Client and Legal Secretarial Services Assistant

The purpose of this hybrid position is to provide junior legal secretarial support and reception services for our Beijing office. It is important that services are delivered to the business in a manner consistent with the increasingly competitive environment in which Pinsent Masons operates. This role is intended to embrace a team-working approach, collaborating with lawyers and other members in business operations to fulfil the needs of the business.

Candidates with prior secretarial experience in a law firm environment are preferred. 

Summary of the role and responsibilities is as follows.

Client Services

Under Office Manager’s supervision, the incumbent may provide support in the following areas:

1. Front Desk Services
• Provide reception duties meeting and greeting guests and visitors.
• VC Booking (booking rooms, sending VC requests, VMR details).
• Coordinate meeting room bookings (via Condeco room booking system).
• Coordinate hospitality and refreshments for guests.
• Answering incoming telephone calls in a professional manner.
• Dealing with enquiries from internal and external clients.
• Taking and relaying messages (ensuring that lawyers and clients receive those messages promptly, particularly if they are out of the office).
• Maintain a log of outgoing/incoming couriers and hand deliveries.
• AV Connecting VCs during busy periods by assisting IT Support Analyst.
• IT Assistance for internal events, presentation, MICE, Ad hoc Technical Assistance.
• Coordination of meeting room set ups including room changes, events management and clear down of rooms.
• Support of office events (such as purpose drinks, round tables, client breakfasts .

2. Facilities
• Monitor housekeeping of the reception and meeting room area at all times, including cleaning and maintenance to ensure the high standards within these areas are maintained consistently.
• Carry out various research if/when required by the Office Manager (for photographs, stationery suppliers, furniture suppliers). 
• Maintain the internal telephone contact list.
• Standardise office processes in line with Pinsent Masons' practice.
• Ensure that the office's kitchen and stationery supplies are well stocked and liaising with suppliers, including the client pantry keeping it organised and neat
• Manage newspaper order and library service of Beijing office.
• Assist with arrangements for building access / security passes, deliveries and parking
• Assist with services including air-conditioning, heating, lighting, cleaning and waste removal, and confidential waste.
• Assistance with new employee welcome packs and coordinate with arranging their desks

3. Health, Safety & Environment
• Health & Safety – Be conversant with firms Health & Safety policy. 
• Assist the Office Manager with monitoring of the working environment in order to adhere to relevant health and safety standards, including correctly recording and reporting hazards/accidents.
• Assist with First Aid provision.

4. Building management
• Collating documents, applying for building parking/ e-gate access. Point of contact for building/landlord queries.

5. Liaison Third Party Suppliers and Contractors
• Coordinate with contractors for the maintenance and servicing of office and catering equipment (. Planters, coffee machine)
• Manage transportation bookings for Beijing office.

6. Administration
• Support Facilities teams with administration tasks as instructed by the Office Manager and duties needed to be carried out in Beijing.
• Work with Beijing Finance team on petty cash, expenses and travel costs.
• Provide support for business travel bookings (flight and hotel) including visa application, if required 
• Manage office driver's bookings
• As first point of contact for inter-office travellers and provide support during their stay
• Assist with bulk printings and scanning, expense claim and file management.

Legal Secretarial Services:

Under Office Manager’s supervision, the incumbent will be assigned to work closely with the Beijing legal secretary team and provide proactive secretarial and administrative to lawyers in relation to billable and non-billable work in the following areas:

1. Service Delivery
• Responsible for end-to-end service delivery
• Proactively manage and co-ordinate meetings, appointments and travel
• Manage fee earner communications
• Be aware of the firm’s risk policies and ensure new clients are onboarded in line with them
• Develop and maintain an understanding of the firm’s strategy and sector focus
• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders (assigned fee earners, partners and business operations colleagues)
• Provide support to other functions as and when required including covering Reception
• Support other ad-hoc requests from fee earners if required, such as:
o Actively contribute to client service initiatives 
o Assist with matter management to maximise cost recovery
o Attend stakeholder meetings and take ownership of assigned tasks, duties, and outcomes, and 
o Actively use and promote the correct use of firm wide resources

2. Business Development
• Work with fee earners to edit bids, tenders, proposal documents, team sheets, brochures and client briefing documents 
• Work with fee earners to manage credentials database (. add new matters that have been won) (training available from the Business Development team) 
• Assist fee earners to update CVs, including those used in bids/proposals and online version used on the firm’s website (training available from the Business Development team)
• Effectively use the firm’s CRM system (Interaction) to add and amend fee earners’ client and contact data (training available from the Business Development team)
• Work in collaboration with fee earners and the Business Development team as required to provide support for in-person client events
• Support other ad-hoc requests from fee earners if required, such as:
o Build and maintain effective relationships with the firm’s clients and their internal teams and developing knowledge of the Group's clients and their business
o Research clients, potential clients and new business initiatives or opportunities at the discretion of the fee earners
o Proactively identify and assist with business development opportunities

3. Project Management
• Open client files (including completing conflict searches and money laundering checks in conjunction with lawyers), prepare client engagement letters, collate all the relevant information required for file opening and maintain client files on a day-to-day basis (including filing where required)
• Manage production of documents (produced in-house and externally), coordinate changes made including taking responsibility for the consistency of those documents (. formatting, numbering, CompareDocs, etc), utilise the DP as and when necessary
• Transcribe, edit and amend legal and other documents including marketing presentations and materials. Convert, compare, copy type and proofread the same as necessary, ensuring that documents comply with house style
• Assist lawyers with the billing process and ensuring timely submission of bills, including drawing up pre-bills, editing of narratives, preparing cover letters/emails and finalizing bills 
• Prepare and submit lawyers' expenses in accordance with the firm's policies and follow up on authorisations
• Undertake regular reviews of files and documents to ensure all non-active files and documents are archived/stored off-site

4. Innovation 
• Have an innovative mindset and propose improvements to service delivery 
• Proactively respond to priorities of the assigned practice group(s)
• Be committed to continuous improvement