Paralegal

A full-time permanent role based in Manchester, Cambridge, Leeds or Norwich with a requirement of regular travel to other offices and some flexibility to work from home.

The role

Reporting to the firm’s Senior Marketing Manager, this is a busy and demanding role responsible for the day-to-day allocation of work requests, ensuring effective utilisation of our associates and provision of wider resourcing support to our Corporate & Commercial and Regulatory and Public & Commercial Disputes NSLs. It will involve working closely with the National Service Line (NSL) Leadership, Partners and lawyers, taking a real interest in, and having an understanding of, how the business and operates to ensure consistency and best practice in the allocation of work.

The role is heavily people focused, built on establishing strong working relationships with key stakeholders across the Firm and presents an exciting opportunity to drive and develop use of the central resourcing function both within and outside the NSLs it currently operates in. There is also ample scope for involvement in the continuous improvement of processes and input into the ongoing development of technology and infrastructure.

The person

The successful candidate will be a self-starter who is resilient, able to influence with a strong focus on client service as well as having a genuine interest in resource management and talent development. With this in mind, it is likely that your background and experience will include one of the following areas of expertise:

• people focused role acting in a role as trusted advisor and team member;
• work allocation or resource management, human resource operations or recruitment - ideally within a large professional services or corporate environment;
• roles that required outstanding communication and negotiation skills and required you to influence senior stakeholders;
• roles with a strong client focus; and

The role additionally requires someone who:

• has strong commercial and business awareness;
• is proactive and adaptable, able to work on their initiative;
• has excellent IT skills; and
• is willing to travel regularly and spend time in the firm’s offices.

The activities

Resource Management

• Ensure resource requests are handled in an efficient and timely manner considering individual capacity, relevant skills and experience. Allocate work fairly and consistently, reflective of diversity objectives and applying commercial considerations as required.
• Maintain clear, effective lines of communication, keeping all stakeholders informed throughout the allocation process.
• Conduct regular check-ins with Associates to discuss capacity, understand and maintain knowledge of individual skills, development needs, experiences and personal / professional aspirations; apply this knowledge to resourcing decisions.
• Act as a trusted advisor to the Partner group; engaging with them to acquire a detailed understanding of client requirements and the wider needs of the business; apply this knowledge to resourcing decisions.
• Proactively manage the current work allocation tools, ensuring they are maintained and accurate.

Productivity

• Regularly monitor and review matter-related (chargeable) hours, capacity and matter staffing. Take pro-active measures to even out imbalances in workloads; identifying and working with individuals to improve productivity where there is a shortfall and providing additional support to over utilised groups.
• Meet with partner groups to present data and discuss associates with particularly high or low matter related hours; work collaboratively to rectify as needed. Provide reports to NSL leadership on use of work allocation across the practice groups to ensure even engagement with the process.

Other

• Be visible and accessible in all Mills & Reeve offices; attending team and practice meetings where possible. Network with external and internal contacts on key trends and best practice approaches in the work allocation space
• Work closely with the NSL talent partners to provide input into the annual evaluation & promotions processes; highlight any people issues that may arise from work allocation conversations and liaise with trainee supervisors to allocate an appropriate range of work.
• Play an active role in support of the new joiner / leaver / returner process to include workload development, re-allocation and onboarding.
• Work collaboratively with other key functions and groups such as Finance, HR and Business Development including but not limited to assisting with recruitment initiatives and contributing to secondment decisions.
• Identify opportunities to improve ways of working within the NSL and working to implement solutions.

Pre-employment screening

Please note that, in the event that we make an offer for a role, we will conduct pre-employment screening that includes, but is not limited to, a basic DBS check, right to work check, any disciplinary history recorded with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and a self-declaration to assess your character and suitability for the role.  A full policy of the screening the firm undertakes is available on request.

The Mills & Reeve Business services career structure

We have a firm wide Business Services career structure and a published career progression framework.  Within the firm wide career structure there are five career levels.  For the purposes of the framework, this role is at an Advisor/Senior Advisor level and the role profile that details the outcomes and activities expected of across the firm is included with this job description.  Further information on the firm’s Business Services career structure is available from the HR team.

The package

As you would expect, the firm offers a generous salary and benefits.  The firm’s standard benefits are detailed in the following link:

 https://www.mills-reeve.com/careers/benefits

The firm

What really sets Mills & Reeve apart from other law firms is the way we work with our clients. We understand that clients, in the 21st century, no longer want a traditional law firm – they want one that embraces forward thinking approaches to service, billing, commercial know-how, innovation, people management and community engagement.

And finally

Mills & Reeve is committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment. We are happy to consider flexible working arrangements and endeavour to achieve the right balance for both our people and the business. This attitude to flexible working ensures we continue to provide outstanding service to our clients, whilst allowing our people to develop their careers in the knowledge that personal priorities will remain just that.

Mills & Reeve is committed to promoting equality, diversity and to providing an inclusive and supportive environment. Please click the link below to find further information regarding our diversity policy.

 https://www.mills-reeve.com/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion

If you would like any more information about Mills & Reeve, you can visit our website by clicking on the following link:

 http://www.mills-reeve.com/