About Porter Dodson

Porter Dodson is an award-winning Top 200 UK Law Firm, providing commercial and private legal services to individuals and businesses across Somerset, Devon and Dorset.

We're proud of a regional presence that gives clients the local connections and friendly in-person service they love. Being embedded in our local communities and market sectors gives our clients a superb service grounded in the real world.

What makes Porter Dodson a great place to work is our people and our culture. Our team are the lifeblood of the firm, and we are fully committed to ensuring our team are motivated, well cared for, and fulfilling their potential at work. Our people are our priority, which is why we have such excellent staff retention rates and how we have sustained a gold accreditation from Investors in People since 2016.

 

The Role

We have an excellent opportunity for a Paralegal to join our Private Client team in Sherborne to assist on all aspects of Estate Administration, and to draft Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney. This role will assist the Legal Advisors by providing administrative support in a way that is conducive to enabling them to operate at optimum efficiency. The successful applicant will undertake some fee-earning work with special emphasis on drafting straightforward legal documents and proactively assisting clients with a view to building relationships with clients and taking on basic, repeat instructions from clients directly.

 

• Open files, prepare and send initial client engagement documentation.

• Review client ID documents to ensure compliance with Money Laundering obligations and internal policies.

• Ensure all email correspondence and attachments are entered on to Peppermint and Matter Summary Sheets are updated accordingly.

• Draft straightforward legal documents using the precedents provided, filing documents online where appropriate and develop skills to deal with more complex transactions.

• Contribute to the maintenance of a strict diary note of deadlines and timescales relevant to Legal Advisor(s) matters.

• Attending client meetings with advisors and taking comprehensive notes.

• Drafting documents for clients, including Wills and LPAs.

• Assisting with Probate, paying out legacies, distributing Estates and ensuring ongoing communication with beneficiaries.

• Ensure all photocopying and scanning is accurate; take responsibility for checking photocopying/scanning done by Office Assistant.

• Attend to clients on the phone and in person, accurately recording any messages and passing on to the appropriate person without delay.

• Provide proactive administrative support and matter management tasks that include but are not limited to keeping up to date with progress on matters; identifying follow up actions needed; proactively contributing to team billing and file closures where appropriate, WIP, disbursement and debts, file closure and residual balances.

 

 

About You

Working closely with the fee earners in our Private Client department, this role would best suit someone who is proactive and enthusiastic, with great interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate with people at all levels. Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work flexibly to deadlines will be important. Strong administrative skills are essential, along with commitment to delivering a high-quality and professional service in a cost-effective manner. More technical requirements include excellent IT skills including the use of Microsoft office and Outlook. Ideally you will have experience in a law firm environment providing legal support to fee earners but welcome applications from those who feel they meet the requirements of the role.

 

The Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, you will also get:

• Flexible Working

• 25 days holiday, plus Bank Holidays

• Extra Day of Holiday for your Birthday

• Private Healthcare

• Pension Scheme(s)

• Life Assurance

• Eye Tests

• Flu Jabs

• Corporate Gym Membership Discounts

• Legal Support

• Opportunities to get involved with charity fundraising, sports teams and office socials