Legal Secretary Dispute Resolution Department

The Firm

Payne Hicks Beach is a 44 partner firm of solicitors based in offices at 10 New Square, Lincoln’s Inn. In total the firm comprises approximately 220 staff. The firm provides specialist legal services to private and commercial clients. We are best known for our family and private client work and are widely regarded as one of the very best of the small number of firms in the UK who provide these specialist services at the highest level. We also have an excellent reputation in many other areas of law (rated in both Chambers and Legal 500).

Our offices are located in one of the finest squares in London, a building which the firm has occupied since 1770.

More information about the departments and the work of the firm may be found on our website, the address of which is www.phb.co.uk.

The Team

The Dispute Resolution Department comprises 12 Partners, 1 Consultant, 3 Legal Directors, 1 Counsel, 2 Senior Associates, 11 Associates and 2 Trainees who offer a full range of litigation services including commercial disputes, intellectual property issues, insolvency, asset/debt recovery and more. The wider team handles every type of commercial and residential property dispute. With niche practices in crime, sports, education, entertainment and other dispute areas, there is a considerable depth to their expertise.

The Role

Your key duties will include, but will not be limited to;

• Liaising with clients both face to face and over the phone
• Audio/copy typing, including digital dictation
• Assisting/supporting solicitors and fee earners within the department
• Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines
• General administrative duties
• Billing
• Diary management
• Document management
• Maintaining all filing systems effectively

The Individual

We expect our secretaries to be “Secretaries/PAs” not typists. We are therefore looking for a well organised, intelligent individual with an excellent telephone manner who can deal with clients and members of the firm at all levels, who can act with discretion when dealing with confidential information.

You must have excellent IT skills in Word and Excel. You will need to be able to demonstrate initiative, problem solving skills, have the ability to work in a small team and pay strong attention to detail.

A well organised secretary who is able to work under pressure and work to deadlines, with concise writing skills, spelling, punctuation and proof reading skills would suit this role

Key Skills

• Passionate and enthusiastic about providing exceptional client service.
• Copes effectively in demanding circumstances.
• The integrity to handle highly confidential information appropriately.
• Have the ability to use own initiative to adapt and think laterally.
• The ability to pick up unfamiliar work quickly and be proactive.
• Self-motivated and goal focused, you will enjoy change and variety and thrive under pressure.
• Technically advanced in Outlook, Word, Excel, Zoom and Microsoft Teams
• Experience of SOS Connect, BigHand or Diktamen, Nuance/Kofax and iManage would be advantageous, although training will be given.
• Self-motivated and able to organise own work with minimum supervision.
• Good time management, adopting a flexible approach to work.
• Demonstrates persistence and commitment to completing tasks and objectives.
• Delivers work output to the required standard.
• Ability to build and maintain working relationships with others and is seen as ‘approachable’.
• Operates effectively as part of a team.
• Willing to offer help to other colleagues to ensure efficient running of the department
• Fast and accurate typing speed (minimum of 65 words per minute).
• Evidence of good business writing and numeracy skills.