Full job description About us
Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning over 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: real estate, corporate services, dispute resolution and private client.
We are defined by our Next Level Law proposition. We work with our clients as a proactive partner, horizon scanning and thinking ahead to the changes, challenges and opportunities they may face. Next Level Law is also applied to our people. Our collegiate culture means everyone is encouraged to achieve their next level in everything they do.
With our ambition to succeed comes a strong desire to make a positive contribution to the communities we serve, and we are committed to delivering the objectives set out in our Responsible Business strategy. Birketts is a certified B Corporation™, and diversity plays an integral part in all that we do, with female partners comprising 45% of our partnership as of 1 April 2026.
The team you will join
Our Employment Team sits within the wider Corporate Division. The team specialise in all aspects of employment law facing employers and HR professionals - from everyday operational challenges through to advising on strategic issues.
The team currently comprises of specialist qualified employment law solicitors, including partners, working across all offices, making us one of the larger employment teams across the East and South. We have the strength and depth of expertise to ensure we deliver the service you would expect in respect of technical quality, practical approach, and timeliness of advice.
Birketts’ Employment Team has experience in all areas of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters, representing clients from a broad range of public and private organisations as well as senior executives. We are proud to act for sector leading clients nationwide and some important and high-profile businesses and institutions across a number of key sectors.
Our employment advice is supplemented by a well-developed in-house employment client training offering (known as Shaping Excellence), an immigration team, an employee incentives group and Resolve, which consists of an HR consultancy service, a workplace investigations service and a team of accredited mediators.
The work you will be doing
Key accountabilities will include:
*The daily use of a variety of software packages such as Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Co-Pilot, Outlook, InTapp/InTake and Excel, to produce correspondence and documents to a high standard to meet clients’ and fee earners’ expectations.
*Assisting with the promotion of technological solutions to improve team efficiency.
*Formatting and presentingdocuments in Birketts’ house style.
*Carrying out a wide range of administrative tasks including (but not limited to) file opening/closing, preparing client care letters, dealing with client on-boarding (to including gathering ID documentation), supporting fee earners with Lexcel compliance requirements and anti-money laundering procedures, managing expense claims, photocopying/scanning and invoicing.
*Administering client relationships, including managing client instructions, and setting up and maintaining management spreadsheets and reports.
*Corresponding with clients regularly and professionally, taking internal and external telephone enquiries and seeking solutions to problems.
*Ensuring electronic filing is up-to-date and maintained at regular intervals and assisting the team in maintaining compliant and accurate file management.
*Proof-reading work, checking for spelling and grammatical errors.
*Effectively and proactively managing diaries and priorities, ensuring urgent matters are promptly brought to the attention of fee earners, and supporting the coordination and follow-up of business development initiatives.
*Assisting fee earners with the management of our Client Relationship Management database, Intapp, to ensure that details of clients and contacts are added and updated.
*Responding to internal and external telephone enquiries promptly and professionally.
*Proactively supporting other members of the secretarial/administration team and to provide cover as and when necessary to ensure that work is completed to a high standard and meets the required deadlines.
What we are looking for
*Previous experience of working in an administrator role
*Advanced practical knowledge of Microsoft Office packages (Excel, Powerpoint and Word), including a high level of proficiency across their functionality, together with sufficient expertise in Microsoft Co-Pilot to provide traininga dn support to the wider team.
*Strong communication skills
*Excellent time management skills
*Proven organisational skills
*Excellent attention to detail
*A positive ’can-do’, pro-active attitude, as well as being a strong team player
*Experience of working in a law firm or professional services would be advantageous
Hybrid Working
Due to the nature of work required, this role is fully office based.
We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and part-time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application.
Benefits
As a Birketts colleague, you will be eligible to receive a wide range of benefits:
*25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays
*Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
*Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
*Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
*Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme
*Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
*Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
*Paid CSR Day
*Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
*Subsidised gym membership
*Electric car scheme
*Dress for your Day Policy
You can find out more on our website: https://recognition-reward-benefits/
Inclusivity and Culture
As a B Corporation, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities tha