Private Client Secretary: Bridport

Bridport, Dorset | Full time, office based | £26,000 to £32,000 depending on experience

The Head of Private Client at an established West Dorset law firm needs a secretary who can take hold of the diary, the files and the client contact from day one. The current secretary is moving into another department at the end of August, so this is a genuine handover rather than a role created and left to settle.

RecQuest is managing this appointment on the firm's behalf, and the client is open to an immediate start for the right person.

The role

You will support the Head of Private Client directly. The work sits mainly around wills and lasting powers of attorney, and your day is likely to include:

• Audio and digital dictation, correspondence and document production

• Drafting and formatting wills and lasting powers of attorney

• File opening, compliance checks and matter management

• Acting as a first point of contact for private clients by telephone and in person

• Diary management, appointments and travel between offices

• Occasional cover across the wider private client team

Probate has its own dedicated assistant and secretary, so probate typing is limited rather than a core part of the role.

Because the fee earner splits time across offices, you will need to be comfortable working independently and keeping matters moving without someone stood over your shoulder. It is a role with real ownership for the right person.

Hours are 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, with an hour for lunch, based in the Bridport office.

About you

Some legal secretarial or legal support experience is essential. You do not need a decade in private client and full training will be given on the firm's systems and processes, but you should already understand how a legal file works and be able to be useful from your first week.

You will need to be:

• Experienced as a legal secretary, legal assistant or in a similar legal support role

• Accurate, organised and comfortable managing your own workload

• Confident on the telephone with private clients, including elderly and vulnerable clients

• Competent with case management systems, digital dictation and Microsoft Office

• Discreet, dependable and calm when the department is busy

• Able to work full time from the Bridport office

Private client experience is welcome but not essential. Conveyancing, family or general practice secretaries with transferable skills will be considered.

The honest part

This is a fully office based role. It is not hybrid or remote. The fee earner you support is not in the Bridport office every day, which means you will need to be self sufficient rather than closely supervised.

In return you get a defined role supporting a department head, a proper handover from the person currently doing the job, and a stable firm with a long standing local client base.

Next steps

If you are a legal secretary in West Dorset, or commutable from Dorchester, Weymouth, Axminster or Lyme Regis, this is worth a conversation. Roles supporting a department head, in a stable team, with proper handover time, do not appear here often.

Send your CV to ben.holtom@recquest.co.uk or contact RecQuest for a confidential chat before you decide anything. Everything is discussed with you first and nothing goes anywhere without your say so.