Administrative
- Manage calendars, ensuring they are up to date and reminding lawyers of meetings etc. on a daily basis
- Arrange meetings, book conference rooms, refreshments, check rooms prior to meetings etc. and liaise with other attendees, both internal and external
- Arrange for travel bookings and related details to be made through the support teams
- Arrange photocopying, printing, organizing couriers, sending out of letters, faxes etc.
- Arrange for files to be opened and closed, supervise general filing requirements and record keeping
- Use effective systems to ensure that both short and long term tasks are completed within required timescales
- Support lawyers in marketing activities including involvement in preparation of pitches and presentations
Communication
- Take internal and external telephone queries, responding as appropriate and/or ensuring that all messages are passed on in a timely manner
- Monitor post and/or e-mails and dealing with as appropriate and ensure that all client related correspondence is passed on to an appropriate lawyer if the relevant person is out of the office
- Liaise with administrative support departments on behalf of lawyers as required
- Liaise with the department’s Team Leader over any planned absences, arranging cover as necessary and communicating this to the relevant lawyers.
Client relationship management
- Become an active part in the care of clients and be wholly familiar with contacts/clients
- Enter, maintain and update client details and relevant information in the Firm’s CRM contacts system
- Deal with basic client queries and general administration
- Arrange client meetings
Document production
- Check correspondence, attachments, documents, reports, presentations, faxes etc. produced by the Document Production team before they are passed to the relevant lawyer and undertake basic/minor amendments where appropriate
- Type urgent/short/confidential correspondence and emails
- Produce and maintain Excel spreadsheets as required
- Administer PrimaFact filing when required
Financial - Billing
- Assist lawyers in ensuring their time is recorded properly and entered onto the system on a daily basis
- Assist lawyers in the billing and credit control process by liaising with the lawyer and accounts and to produce standard pre-bill financial/time reports through the system
- Request cheques, bank transfers and paying in money received, as appropriate
Other duties and responsibilities
- In addition to providing support to the lawyer(s) to whom they report, a Practice Assistant will also provide assistance to their immediate colleagues in the department and, where practical, other departments.
- Team duties will therefore include:
- Assisting other members of the firm, both proactively and at the request of the Team Leader
- Any other duties as requested by the Lawyers or Team Leader
In addition to the key responsibilities, the successful candidate should have/be:
- Accurate typing speed of approximately 60 words per minute
- Knowledge of how insurance and tort law files progress, Accident Benefits/SABS and arbitrations
- Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, research tools and other systems implemented by the firm
Come join a team of professionals today! We thank all applicants for their interest however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.