. You can expect to receive:

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays
• Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare - 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 (Environmental, Social and Governance) day
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Season Ticket Loan
• Gym Flex membership
• Electric car scheme
• Dress for your Day Policy
• Agile Working Policy