Practice Assistant
Department: Legal Support | Cargo
Location: Guildford
The Role
The Practice Assistant provides high-quality organisational, administrative and client support to Partners and Fee Earners.
Acting as a key point of contact, you will take ownership of work from instruction through to completion, either delivering tasks directly or coordinating support through Team Assistants and Document Production. You will proactively manage priorities, anticipate requirements and ensure work is completed accurately, efficiently and to a high standard.
The role requires excellent organisation, communication and relationship-management skills, alongside the confidence to manage competing priorities within a fast-paced legal environment.
Key Responsibilities
Partner, Fee Earner & Client Support
- Act as a key point of contact for allocated Partners, Fee Earners and clients, building strong and effective working relationships.
- Manage incoming correspondence, calls and queries, responding or escalating appropriately and ensuring actions are followed through.
- Proactively manage diaries, meetings and appointments, anticipating requirements such as travel, accommodation, meeting rooms, agendas, papers and itineraries.
- Support client meetings, training sessions, directory interviews and other client-related activities.
- Maintain knowledge of client-specific requirements, protocols and processes, providing guidance where appropriate.
- Provide proactive support by anticipating priorities, identifying issues and taking ownership through to resolution.
Workflow & Document Management
- Take ownership of tasks from instruction through to completion, coordinating with Team Assistants and Document Production where appropriate.
- Manage document production requirements and review completed work for accuracy, presentation and formatting before submission to Fee Earners.
- Manage competing priorities and deadlines, escalating capacity or workflow issues where necessary.
- Maintain electronic files, records and client documentation accurately.
- Support the creation and maintenance of data rooms and other client information.
- Produce and maintain spreadsheets, presentations and other business documents as required.
Matter & Administrative Support
- Coordinate the opening and closing of files and matters, ensuring appropriate documentation and compliance requirements are completed.
- Prepare and manage engagement documentation.
- Monitor key dates, deadlines and matter information.
- Ensure client and matter information is accurate and maintained within relevant systems.
- Undertake searches, applications and submissions through relevant external systems where required.
- Assist with printing, scanning, copying, couriers and correspondence where necessary.
- Work in accordance with firm-wide and departmental policies and procedures.
Business Development & Client Relationship Management
- Support Partners and Fee Earners with business development and client relationship activities.
- Assist with the preparation and coordination of pitches, tenders, presentations and directory submissions.
- Work with Business Development colleagues to maintain accurate client and contact information within CRM systems.
- Support the organisation of client and internal events, seminars and conferences.
- Assist with newsletters, briefings and other client communications.
- Maintain accurate information relating to prospects, clients, contacts and business development activities.
Communication & Teamwork
- Work collaboratively with Practice Assistants, Team Assistants, Document Production and other Business Services teams to deliver an efficient service.
- Provide support across the wider team where additional capacity is required.
- Attend and support team meetings, including preparing papers, taking minutes and following up agreed actions where required.
- Maintain regular communication with Fee Earners regarding progress, priorities and deadlines.
- Liaise with the Legal Support Manager regarding workload, planned absences and appropriate cover arrangements.
- Contribute to a collaborative culture focused on excellent client service and continuous improvement.
Skills & Experience
We are looking for someone who can demonstrate:
- Previous experience within a legal or professional services environment.
- Strong experience supporting senior stakeholders, ideally Partners or Fee Earners.
- Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
- A proactive approach, with the ability to anticipate requirements and take ownership of tasks through to completion.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong client-service skills and the confidence to build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Excellent attention to detail and a consistently high standard of accuracy.
- Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to use initiative.
- A collaborative approach and willingness to support colleagues across the wider team.
- Discretion and sound judgement when handling confidential or sensitive information.
- The ability to remain calm, flexible and organised in a busy environment.
- Strong Microsoft Office skills, including Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Experience using document management, case management or other legal systems would be advantageous.
The Firm
When you work at Clyde & Co, you join a team of 500 partners, 2,400 lawyers, 3,200 legal professionals and 5,500 people in nearly 70 offices and associated offices worldwide. Our values are the principles that guide the decisions we make, unite us in our endeavours and strengthen our delivery, for both our clients and our firm. We work as one, excel with clients, celebrate difference and act boldly. We are committed to operating in a responsible way by progressing towards a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the communities and clients it serves. We are devoted to providing an environment in which everyone can realise their potential, using its legal and professional skills to support its communities. We do this through pro bono work, volunteering and charitable partnerships, and minimising the impact it has on the environment, including through our commitment to the SBTi Net-Zero standard and the setting of ambitious emissions reduction targets.
Our Commitment
Clyde & Co is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. Our values encourage us to support fairness, celebrate diversity and prohibit all forms of discrimination in the workplace to allow everyone to excel at work. Therefore, we welcome and encourage all applications from suitably qualified individuals, regardless of background or identity. Learn more about our interview process.
A Note on Privacy
Please take a moment to read our privacy notice. This describes what personal information Clyde & Co (we) may hold about you, what it’s used for, how it’s obtained, your rights and how to contact us as a data subject.
If you are submitting a candidate as a Recruitment Agency Partner, it is an essential requirement and your responsibility to ensure that candidates applying to Clyde & Co are aware of this privacy notice.
This is the job description as constituted at present; however, Clyde & Co reserves the right to reasonably amend it in accordance with the changing needs of the business.
