Paralegal – Private Capital – Clarke Willmott

Application deadline: not stated so apply as soon as possible

We are seeking a Paralegal to join our Lifetime and Estate Planning team. You will be supporting the wider team who deal with wills, estate planning advice, LPAs and trust advice.
Our well-regarded Private Capital team holds consistent top tier rankings in the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners and our client base includes a high proportion of high and ultra-high net worth clients with complex financial arrangements.

Who we are
You’ll be joining a national law firm that enjoys a strong reputation, made possible by our exceptional people – each chosen for their industry knowledge and passion for their field. We want to help you to reach your full potential, love the work you do and deliver the best results for your clients. It’s our goal to make you feel great about working with us, and we work hard to cultivate a culture that makes it easy for you to stay with us for many years.

We work flexibly and you’ll be empowered to work where you do your best work, balancing your individual needs with the need for us to engage as teams and deliver excellent client service.

Most of our people choose to work in a hybrid fashion, working from home and attending our offices on occasion. Our offices are in Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton, and Taunton.

Having enjoyed significant growth in recent years, we now have over 680 people, including over 100 partners and we are continuing to grow.

Our private capital team is a multi-disciplinary team comprises solicitors, tax, trust and court of protection specialists and paralegals.   The team in Bristol comprises 7 partners/consultants and 20 solicitors and paralegals and is part of a much wider team across the firm of 50+ lawyers, non-lawyer specialists and paralegals. Highly regarded in all the regions where we operate, the team has extensive expertise in family business and capital taxes planning, international estate planning, elderly care issues, mental capacity and social welfare and Court of Protection issues in addition to its work in wills and probate.

As a firm we are known for providing a supportive and positive place to work, with an open and collaborative

Day to day, you’ll be successful in this role by:
Our team advise private clients in relation to their Wills and estate planning.  Our clients are both UK based and international often with significant wealth and complex family and financial situations.

Typically, will we advise clients in relation to their Wills, ensuring they are both tax efficient and protect the family wealth for future generations.  This will often involve the creation of trusts, both in their lifetimes and through their Wills, preparation of Lasting Powers of Attorney and advising them on structuring their wealth in a tax efficient way and planning for the succession of their assets to the next generations.  A key part of our work involves liaising with our clients financial planners and accountants.

You will work with the team and assist them with the conduct of their workload, including:

• Supporting the senior fee earning team at meetings and dealing with the prompt follow up to engage the clients to the firm
• Drafting of Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Trusts and other documents with supervision and guidance
• Liaising with HMRC and the Office of the Public Guardian
• Simple applications to the Land Registry
• Being proactive in matters to progress them as efficiently as possible
• Organising files; keeping them correct and up to date
• Meeting financial and time recording targets throughout the year

Full training will be given, and you will work with close supervision whilst your skills develop.

There may be opportunity to study for professional qualifications such as STEP or CILEX or to join our Pathway to SQE and become a qualified Solicitor.

It is an integral part of this role that you comply with information security and all firm policies and procedures.

This role is right for you if:
This role will suit you if you would like to prioritise your own workload, work closely to deadlines, and under pressure. You will need to demonstrate from experience that you are exceptionally organised and proactive, helpful, with a flexible ‘can-do’ attitude, and that you have the skills to work closely with various stakeholders and have direct contact with clients.

Ideally you will have graduated with a Law Degree or have a long-standing interest in working in a legal environment. Prior experience at legal assistant or paralegal level will be helpful but is not essential. Full training and support will be given as your develop your knowledge and experience with us and grow your client work to gain exposure to technical and complex structures.

We expect you to be someone who takes pride in your work and in providing a first-class support service to your fee earners, anticipating their needs in advance wherever possible, and paying meticulous attention to detail in all of your work.
You will have excellent spelling and grammar, be proficient with the usual Microsoft packages, including Excel and Outlook, and comfortable with learning new databases and other software packages.

Attention to detail is key to the role and you will be able to self-review your own document drafting before submitting it for a technical review.

Finally, we are looking for someone who can demonstrate initiative and problem-solving skills and a willingness to learn and develop, which will help you thrive in this role.

What we can offer you:
A career at Clarke Willmott will feel different to other law firms. We thrive on our individual differences and diversity because as a team, we are united by our shared values and mutual respect. Working with us you will feel empowered, valued and free to be yourself in a safe and supportive environment.

Our mission is to help you realise your full potential whilst maintaining a positive work-life balance. We provide a comprehensive learning and development programme and a range of wellbeing initiatives to support your career journey.

There’s no doubt we expect the best from our people and even the occasional extra mile. In return, your dedication and commitment to the continued success of the firm will be rewarded with a comprehensive range of flexible benefits.

Listen to what a few members of our team have to say about what life here at Clarke Willmott is really like, to see if it’s the right fit for you.

Apply
If you would like to apply for this vacancy, please send us your CV and covering letter.

As a firm we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. Our recruitment privacy notice details how information is collected, processed and how long it is retained for.