Legal Assistant

Legal Assistant - Insurance & Public Risk - Technical Claims - Nottingham

Why is this role important and how does it fit into the team, department and wider firm?

To provide a legal support service to the technical claims team in our Nottingham office, assisting lawyers in handling civil litigation, to include housing disrepair, anti-social behaviour claims and personal injury, proactively progressing those cases.

What is the working practice for this role?

The firm operates a set of core principles that guides our working practice. It’s called ‘One Firm, Wherever You Are’.

You might have enjoyed working from home and would like to split your time between there and the office/ other work locations. Others may be eager to return to the office on a more regular basis. We believe that a regular level of in-person contact is an important way to build connections with your colleagues, enhancing knowledge and idea sharing and enabling all of us to benefit from the vibrant office culture Browne Jacobson has to offer.

Our expectation is that, on average, you’ll work from home for no more than three days per week, with the remainder of your time either spent with your colleagues in the office or working from other locations as work demands dictate, e.g. courts, client offices, conferences etc. This is an average expectation over time and we know that there will be variations from week to week. Equally, there will be individual circumstances in which a different pattern of work is needed, for example as an agreed reasonable adjustment for colleagues with a disability or long-term medical condition.

We believe this approach:

• fits with our values and personality;
• will enhance our performance through greater flexibility;
• advances our ambitions as an inclusive employer – helping you better balance work and family/life commitments;
• offers opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint (travel, office services etc.), a key ambition underpinning our corporate sustainability plan.

What technical skills are required for someone to be successful and enjoy the role?

• Ideally, previous personal injury and housing disrepair experience, although this is not essential, and training will be provided
• Experience in dealing with the claims handling (pre-litigation) aspects of a file as well as being able to progress a claim through the litigation process
• Experience in dealing with case and financial management systems, although training will be given if required
• Good familiarity with Microsoft Office (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Good IT skills with the ability to produce own correspondence and documentation
• Ideally, previous experience of civil litigation claims handling

Who would be a good fit for this role?

As part of the Technical Claims team, you would be expected to have the following skills and experience:

• Ability to work on own initiative and have experience of dealing with claims on a pro-active basis
• Effective communicator, able to establish and maintain professional relationships with clients and colleagues and be able to deal with all levels of communication by telephone, both negotiation and client reporting where appropriate
• Good organisational skills and be able to manage own time effectively
• A proactive, professional and flexible approach to work
• Able to adopt a common sense approach with attention to detail, including complying with all relevant client protocols, including the reporting of Management Information
• Keen to develop over a period of time with a willingness and ability to learn