Legal Secretary (Estate Planning)

Summary

The legal secretary position at Withers is responsible for increasing attorney effectiveness by providing administrative support, information and information management, representing the attorney to clients and others. 

This position will work within our Real Estate and Trust, Estate & Charitable Planning practice groups to support four attorneys (subject to change in the future), and office administration.  The job encounters recurring and new varied work situations of moderate degree of complexity, and includes frequent contact with others inside and outside of the firm including immediate partners, associates, supervisors, members of other departments or other offices, clients and other professionals. The annual base compensation range for this role is $70,000 - $100,000.

Primary Functions

• Produces information by transcribing, formatting, inputting, editing, retrieving, copying, and transmitting text, data, and graphics; coordinating case preparation.
• Conserves attorneys’ time by reading, researching, reviewing, verifying, and routing correspondence, reports and legal documents; drafting letters and documents; collecting and analyzing information; initiating telecommunications; organizing client conferences, and attorney meetings; scheduling couriers, and other special functions; coordinating preparation of charts, graphs, and other visuals; preparing expense reports.
• Maintains attorneys' calendars by planning and scheduling conferences, teleconferences, dispositions, and travel; anticipating changes in transaction preparation requirements.
• Provides historical reference by developing and utilizing filing and retrieval systems.
• Maintain hard copy and electronic filing system (FileSite/iManage).
• Schedule meetings with internal and external participants, and arrange conference rooms.
• Represents attorneys by communicating and obtaining information; following-up on delegated assignments; knowing when to act and when to refer matters to attorney.
• Generates revenues by documenting and inputting attorney billable time, time spent on firm related matters and reimbursable expenses; preparing invoices; tracking payments; prepare reimbursement and credit card expenditure reports to accounting for assigned fee earners; coordinate monthly billing process between accounting and assigned partner for narrative edits, time movement and draft bill processing.
• Provide information to workflow during client intake, including matter details and Engagement Letter preparation.
• Maintains client confidence by keeping client/attorney information confidential.
• Operate office equipment such as photocopy machine and scanner to produce copies and.
• Perform other job related duties as assigned and assist attorneys when needed.

Specific Skills Required

• Must possess strong technical skills, such as typing, and have a good working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, iManage and Elite.
• Ability to compose correspondence needed with excellent spelling, grammar, punctuation, form and style. 
• Strong communication skills: the ability to express self effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Interpersonal skills: the ability to establish effective working relationships with colleagues
• Knowledge of library operations and records storage procedures for retrieving materials and files
• Previous experience with document management systems and electronic organizational filing methods preferred.
• Familiarity with legal terminology pertinent to the areas of assignment.
• Ability to prioritize and multitask effectively.
• Ability to work both as a team as well as independently.

Experience Required

• 3+ years as a secretary or administrative professional, preferably in a law firm, though experience in other professional service industries (engineering firms, accounting firms, architectural firms, etc) is required. 
• 2+ years of legal industry experience, preferably within a law firm’s real estate, wealth planning or private client practice groups.
• Previous experience supporting at least one partner/high level manager in a legal or professional services environment.
• Bachelor's Degree strongly preferred.

About Withersworldwide
Law.com International's Law Firm of the Year 2021
For 125 years, our firm has focused on and helped successful people, families, entrepreneurs, family businesses, governments and institutions negotiate the wide range of legal issues they face in their business and personal lives. Over time, we have gained valuable insights into the ways wealth can be generated, preserved, deployed and enhanced. We assist our clients in a variety of industry sectors including real estate, manufacturing, motorsport, luxury brands, sport, hotels and hospitality, technology, energy, art and cultural assets, life sciences, charities and philanthropy and financial services. With 18 offices our experience means we can see the global picture. We provide legal advice across a range of different practice areas including estate planning, personal and corporate tax and, corporate, banking and finance, access to capital (both private and public) both equity and debt, real estate, intellectual property, immigration, international trust structuring, philanthropy, luxury assets, international probate, public international law and international arbitration.

Equal Opportunities Employment Statement
Withers Bergman LLP is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Equal employment opportunity has been and will continue to be a fundamental principle at the firm. Employment at the firm is based upon personal capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. The firm prohibits and will not tolerate any discrimination or harassment on the basis of any of these classifications or characteristics.
If you are interested in applying for employment and need special assistance or an accommodation to use our website to apply for a position, please contact the firm at 203 789 1320 or email us.recruiting@withersworldwide.com with your request. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation are made on a case-by-case basis.