Paralegal Belfast, Northern Ireland
Job description
Term:
Permanent
Working hours:
Full-time
Department:
Employment
Location:
Belfast
The firm
Lewis Silkin works with leading businesses to protect and enhance their most important assets - their ideas, their people, their brand and their future. We call it: Ideas. People. Possibilities.
With offices in London, Oxford, Manchester, Cardiff, Belfast, Dublin and Hong Kong, we are recognised by clients and industry alike as being distinct for our unique culture, market-leading practice areas, sector focused approach and for providing solutions to complex, multijurisdictional business challenges, with a pragmatic and human touch. We have two things at our core: people — both ours and our clients’— and a focus on creative, tech and innovative businesses.
Our culture is encapsulated by an ethos of bravery and kindness, guided by our values of Integrity, Clarity, Unity and Excellence (our ‘I-CUE’). We aim to provide a supportive environment for our people, clients and wider community and embrace diversity & inclusion, ensuring people are able to bring their full selves to work.
The department
The Employment, Immigration & Reward Division is one of the leading employment law practices in the UK and consistently top ranked by independent legal directories, we have more recognised experts in employment than any other UK firm. With over 150 lawyers, Lewis Silkin’s employment and immigration team offers an unrivalled service supporting clients, including many of the world’s leading businesses, on their HR, employment and immigration law needs domestically and internationally.
The work of the team as a whole is a mix of contentious and non-contentious matters, for a wide range of clients. The lawyers undertake a significant amount of business development and knowledge-sharing including giving seminars, training the team and creating content for various channels and publications. There is a significant international element to the Division’s work, largely on account of its membership of the Ius Laboris international alliance of employment lawyers.
Responsibilities
The overall objective is to provide support to the team in both a fee-earning and marketing capacity. Fee-earning activities may include involvement in court and tribunal cases, for example the preparation of trial bundles, disclosure, liaising with witnesses, briefing counsel, taking detailed notes of hearings/conferences with counsel, attendance at courts and tribunals and researching case law.
Other key elements of the role are:
- Legal research;
- Assisting in the various marketing initiatives within the department including, in particular, researching and assisting lawyers in preparing for conferences and other speaking engagements;
- Providing assistance with billing, narratives and administration;
- Contributing copy to our websites;
- Work on international projects; and
- Willingness to undertake client secondment opportunities when needed.
A typical day might involve conducting research on complex employment law issues for the solicitors and partners in the department, drafting agreements, liaising with counsel and ACAS/LRA officers as well as more hands-on work such as preparing document bundles for tribunal hearings; reviewing and updating staff handbooks and researching and drafting conference papers.
Candidate profile
Candidates will have excellent academics; ideally educated to degree level or equivalent (preferably in Law or a similar subject), together with a legal qualification or previous legal experience. Candidates will also have IT, numeracy, practical and analytical skills; a clear communication style (both spoken and written), and above all, must be a team player with a passion to work with a fast-paced professional and friendly team. They must be highly organised and have a flexible nature, and a co-operative and willing attitude. Prior experience and knowledge of employment work would be advantageous but not essential as training will be provided.
IT skills required
- Proficient IT skills - Office 365, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, DocsCorp PDF Docs, Word Compare (DocsCorp CompareDocs), Document Management System (Netdocs), although full in house training will be provided.
Additional information
At Lewis Silkin our ethos is simple. We strive to do the best for our clients, our people and the communities in which we operate. We recognise that an inclusive workplace allows for all kinds of ideas and thoughts, a variety of points of view that can trigger discussions or deliver innovative results, and a wide range of versatile skills and expertise. We are proud of the diversity within Lewis Silkin and of our culture that allows people to be themselves at work, ensuring we provide the best possible service to our clients. We are committed to finding the right person for this role and are open to discussing flexible working patterns and office location.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
