Dispute Resolution Paralegal

A new and exciting opportunity has become available in our Dispute Resolution team. The role of the Paralegal will be to assist and support senior fee earners with their varied and challenging caseloads. The caseloads consist of general civil litigation including contentious probate, professional negligence, civil fraud, group actions, and property disputes etc. The Paralegal will be expected to meet their own fees and time targets.

At least 6 months prior paralegal experience of working in a civil litigation department with litigated and non-litigated files is necessary, as it knowledge of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR).

The ideal candidate will have; good administrative experience, working knowledge of Microsoft Office, good communication and organisational skills, the ability to work effectively in a team, under pressure and the enthusiasm to learn quickly. They should be professional and have confidence in dealing with clients, opponents, counsel and internal staff.

The successful applicant will be committed to assisting us in providing an excellent service to our clients and will be an integral part of the team.

A copy of the job description can be found below.

Please apply by sending a covering letter, CV and current salary expectations to Katie Staines (kstaines@hja.net).

Job Overview

To support Dispute Resolution fee earners and ensure cases are managed and progressing successfully.

Main Duties

Duties will vary in importance and priority, depending on circumstances and the needs of the business at any particular time, but will include the following key responsibilities:

Communication

• Be able to communicate confidently with all parties including client, court, experts and the other side by correspondence and telephone.
• Setting up meetings in person, telephone or video link.

Drafting

• Draft correspondence to clients, other side, court, experts and all other parties.
• Draft instructions to counsel
• Draft witness statement (including interviewing witnesses, drafting and amending)
• Draft applications to court

Advocacy

• Basic experience in advocacy including listing appointments, attending court for simple hearings, i.e. agreed consent orders or agreed directions.
• Sitting behind counsel at hearing and taking a detailed and accurate contemporaneous note.

Fee Earning other than the above

• Understanding of the CPR
• Undertake legal research
• Obtaining information from relevant experts
• Assisting with settlement (knowledge of without prejudice correspondence and rules pertaining to the same)
• Using case management system
• Issuing proceedings including use of the CE filing system
• Preparing bundle of exhibits to witness statements
• Preparing list of documents and disclosure
• Reviewing disclosure/documents and preparing a summary note
• Preparing bundles for court (hearings and trial) and counsel etc. pursuant to CPR on hard copy bundles and electronic bundles with minimal supervision
• Taking detailed and contemporaneous notes of meetings

Targets

• Complete accurate time recording
• Meeting billing and chargeable hours targets

Administration & Delivery of Work

• Following administration systems and procedures as required by the Firm/Lexcel
• Using case management system
• Any other reasonable tasks for the role (where applicable)
• Ability to present information simply and accurately, both orally and in writing
• Taking initiative to manage work task and caseload.

Interpersonal Skills 

• Ability to establish and maintain good working relationships with staff at all levels
• Be discreet, empathic and sensitive in dealing with clients
• Highly motivated
• Willingness to take on new challenges
• Have a practical approach to problem solving
• Able to work on own initiative as well as work in a team

Hours Of work

Core office hours will be 9.30am to 5.30pm, 5 days per week. Taking account of the nature of the role, a degree of flexibility will be required so as properly to fulfil the responsibilities and duties associated with the position.

Please note that you will be expected to work in the office. Hybrid working may be considered following completion of a successful probation period.

Unfortunately, due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to respond to all candidates. If you are successful, a member of the team will contact you directly. If you do not hear from us, please assume that your application has been unsuccessful.