Purpose
The Overall purpose of the role is to work closely with the legal professional team to provide routine administrative and secretarial support including drafting correspondence, pleadings, scheduling appointments, organising and maintaining paper and electronic files, providing information to callers, providing assistance with preparing invoices, billing and working with the credit departments to collect fees.
Key Performance Areas and Accountabilities
Diary Management
- Ensuring that diaries are up-to-date at all times and all requests for meetings by internal and external stakeholders are scheduled.
- Ensuring meeting rooms, refreshments, IT equipment, travel arrangements and all other ad hoc requests are arranged and in place prior to the start of meetings and/or teleconferences.
- Ensuring all relevant meeting minutes, agendas and necessary information packs are collated and circulated timeously to all meeting delegates.
- Client, debtor and correspondent attorney interaction and management of timelines
Document and Pleadings Administration
- Adhering to house styles and formats in preparation of pleadings, agreements and correspondence.
- Ensuring all documentation is produced within specified deadlines and is of a high quality.
- Ensuring the correct communication medium is used (fax, post, email) and all written communication / pleadings are error free.
- Ensuring accurate and timely distribution of documentation and correspondence to all internal and external stakeholders (debtors / correspondents / advocates and sheriffs).
Financial Administration
- Attending to all administrative requirements pertaining to the practice’s invoicing process (where required).
- Proactively monitoring and attending to all outstanding invoices on a timely basis.
Business Development Administrative Support
- Providing assistance in the compilation of pleadings and/or weekly / monthly reports.
- Ensuring that client and debtor contact lists, correspondent panels, Court and sheriff data are up-to-date at all times.
Office Management and Administrative Support
- Providing an administrative support function to all team members.
- Maintaining a neat, tidy and presentable work area at all times
- Maintaining an adequate stationery float and adhere to the stationery ordering schedule.
- Reporting and escalating all office maintenance and facilities queries and ensure appropriate follow up.
- Managing the filing systems for the mining practice and assisting with overflow filing within the team.
- Appropriately using all electronic document management systems as well as client specific software.
- Ensuring that the team’s archiving system is regularly managed.
- Providing assistance to clients and/or escalating client queries to the relevant team members.
- Keeping abreast of the operations within the practice area to provide an effective client liaison function to all internal and external stakeholders.
- Observing professional telephone etiquette to internal and external clients at all times.
Requirements Profile
Education
- Grade 12 or equivalent (NQF 4) – Required
- Paralegal Qualification or Equivalent (NQF 5/6) – Required
Mental & Environmental / Legal Requirements
- Must be able to handle pressure, setbacks and a high level of stress
- Must be able to work to a deadline
- Capable of working overtime as and when required
- Must have a clear criminal record
Experience
- 5-10 years’ Collection and eviction litigation in Magistrate / Regional and High Court experience at Operational level – Required
- 5-10 years’ Mining practice administrative support at Operational level – Required
System Skills
- Microsoft Office – Intermediate (Required)
Knowledge and Skills
- Debtors administration and diary management in a legal practice environment
- Client care and maintenance in a legal environment
- Office management and office administrative support
- Knowledge of litigation practice (Magistrate / Regional and High Court)
- Ability to professionally liaise with and assist stakeholders
- Ability to prioritise and manage schedules within high pressure environment
Behavioral Competencies
- Good command of the English and Afrikaans language, both verbal and written
- Excellent organisational skills with attention to detail
- Good interpersonal skills
- Tact and discretion with the ability to maintain confidentiality
- Ability to work in a team as well as independently
- Conscientious, pro-active and service orientated
- Punctual and reliable with strong work ethic
- Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
- Able to work overtime when required from time to time
- Shows initiative by taking action to achieve goals on a proactive basis
- Produces accurate and timeous results and sets own high goals or standards of performance
- Able to adapt and embrace change
- Ability to liaise with all stakeholders professionally in the work environment
- Strong work ethic with an inherent sense of urgency
- Delivering results and meeting business expectations
- Shows support and engagement in the firm’s diversity and inclusion strategy and related activities; helps build an inclusive culture and challenges discriminatory behavior and practices
- Working with others
- Delivering through others
- Detail oriented
Additional Considerations
- Applicants must be South African citizens or have a valid South African work permit
- Preference will be given to Employment Equity candidates
- Preference will be given to candidates who are living with a disability
If you have not had any response from us within 21 days of the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful.
Hogan Lovells Services (South Africa) Limited (Incorporated in England) is an equal opportunity employer. All positions are placed in accordance with the Company’s Employment Equity Plan.
“Your application and all personal information provided herein is protected under the Protection of Personal Information Act (4 of 2013), hereinafter referred to as the “Act”.
Hogan Lovells Services (South Africa) Limited (Incorporated in England), with its head offices at 140 West Street in Sandton, Johannesburg , is collecting this information to enable us to facilitate your application and /or assess your suitability for the advertised position. This information will be used for this purpose only and disposed of thereafter. Where shortlisted, your information will be retained for a period of 12 months and disposed of immediately thereafter if you are unsuccessful in your application. Where employment is offered, it will be retained as part of your employee portfolio and secured accordingly. This information is given to us, by you, voluntarily and of your own free will. If you do not wish to provide us with this information, are unable to do so, or object to it being used, it will result in the disqualification of your application. In the course of the recruitment process, and for matters related to your application only, we may share your information with selected third parties. You have the right to access this information while in our possession and make corrections if necessary. You have the right to lodge a complaint via email with the office of the Information Regulator, at [email protected] , if you are unhappy with the manner in which we deal with your information.
By submitting your application, you hereby declare your understanding of the aforementioned information and consent to the processing of your information in accordance with the Act, as well as the processing of any further personal information requested by us in the future including but not limited to, banking details, criminal history and credit reports /financial history information.”