Practice Assistant - Residential

The Practice Assistant is primarily a Partner focussed role, based within a practice area in one of the Firm's fee-earning departments. The Practice Assistant will work with specified Partners and/or other fee earners to provide proactive, timely and high quality administrative/co-ordination support., Private Real Estate Specialism

• Creating initial drafts of sale contracts and property information forms.
• Lodging property searches.
• Diarising key dates for the file (priority searches, notices etc.).
• Obtaining official copies and deeds from HM Land Registry, carrying out land registry searches.
• Setting up files for completion including creating first drafts of:
+ Transfer Deeds + Completion Information and Requisitions on Title + Completion and financial statements; and + SDLT returns.
• Ensuring files CQS and SRA requirements are up-to-date or diarised for fee earner.
• Sending documents to client(s) for signature / setting up electronic signatures of documents and liaising with clients/guiding clients to complete execution.
• Dealing with post completion matters including:
+ Registrations + Submitting and paying SDLT + Dealing with notices + Dealing with share certificates; and + Reconciling accounts. General
• Acting as a first point of contact on behalf of the fee-earners, fielding calls, emails, correspondence and meeting requests (both internally and from clients), responding on behalf of the fee-earner, if appropriate.
• Full proactive and advanced calendar management for assigned fee-earners, including scheduling calls/meetings (ensuring all supporting papers/information are available for each meeting), looking ahead and following-up as needed to ensure best use is made of fee-earners time).
• Ensuring the fee-earners working on the case are fully prepared for all client meetings by collating required information (and input from others), preparing background information and notes as needed, supporting the follow-through of action points etc.
• Organising business breakfasts, dinners or smaller events and assisting fee-earners with expenses.
• Researching company/client information and biographies.
• Logging referrals and contacts to interaction and management of Interaction lists.
• Collaborating with administrative assistants to ensure that they provide support with filing and archiving, scanning, photocopying, updating contacts on Interaction and arranging couriers etc.
• Working closely with internal document/presentation experts for more specialist tasks, such as the preparation of documents, pitch/presentation materials etc.
• Liaising with other internal departments to obtain specialist input as needed, taking ownership of issues and following up where appropriate.
• When required stepping up to cover the Division Assistant, Client Co-Ordinator/Case Administrator or other Practice Assistants.
Matter Lifecycle
• To support fee-earners in the smooth running of the client/matter lifecycle, following documented procedures, and working closely with internal client on-boarding and compliance specialists to ensure all required. information/documentation is obtained, issued and correctly stored on the Firm's systems. This will involve pro-actively chasing fee-earners and their clients for any missing information as well as full management of client files etc.
• To develop a strong working knowledge of the Firm's billing systems, including processes, IT systems and specialist support available internally, to support the fee-earners in being able to prepare and issue timely and accurate bills to clients.
• Supporting fee-earners with monitoring and addressing unpaid bills, liaising with Credit Control as required.
• To support the fee-earning staff to ensure compliance with the Firm's documented Compliance policy and guidelines, particularly around subsidiaries, new matters, conflict checks, searches etc.
• Ensuring all documents are maintained and filed in line with the Firm's electronic and hard copy filing protocols.
Travel
• Full management of travel and expenses for assigned fee-earners, ensuring business travel is booked via the Firm's in-house provider. This will include both routine and more complex travel arrangements, ensuring that fee-earners are provided with full itineraries, supporting materials and that business expenses are captured, approved and processed for payment in line with policy.
  
  The Practice Assistant will need to be a self-motivated organised individual, who will be able to manage a busy workload and take responsibility for following tasks through to completion., Previous experience gained in an administrative role supporting a real estate team in a legal environment.
• Strong time management skills; will need to juggle a number of tasks at any given time, plan ahead, and have the ability to re-prioritise and adapt to changes in requirements.
• Previous experience managing calendars for multiple individuals, with the ability to apply judgement and common sense to ensure the best use of people's time is made, and that any potential diary clashes are pro-actively identified and addressed.
• Excellent attention to detail, with the ability to deliver work to a consistently high standard of precision (even under pressure) in an environment where accuracy is prized.
• A flexible approach to work: able to respond positively and willingly to changes to requirements, schedules, work required etc.
• Organised and methodical, and able to operate effectively within structured work processes, in particular, with compliance/quality control frameworks.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with a range of people and working styles.
• A strong team player, willing to take on work for additional fee-earners and/or help with other tasks as needed in order to meet the needs of the business.
• Able to communicate effectively, with warmth and professionalism, to clients and colleagues both orally and in writing, including drafting business emails/correspondence.
• High levels of discretion, with the ability to deal effectively with sensitive or confidential information.
• Previous experience using bespoke in-house systems (e.g. client contact databases, matter management systems, billing systems etc.) with the willingness and potential.
  
  Our Residential Property Group is one of the largest dedicated residential property practices in London. We specialise in prime UK residential property transactions both in the capital and the surrounding areas. Our clients include Ultra and High Net Worth private individuals, banks, corporates, family offices and investment funds. To find commercial solutions for them we work with the sector's most important players such as buying and selling agents, private estates, family offices, brokers and developers. Satisfying our clients' objectives often involves tight deadlines, complicated and sensitive structures and being highly responsive and proactive. Our close working relationships with our colleagues in Planning, Construction, Dispute Resolution, Immigration and Tax means that we do not simply present a list of options to our clients but provide a decisive recommendation about the best and most complete course of action, often thinking outside of the box., The Mishcon de Reya Group is an independent, international professional services business with law at its heart, employing over 1450 people with over 650 lawyers. It includes the law firm Mishcon de Reya LLP and a collection of leading consultancy businesses that complement the firm's legal services.
Mishcon de Reya LLP is based in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Singapore and Hong Kong (through its association with Karas So LLP ). The firm services an international community of clients and provides advice in situations where the constraints of geography often do not apply. Its work is cross-border, multi-jurisdictional and complex, spanning seven core practice areas: Corporate ; Dispute Resolution ; Employment ; Impact; Innovation ; Private ; and Real Estate . The Mishcon de Reya Group includes consultancy businesses MDR Discover, MDRi (in Hong Kong), MDR Mayfair (in London, Singapore and Dubai), MDR ONE and MDRx. The Group also includes MDR Lab, which invests in the most promising early stage legaltech companies as well as the Mishcon Academy, its in-house place of learning and platform for thought leadership. Earlier this year, the Group announced its first strategic acquisition in the alternative legal services market, flexible legal resourcing business Flex Legal. It also acquired a majority stake in Somos, a global group actions management business. We strive to create a fully diverse and inclusive workplace where all our people are empowered to fulfil their potential. We are proud of our agile working culture and are always happy to talk flexible working.