Job Description

About The Role
The role
We are looking for a proactive and highly organised Legal Secretary to provide dedicated support to Dawn Reynolds and colleagues in our Real Estate Dispute Resolution team in Birmingham. You will help us deliver a smooth, responsive service on a broad mix of contentious real estate work including lease renewals, dilapidations and possession claims.
This is a hands-on role where you will work closely with a small number of fee earners rather than being part of a national secretarial pool, giving you clear ownership and continuity. Our hybrid pattern for full-time roles is three days in the office and two from home.
What you will do:

• Produce, format and amend legal documents and correspondence to a high standard including pleadings, applications, witness statements and instructions to counsel.
• Create and maintain court bundles and hearing packs; manage e-filing and submissions to court portals where required.
• Support property litigation workflows on matters such as contested and uncontested lease renewals, break notices, dilapidation issues, possession claims and telecoms notices, ensuring key dates are diarised and actioned.
• Digital dictation, copy typing and transcription, ensuring accuracy and brand consistency across all outputs.
• File opening and closing, compliance checks and matter management in line with internal procedures.
• Proactive diary management for fee earners, arranging meetings, mediations and conferences with clients, counsel and third parties.
• Liaise with clients by phone and email, providing timely updates and a friendly, professional first point of contact.
• Billing and WIP support, time recording assistance and expense processing to help the team meet its financial targets.
• Coordinate travel, events and team administration, and contribute to knowledge, precedents and process improvements within the group.

The team
Our Real Estate Dispute Resolution team sits within Gateley Legal's wider Property division and is known for straight-talking, commercially focused advice on complex property disputes. The team acts for developers, investors, landlords, tenants and public bodies and is led in Birmingham by Partner Dawn Reynolds. You will be working alongside experienced litigators who value collaboration, clarity and momentum.
How we work matters to us. Our Legal Secretaries partner closely with named fee earners for day-to-day continuity rather than serving from a pooled model, and we support hybrid working on a three-two pattern for full-time colleagues.
The person
Candidates will be able to demonstrate the following attributes:

• Prior experience as a Legal Secretary, ideally within litigation or property, with strong digital dictation and document production skills.
• Calm, confident communication and a client-centred approach.
• Excellent attention to detail and a track record of meeting deadlines in a busy practice.
• Solid IT skills across Microsoft 365 and case management systems.
• A team mindset and the initiative to anticipate what your fee earners need next.

We typically look for candidates with at least a couple of years' secretarial experience.
About You
About Us
The benefits
With support, coaching and feedback from some of the most engaging colleagues around our great development and progression opportunities will reward your commitment and loyalty. We offer a competitive remuneration package where you'll be rewarded for your individual performance with an opportunity to receive an annual bonus.
In addition, we have a wide range of learning and development opportunities via our Learn platform to develop new skills and progress your career. Our My Flex comprehensive rewards package includes options covering annual leave (and the benefit of purchasing extra days), cycle to work, critical illness benefit, employee assistance programme, group personal pension, health care, season ticket loan and many more benefits (grade dependent). Finally, with Perks At Work/Home you can select a host of retail benefits that suit your needs alongside a Community Online Academy, free courses for all from fitness to coding to languages to hip hop dance.
We are Gateley
We are forward thinking and straight talking, our approach is to find solutions to the problems that our clients face. Gateley is a legal and professional services group, we are a group of formidable experts in all areas of law and business. Passionate problem solvers, we get our kicks from finding the right answers and getting our legal and business clients where they need to be. We support more than 5,700 active clients, ranging from FTSE 100 companies to private individuals, in the UK and beyond. Being part of Gateley is not just about the expertise that you bring; it's about attitude too.
The 'Gateley Story' is the story of our people and our culture. It is what has got us to where we are today as a successful business and it's the driving force behind the Gateley Team Spirit and the values that have shaped it. We have a set of shared internal values that capture what the Gateley Team Spirit is and this includes five elements that bind us all together as one Gateley: Ambitious for Success, Forward Thinking, Room to Breathe, Trusted to Do and Working Together. Every year across the group, we recognise members of our team that have gone and above and beyond and have lived these shared values. They are recognised at our annual Gateley Team Spirit awards.
Diversity, inclusion and well being
Diversity, inclusion and well being is an important part of Gateley's culture and values. We recruit talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, providing equal opportunities for all to join our team regardless of age, sex, race, sexual orientation, disability, or culture.
We create an exciting and rewarding place to work that aims to fulfil everyone's potential and together to achieve personal and business goals. We offer flexible working patterns to help our staff achieve a good work/ life balance and we encourage candidates seeking flexibility in their next role to apply for any of our vacancies.
We are proud to have been recognised by The Law Society as gold standard for our Diversity and Inclusion Charter and to be Stonewall Diversity Champions.
Additional Information
If you are successful in receiving an offer of a role with our company a variety of pre-employment screening checks will be completed. Our screening checks can include but are not limited to your eligibility to work, professional and academic qualifications, any criminal records, your financial stability and references from previous employers. The screening that takes place will be relevant to your role and will vary from role to role.

Skills Required