Practice Assistant, Commercial Litigation - Ottawa, Canada - Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Verified Company

Ottawa, Canada

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Sophia Lee

beBee Recruiter

Description

We are

BLG:
Canada's Law Firm. Our culture is one of vigilance and curiosity, Firm-wide collaboration, unfailing mutual respect and dedication. We pride ourselves on having standout talent and delivering an exceptional client experience.

We are a future-minded Firm delivering high-value advice and known for our unwavering commitment to innovation, diversity and inclusion, community involvement and talent development.

Learn more about us at

Purpose of the Role

The Practice Assistant will take an active interest in, and obtain a thorough understanding of, all aspects of client requirements to provide exceptional service levels to the lawyers and our clients.

The Practice Assistant will act as workflow coordinator for other support services including delegating and reviewing the completion of document production, file management, copying/scanning work and other administrative work.

Key Responsibilities

The key responsibilities of this role are:

Administrative

Manage calendars, ensuring they are up to date and reminding lawyers of meetings etc. on a daily basis
Arrange meetings, book conference rooms, refreshments, check rooms prior to meetings etc. and liaise with other attendees, both internal and external
Arrange for travel bookings and related details to be made through the support teams
Arrange photocopying, printing, organizing couriers, sending out of letters, faxes etc.
Arrange for files to be opened and closed, supervise general filing requirements and record keeping
Use effective systems to ensure that both short and long term tasks are completed within required timescales
Support lawyers in marketing activities including involvement in preparation of pitches and presentations

Communication

Take internal and external telephone queries, responding as appropriate and/or ensuring that all messages are passed on in a timely manner
Liaise with administrative support departments on behalf of lawyers as required
Liaise with the department's Team Leader over any planned absences, arranging cover as necessary and communicating this to the relevant lawyers.

Client relationship management

Become an active part in the care of clients and be wholly familiar with contacts/clients
Enter, maintain and update client details and relevant information in the Firm's CRM contacts system
Deal with basic client queries and general administration
Arrange client meetings

Document production

Check correspondence, attachments, documents, reports, presentations, faxes etc. produced by the Document Production team before they are passed to the relevant lawyer and undertake basic/minor amendments where appropriate
Produce and maintain Excel spreadsheets as required

Financial - Billing

Assist lawyers and Practice Group Billing Coordinator in the billing and credit control process by liaising with the lawyer and accounts and to produce standard prebill financial/time reports through the system
Request cheques, bank transfers and paying in money received, as appropriate

Other duties and responsibilities

In addition to providing support to the lawyer(s) to whom they report, a Practice Assistant will also provide assistance to their immediate colleagues in the department and, where practical, other departments. Specifically, this role will provide backup support to our Family Law group.
Team duties will therefore include:
Assisting other members of the firm, both proactively and at the request of the Team Leader
Any other duties as requested by the Lawyers or Team Leader

Key Competencies

Legal Assistant or Law Clerk Diploma or equivalent experience;
Minimum 3 years experience as a Litigation Legal Assistant preferably in commercial litigation and/or construction.
Proficiency in MS Office (excellent knowledge of advanced functions in Word);
Ability to communicate in a professional manner with clients and lawyers;
Ability to interact professionally with clients and all members of the firm;
Strong organizational skills and time management skills;
Selfstarter who can work with mínimal instruction/supervision;
Detailoriented individual with good proofreading skills;
Excellent multitasking skills;
Ability to follow instructions with mínimal supervision and take initiative;
Able to set priorities while maintaining flexibility;
A team player with excellent interpersonal skills.