Experienced Paralegal

About the firm

Plainlaw Solicitors is a boutique law firm based in Oxford (within walking distance of the Seacourt Park & Ride) which specialises in commercial property and non-contentious construction law, . Further details of the firm are available on our website (https://www.plainlaw.co.uk/) and we recommend that the candidate carefully reviews our website before applying

We are hiring

We are excited to announce that we are in the process of recruiting an experienced paralegal to join the team in a full-time capacity. NB This is an office-based role.

Who we are looking for

The ideal candidate will:

• Have a particular interest in both real estate law and non-contentious construction projects as these are our areas of practice;
• Have at least five years of experience in either real estate law or non-contentious construction projects;
• Be comfortable with handling simple tasks (such as service of notices, drafting and formatting simple legal documents…etc.) independently;
• Be expected to demonstrate an excellent standard of written and spoken English and ;
• Possess outstanding organisational skills as they will be expected to assist all real estate and construction fee-earners with their workload;
• Be self-motivated and exhibit an eagerness to expand their professional boundaries, skills and capabilities through (inter alia) networking events and training courses;
• Have the ability to carry out and summarise legal research efficiently; and
• Be comfortable with interacting with a wide range of parties (including other legal professionals, clients, public bodies…etc.), with doing so in a confident and professional manner, and with being supervised by and with following to the letter the instructions of the fee earners.

Duties

The role will consist of supporting the fee earners with both administrative and legal work, including (but not limited to) the following:

Administration tasks:

• Fielding telephone calls, setting up conference calls and making attendance notes for conference calls
• Document management and preparing and maintaining transaction/document trackers
• File management including file opening/closing, posting correspondence and keeping close track of the progress of projects/transactions

Legal work:

• Due diligence -procuring property searches, carrying out legal research, obtaining and reviewing planning and other documents from local authorities, and assisting with the review of title deeds, property searches and data room documents.
• Transaction documents - with the assistance and close supervision of fee earners, drafting and preparing mark-ups of legal documents such as transfer deeds, leases, licences, rent deposit deeds, consultant’s deeds of appointments, collateral warranties…etc. based on the firm’s precedents.
• Reporting – preparing reports on the key terms of transaction documents and results of property due diligence
• Firms’ precedents – contributing to the creation of and maintenance of the firm’s bank of precedents
• Liaising with parties in transactions including face-to-face meetings, email correspondence and conference calls
• Completion/post completion – proof reading documents (under qualified supervision), preparing documents for signing, assisting with stamp duty land tax compliance and registration of documents at HM Land Registry.
• Taking a leading role on appropriate transactions (under qualified supervision) including taking instructions from the client, liaising with agents, negotiation of transaction documents including calls and emails with other solicitors, facilitating exchange and completion and taking the lead on post-completion items as outlined above.

What we offer

We are real estate and construction law specialists and being part of a relatively small firm will provide the candidate with the opportunity to:

(a) work closely with very experienced partners

(b) gain insight on the business aspects of a law firm; and

(c) be exposed to all stages of real estate transactions and construction projects

The size of our firm makes the above exposure much more readily accessible. We pride ourselves in doing what we do to a very high standard, and the size of our firm does not limit the scale of transactions that we are involved in nor the types of clients we work with. However, if the candidate aspires to be part of a full-service firm, to engage in contentious work (litigation or ADR), or to be part of a multi-office or international law firm, then this role may not be suitable.

We will offer competitive renumeration for this role of between £30,000-£43,000 depending on experience.

Application requirements

• Curriculum vitae including (but not limited to) academic qualifications, overall grade, work experience and examples of transactions the candidate assisted with.
• Cover letter setting out the applicant’s interest in and alignment with the role.
• All applicants will be expected to have the right to work in the UK without visa sponsorship from the firm

If you have any questions regarding the role, please email Jayne Parker on [email protected]

Pay: £30,000.00-£43,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person