Practice Assistant

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)•Ottawa, ON

8d•CA$55,000 - CA$70,000

About The Position

The Practice Assistant will take an active interest in, and obtain a thorough understanding of, all aspects of client requirements to provide exceptional service levels to the lawyers and our clients. The Practice Assistant will act as workflow coordinator for other support services including delegating and reviewing the completion of document production, file management, copying/scanning work and other administrative work.

Requirements

Legal Assistant or Law Clerk Diploma or equivalent experience
Minimum 3 years experience as a Legal Assistant supporting relevant areas of business law
Proficiency in MS Office (excellent knowledge of advanced functions in Word)
Ability to communicate in a professional manner with clients and lawyers
Ability to interact professionally with clients and all members of the firm
Strong organizational skills and time management skills
Self-starter who can work with minimal instruction/supervision
Detail-oriented individual with good proofreading skills
Excellent multi-tasking skills
Ability to follow instructions with minimal supervision and take initiative
Able to set priorities while maintaining flexibility
A team player with excellent interpersonal skills

Responsibilities

Manage calendars, ensuring they are up to date and reminding lawyers of meetings etc. on a daily basis
Arrange meetings, book conference rooms, refreshments, check rooms prior to meetings etc. and liaise with other attendees, both internal and external
Arrange for travel bookings and related details to be made through the support teams
Arrange photocopying, printing, organizing couriers, sending out of letters, faxes etc.
Arrange for files to be opened and closed, supervise general filing requirements and record keeping
Use effective systems to ensure that both short and long term tasks are completed within required timescales
Support lawyers in marketing activities including involvement in preparation of pitches and presentations
Take internal and external telephone queries, responding as appropriate and/or ensuring that all messages are passed on in a timely manner
Monitor post and/or e-mails and dealing with as appropriate and ensure that all client related correspondence is passed on to an appropriate lawyer if the relevant person is out of the office
Liaise with administrative support departments on behalf of lawyers as required
Liaise with the department’s Team Leader over any planned absences, arranging cover as necessary and communicating this to the relevant lawyers.
Become an active part in the care of clients and be wholly familiar with contacts/clients
Enter, maintain and update client details and relevant information in the Firm’s CRM contacts system
Deal with basic client queries and general administration
Arrange client meetings
Check correspondence, attachments, documents, reports, presentations, faxes etc. produced by the Document Production team before they are passed to the relevant lawyer and undertake basic/minor amendments where appropriate
Type urgent/short/confidential correspondence and emails
Produce and maintain Excel spreadsheets as required
Assist lawyers and Practice Group Billing Coordinator in the billing and credit control process by liaising with the lawyer and accounts and to produce standard prebill financial/time reports through the system
Request cheques, bank transfers and paying in money received, as appropriate
Assisting other members of the firm, both proactively and at the request of the Team Leader
Any other duties as requested by the Lawyers or Team Leader