Legal Executive Assistant

Main information

• Term type:

  Contract

• Duration:

  1 year

• Department:

  Asset/Project Finance

• Location:

  London

The firm

Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) is a sector-focused international law firm with extensive expertise and industry insight across its core sectors of energy, infrastructure and transport. Through its network of 19 offices, the firm advises clients on complex, high-value transactions and disputes – matters requiring precise legal execution and a nuanced understanding of global market dynamics.

The firm’s success is driven by its people. It fosters a collaborative, inclusive and supportive environment where everyone can grow, share ideas and make an impact. Guided by its values –We are experts, We are united and We care – the firm delivers exceptional service through strong relationships and teamwork. The firm is committed to clear career paths, championing diversity and investing in its people so they can thrive.

Role overview

Supporting the Sector Head and Business Development Manager providing secretarial and administrative support.

Key activities/responsibilities

Secretarial Support

• Proactively manage and maintain diary planning and coordination for allocated fee earners, making appointments and co-ordinating internal and external client meetings, identifying and resolving potential challenges and clashes. Ensure arrangements are made for equipment, venue and resources and that fee earners have all necessary paperwork.
• Proactively booking transport, hotels, arranging visas, client meetings and producing detailed itineraries.
• Obtaining receipts, preparing and submitting expense claims, updating CRM accordingly.
• Liaising with the Firm’s clients in a confident and professional manner, building strong working relationships with clients and contacts.
• Act as gate keeper for allocated fee earners, dealing professionally and promptly with internal and external telephone calls, post and faxes, including calls diverted to the team.
• Creation, uploading and general maintenance of client sites and extranets.
• Monitoring fee earners’ mailboxes when they are out of the office or attending a long meeting, responding to emails as necessary and prioritising correspondence to enable fee earners to focus on urgent matters.
• Using initiative to route emails to the appropriate individuals for swift response and action; wherever possible, responding to and filing emails in Filesite on behalf of partners and fee earners to reduce volume.
• Preparing bills, including resolving queries and dealing with outstanding fees, maintaining accurate billing/contact details, preparation of narratives and drafting first bills with covering correspondence for partner approval. Assisting fee earners by liaising with the billing team, and following up with debt recovery as requested.
• Proactively ensuring Carpe Diem is updated for all allocated fee earners, particularly for holiday or sickness absence. Informing LPAC if fee earner is working from home or absent due to holiday or sickness.
• Providing secretarial assistance to assigned fee-earners, which includes audio typing, copy typing, formatting documents, creating correspondence, pitches and presentations. Delegating complex and lengthy documents to the Document Production Team, ensuring requirements and timescales are clearly set out.
• Coordinating the opening of new client matters and assisting with Anti-Money Laundering processes. Undertaking as much research as possible before passing over to the Partner for approval.
• Organising client documents (delegating scanning, formatting, photocopying and collating of information where necessary) for client meetings or hearings and carrying out research as required.
• Management and delegation of client filing and regular updating of CRM, archiving historic files or closed matters.
• Coordinating business development and client liaison initiatives for fee earners, including updating database information and assisting with marketing initiatives and events (including occasional support at event e.g. registration desk).
• Producing pitch documents from scratch based on information received from the client with the relevant deal/experience required.

Business Development

• Working closely with Business Development managers to assist with all and any BD tasks relating to the Global Sector Head role.
• Assisting with panel documents, including running reports and company researc…