Secretary – Social Housing

Newcastle upon Tyne

£20,000 - £25,000

Permanent

We are working with a leading Law Firm with a national presence headquartered in Newcastle. They have an exciting new opportunity to join them to provide secretarial support to the Social Housing Property fee earners in the Housing department in Newcastle by providing a wide range of legal services to Social Housing clients.

What will you do?

Working with the Partners and fee earners, key responsibilities will include:

• Organising and prioritising workloads on an ongoing basis, in conjunction with fee earners
• Maintaining the fee earner diary / being aware of the fee earner's day-to-day commitments
• Preparing inward and outward correspondence
• Alerting and agreeing with fee earners on any changes in circumstance and priority about workload
• Opening and closing files and general matter maintenance
• Liaising with clients and taking instructions under the supervision of and as directed by fee earners
• Preparing, submitting and downloading property searches
• Preparing, amending and finalising legal documents and reports as directed by fee earners
• Preparing and collating Engrossments (both in hard copy and PDF format), marking them up for execution, and all preparations for completion
• Preparing and submitting Stamp Duty Land Tax forms using the SDLT website
• Interface with Land Registry
• Producing/assisting in the completion of monthly bills
• E-filing of all documents and correspondence
• Use precedents as directed and delegated by fee earners to prepare and draft documents as directed
• Liaising with the Housing Department Administrator in facilitating / organising room bookings, accommodation and travel tickets.
• Set out of office greeting when fee earners are out of the office, as well as retrieve and prioritise, as appropriate, email messages received.
• Files to be opened in a timely manner ensuring all relevant money laundering documentation is completed to comply with the Solicitors Accounts Rules and the firm's protocols and policies.

 What are we looking for?

• This role requires an organised individual with strong attention to detail and a positive, 'can do' attitude
• Strong competence in all Microsoft Packages to an advanced level
• Strong experience and proficiency in Searches, Land Registry and Stamp Duty Land Tax interfaces
• Excellent IT skills, with competence in document management systems
• Proficiency in document preparation, including house style, schedule levels, stripping out and re-formatting documents, table of contents, formulas, track changes, document comparison packages
• Self-motivated and able to work on own initiative
• Excellent organisational skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• An ability to prioritise and meet deadlines
• Pleasant and efficient telephone manner

This role is suitable for hybrid working (3 days in the office per week) and will be based around a salary of £25,000.