Paralegal

Job Purpose

We are seeking to recruit Paralegals to assist our Property Securitisation Team based in our Leeds office. We are looking for someone ideally with previous conveyancing experience, who has excellent attention to detail and be able to manage your own caseload. This is a demanding role that will require flexibility and the ability to successfully prioritise competing demands. This is an excellent opportunity to join a Tier 1 ranked team (Chambers UK and Legal 500) who are at the forefront of the affordable housing sector, acting on transactions ranging from £1m-£500m.

Duties and Responsibilities

This is not an exhaustive list and from time to time it may be necessary to vary these to meet the department and business needs. Working individually and as a team you will assist the Partners and Solicitors with:

• Specific tasks allocated on his/her files to include: identifying titles; obtaining Official Copy Entries and Office Copy Documents from the Land Registry; undertaking title checks and other property due diligence; carrying out searches; obtaining items from Local Authorities and other third parties; chasing for outstanding items; carrying out precompletion Land Registry searches and; dealing with post-completion matters;
• Providing the Clients, Partners and Solicitors with progress reports as and when required;
• Assisting with the organising, monitoring and delivery of the team’s significant transactions;
• Providing cover and support to the other paralegals within the team as and when required;
• Meeting targets that may be set from time to time;
• Following department procedures, the Solicitors’ accounts rules and the Firm’s policies and procedures as detailed in the Office Manual;
• Undertaking such duties and tasks that are appropriate for the role of Paralegal such as changes in information systems and new technology as may reasonably be required.

Person Specification

Essential skills

• Possess good drafting skills;
• Conduct effective legal research;
• Competent in all MS applications, to include Word, Excel and Outlook;
• Good communication skills at all levels with the ability to communicate in “plain English”;
• Must be client focussed and have an approachable manner with good communication skills/telephone manner;
• Possess a strong customer service ethic with the ability to empathise with clients;
• Have a methodical approach with excellent administration skills, organisation and attention to detail;
• Good time management skills, able to deal with more than one task at a time;
• Ability to prioritise a heavy workload and work to tight deadlines, sometimes with limited supervision;
• Be a supportive team player and willing to assist others;
• Self-motivated, enthusiastic, tenacious and approachable;
• Be calm and professional at all times;
• Be punctual and flexible. If you have capacity, you may be required to help other departments, or team members, though this tends to be very rare.

Desirable skills

• 2:1 degree or equivalent in Law (or appropriate conversion);
• Successful completion of the LPC or studying the LPC part time (or equivalent);
• Knowledge of DMS (Document Management System).