Practice Assistant

Farrer & Co is synonymous with the highest quality legal advice and service.

We advise individuals, families, businesses, financial services, educational and not-for-profit organisations on every aspect of the law, wherever the need arises. From our offices in London we work with trusted professionals around the world to deliver a seamless international service.

Our clients present us with complex and varied challenges. Whether that's a complicated family trust issue, a multinational corporate transaction, or an emerging threat to their reputation, they need clear thinkers who can advise on the best solutions, fast thinkers when speed is of the essence and agile thinkers who can produce a fresh approach to get the job done. That's why they choose us.

Our clients value our in-depth knowledge, technical excellence and diversity of disciplines. But what really binds our long-standing relationships with them is our approach: pragmatic, plain speaking and always steadfast in our values, which we hold dear. Values which mean we gain our clients' trust, always strive to do the right thing, and aim for the best results for them.

Superb client service sits at the heart of everything we do. We are modern lawyers with timeless values.

We advise on a wide spectrum of contentious and non-contentious corporate matters and clients include global corporates, private equity funds, AIM listed companies (and Nomads) as well as entrepreneurial owner/managed businesses. Whilst the majority of our deals were in the £10m - £40m bracket in 2010/11, we also undertake smaller transactions.  The Team have a wealth of specialist expertise, particularly in publishing, radio, hotel and leisure, sovereign wealth funds, partnerships and healthcare.

Organisational Support

• Effective and proactive diary management, and awareness of Fee Earners' workloads to plan ahead, with minimal supervision
• Processes relevant applications, forms or searches, with minimal supervision
• Has a good knowledge of all systems/processes used within the Department

Client Relationship and Business Development

• Provides excellent service to clients, both internal and external, in a timely and professional manner, presenting a positive image of the Firm at all times
• Acts as a first point of contact for Fee Earners
• Provides assistance in the delivery of marketing communications, and records all business development meetings in InterAction
• Recognises, respects and honours client confidentiality at all times

Document Production

• Creates typed work of a high quality, formatting in accordance with house style, at high speed, with accuracy and following internal guidelines
• Makes effective use of the Document Management System
• Creates new documents from the Firm’s templates, using contact data from InterAction where appropriate
• Proof-reads all documents for spelling, grammar and sense, querying wording where appropriate

IT Skills/Systems

• Maintains a high level of proficiency in core IT applications including the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook)

File Management

• Adopts a pro-active approach and works with Fee Earners  effectively, to maintain regular file management, to ensure all files are up to date, closed and archived, as appropriate
• Keeps accurate records of all files sent to off-site storage via Records

Financial Risk Management

• Prepares bills, as required by Fee Earners
• Prepares AML documentation and obtains relevant documentation from clients in a timely manner, as required by Fee Earners
• Carries out conflict searches and correctly identifies the work type

• Qualified to GCSE standard, grade C (or equivalent) at Mathematics and English essential
• Previous secretarial experience in a law firm essential

• Qualified to GCSE standard, grade C (or equivalent) at Mathematics and English essential
• Previous secretarial experience in a law firm essential

• Happy to talk flexible working.  The firm is able to consider applications from full time applicants and may also be able to consider applicants looking for a work pattern of 0.8. Flexible working patterns will be considered within the firm’s agile working framework which embraces home working but will require employees to spend a minimum number of days each week in the London office.
• Farrer & Co is an equals opportunity employer who welcomes applications from candidates from all backgrounds. We look to employ the best candidates regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, or any other protected characteristic.
• We are keen to ensure candidates have the best interview experience possible, if you require any adjustments during the interview or application process please let the recruitment team know.

Farrer & Co conducts a pre-employment screening which consists of a Criminal History Background and Credit Check for successful candidates.