SECRETARY

Department - Wills and Probate

Location – Ellis-Fermor and Negus, 2 Devonshire Avenue, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1BS

Hours - 35 hpw (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm, 1 hour lunch)

Salary – From circa £23,000 pa depending on experience

This post will be based at our Beeston office for at least the first 12 – 18 months. After this the post could

be based at Beeston or at one of our other Nottinghamshire offices (Long Eaton or West Bridgford)

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Purpose

• To provide the fee earner(s) with all reasonable assistance to enable them to provide an efficient

and professional service to our clients

• To provide a professional secretarial service for the Department

• To ensure high levels of customer care for clients over the phone and face to face

• To help to turn enquiries into cases by being proactive in relation to response times and providing

high quality services to clients

• To uphold our values of Honesty, Respect and Teamwork, and work in accordance with the

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Principles and Code of Conduct

• To contribute to our mission of establishing lifelong relationships with all our clients by

anticipating and responding to their needs for quality legal services

Main Duties

1 To build a professional and mutually supportive working relationship with the fee earner(s)

2 To effectively manage and support the fee earner(s) with the management of their diary ensuring

that their whereabouts are known, that clients are seen as soon as possible and that files are

actioned in a timely and efficient way

3 To provide professional secretarial support to the Wills and Probate Department including:

• Preparing letters, emails, reports and other documents from digital dictation including

audio

• Submitting, and then monitoring, online applications to The Probate Registry and HM

Land Registry

• Photocopying, faxing and scanning documents

• Opening and closing files and maintaining filing system

• Sending emails in accordance with fee earner’s instructions

• Checking documents for accuracy and completeness

• Operating a range of computer packages including Office, Practice Management System

(PMS), Case Management System etc

4 To deal with enquiries from new and existing clients and external agencies and provide a high level
of client care service, including:

• Seeing new clients who call in for appointments, taking initial details and arranging

appointments

• Dealing with telephone enquiries / emails from new and existing clients, dealing with

their needs and making appointments

• Dealing with telephone / email enquiries from other agencies

5 To provide cover in other teams including on Reception as required

General Duties
1 To work in a flexible way to ensure that the workload is completed and to undertake any other

jobs commensurate with the level of the post.

2 To establish, maintain and enhance team-working with colleagues and staff of Ellis-Fermor and

Negus.

3 To keep confidential all information about individuals and the business of Ellis-Fermor and Negus

and work within the guidelines of the GDPR.

4 To abide by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Health and Safety, Anti Money Laundering

Policies and all other relevant policies.

ROLE SPECIFICATION

CRITERIA

Experience Experience providing a secretarial or PA service, ideally within a legal
services / Wills and Probate environment

Experience of audio and copy typing

Experience of working with a range of software packages

Experience of providing high levels of client care face to face, over the
telephone and via email

Experience of handling confidential information appropriately

Skills and Abilities Excellent IT skills and the ability to learn and use new software

Ability to work quickly with a high degree of accuracy

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Ability to handle interruptions professionally and maintain concentration

Ability to work to deadlines effectively and manage and organise own
workload and prioritise accordingly

Ability to multitask efficiently

Ability to help to turn enquiries into paid for work through excellent
response times, high levels of customer care etc

Ability to understand and work effectively with a diverse customer base

Other Good understanding of Anti Money Laundering responsibilities and GDPR
requirements

Satisfactory references and other pre-employment checks including credit
check, identity check, DBS etc

Sympathetic to our ethos and heritage

Line Management Responsibilities - None

Line Manager – Head of Cluster