Junior Paralegal

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 excited to announce that we are in the process of recruiting a junior paralegal to join the team in a full-time capacity. NB. Remote working is not available for this role.

The ideal candidate will:

• Have a Bachelor of Laws or a Graduate Diploma in Law, and demonstrate excellent academic achievement;
• Have a particular interest (and ideally some experience) in both real estate law and non-contentious construction projects as these are our areas of practice;
• 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 closely supervised by and with following to the letter the instructions of their seniors.

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

a) Administrative tasks

• Fielding telephone calls, setting up conference calls, and making attendance notes of 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.

b) 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 seniors, drafting and preparing mark-ups of legal documents such as transfer deeds, leases, licences, rent deposit deeds, consultants’ deeds of appointment, 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.
• Firm 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.
• In due course, taking a more 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 and to learn from 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 invest heavily in the training of junior staff as we expect them to contribute to the long-term success and growth of our firm. Training will be provided in carrying out the duties listed above and all staff at the firm (regardless of seniority) are very approachable. However, we also expect our junior staff to go above and beyond, to always aim for excellence, and to take an active role in their self-development.

The right candidate who consistently demonstrates competence and a keen interest in our areas of practice over a reasonable period of employment will likely be offered a training contract with the firm. We have offered training contracts to nearly all of our paralegals.

We will offer competitive remuneration for this role in line with the Oxford Living Wage of £29,244 per annum.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: £29,244.00 per year

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Oxford OX2 0JB: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (preferred)

Work Location: In person