Paralegal

Schillings is a multidisciplinary advisory firm with expertise in reputation, privacy and security.

We work with UK and international clients to successfully manage high-stakes opportunities and threats, using a unique combination of capabilities: legal; intelligence; communications; security and diplomacy.

We believe everyone has a right to fair treatment of their reputation, to a reasonable expectation of privacy and to feel safe.

Our experts sit within their specialist team but day-to-day work in multidisciplinary teams solving client problems. They are supported by our business services teams: Clients and Markets, HR, Finance, Risk and Compliance, IT and Client Services. 

Because we are a growth business, opportunities appear in all areas and at all levels.   We have the largest team of specialist media lawyers in the world, an expanding Intelligence & Investigations team, a growing Critical Risks unit, an evolving Digital Resilience practice, and a new communications agency – Schillings Communications – that will grow significantly in the next three years. 

Schillings is a collaborative, fun and welcoming place to work, with a positive culture, strong values and a developed service ethic.  We require commitment, diligence, agility and professionalism, and in return provide competitive packages and incredibly stimulating and interesting work.  We are committed to sharing learning and creating development opportunities so you can progress your career with us. Our people’s career trajectory and longevity at Schillings is a good example of this: a third of our people have been at the business for over five years. Join us and become part of our story.

Job Title: Paralegal, Legal

Reporting To: Matter Manager

Job Purpose:

In this role, you will provide paralegal support to legal and multi-disciplinary project teams working on a variety of dynamic matters for our global client base. You will work alongside experts in the field of privacy, reputation and security.  Within the role, your focus will be on billable and non-billable tasks under the instruction of relevant fee-earners.

This is an excellent opportunity to gain paralegal experience and see the inner workings of a law firm which is doing things differently. We do not offer training contracts, but we feel strongly about supporting everyone who works at Schillings to progress in their career. As such, a number of our paralegals are currently being supported through the process of qualifying as solicitors via the SQE and equivalent means scheme and a number of our senior lawyers began their careers as paralegals at the firm. For outstanding candidates, longer term career progression opportunities may exist within the firm.

Role Accountabilities:

Chargeable tasks:

• Legal research
• ​Media monitoring and evidence gathering (including media and social media) 
• ​Data entry, interrogating data and data analysis; creating spreadsheets and taking responsibility for tracking press statements and other media
• ​Preparing, updating and copying bundles
• ​Drafting memoranda of advice for other fee-earners and clients
• ​Assisting with preparation of court documents, witness statements, evidence and exhibits
• ​Liaising with Court, Counsel, suppliers and other third parties
• ​Drafting basic legal correspondence and working with solicitors to progress correspondence
• ​Document review

Please note this list is not exhaustive and tasks are subject to business needs. The above tasks may be conducted in support of the multi-disciplinary project teams, in addition to work supporting the legal team.

Proactive file management:

• Maintaining complete and up to date files and checking for proper use of versions
• Preparing and keeping track of matter action lists
• ​Checking correspondence and documents have been correctly filed
• ​Following up with matter team where file management issues are identified
• ​Identifying and diarising deadlines and sending reminders and keeping fee earners updated 
• ​Reviewing incoming correspondence for actions and deadlines, forwarding to matter team and ensuring proper filing
• Updating the team of matter fee positions
• ​Ensuring invoices and fee notes are passed to Finance
• Following New Supplier Process when instructing suppliers

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience Required:

• A highly organised, competent individual with a proactive approach
• ​Excellent attention to detail
• Litigation experience is desirable
• ​Ability to demonstrate an aptitude for working in defamation, privacy and data protection law through work experience in those areas or related areas e.g. PR, communications 
• ​Knowledge of cases and interest in recent developments in defamation, privacy and data protection law
• ​Ability to work under pressure, prioritise workload and manage ambiguity
• ​Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• ​Confident in communicating effectively with clients, other third parties and colleagues at all levels and be able to do so effectively in a hybrid environment E.g. liaising in person, by video, phone and email
• ​A basic understanding of the workings of a law firm and the litigation process
• ​Strong IT skills are essential, particularly using Outlook, Word, Excel and PDF docs
• Ability to work effectively with AI-enabled workflows, including using AI tools for research, drafting, document review and data management, and a willingness to adapt to emerging technologies.
• Experience using case management systems is desirable

Life at Schillings

Given our audacious (and successful) business strategy, it is not surprising that Schillings has a very strong culture. The atmosphere is highly collaborative and focused on excellence. We have worked hard over the years to develop a coaching culture and are remarkably non-hierarchical, especially given our roots as a law firm. Schillings has adopted a set of values to put at the heart of this change and they reflect the intention and tenor of our ambitious plans. They are: ‘Innovative; Bold; United; and Excellent’. Our client list speaks for the outstanding results that have been delivered over many years and the task now is to grow without losing any of the commitment to delivering for clients or the service ethos. Finding people who share our values and can thrive in this environment is key to our success.

It takes a unique mix of people to create something truly great. We appreciate that diversity of thought, background and culture creates the best environment to truly innovate, solve problems and achieve our goals. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds – if you are driven and want to achieve your best then we will give you the platform and support to succeed.

Please let us know if there are any extenuating circumstances we should consider, or any adjustments we may need to make to our selection process, when making your application.

Find our candidate privacy notice here, Candidate Privacy Notice (schillingspartners.com)