About us

Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals and over 600 staff based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.

We are defined by our Next Level Law proposition. We work with our clients as a proactive partner, horizon scanning and thinking ahead to the changes, challenges or opportunities that they may face.

Next Level Law is also applied to our people. Our collegiate culture means everyone is encouraged to achieve their next level in everything they do.  RollOnFriday recently ranked us as the 6th best law firm to work at in 2026.

With our ambition to succeed, comes a strong desire to make a positive contribution to the communities we serve, and we are committed to delivering the objectives set out in our ESG strategy. Diversity plays an integral part in all that we do, with female partners comprising 42% of our partnership.

The team you will join

You will form part of a nationally recognised and highly regarded Corporate team, comprising approximately 50 fee earners and 20 partners, many of whom are recommended in the latest Legal 500 rankings, often in the Hall of Fame category. Our team’s size and expertise mean we advise clients at different stages of the business life cycle from start-ups to large corporates, on matters such as mergers and acquisitions, buy-outs and buy-ins, development capital fundraisings, to refinancings and exits.

We also have extensive experience in international corporate deals, collaborating with a range of overseas law firms on cross-border transactions.

The Corporate team includes specialist private equity, venture capital and incentives/EOT sub teams, and also benefits from working closely with other service lines in the Corporate division, such as Banking & Finance, Corporate Tax, Company Secretarial and Competition.

The work you will be doing

• To carry out administrative support (including billing and debt collection) for the Corporate team;
• Work closely with the team secretaries to provide support and back-up;
• Ability to communicate with a wide variety of different people from privately owned businesses to private equity and venture capital organisations;
• Ability to respond and update clients regularly, taking internal and external telephone enquiries politely and professionally;
• Show initiative when responding to queries and actively try to seek solutions to problems;
• Assist in maintaining compliant and accurate file management and office systems;
• Carry out photocopying and scanning in accordance with the firm’s paper-lite and clear desk policies;
• Ensure that all electronic filing is up to date and maintained at regular intervals;
• Proof read all work, checking for spelling and grammar;
• Provide support to other secretaries within the team and provide cover as and when necessary;
• Understands a variety of software packages such as Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel, to produce correspondence, documents and ensure relevant documentation is produced to a high standard to meet clients’ and fee earners’ expectations and deadlines;
• To format and present documents in Birketts LLP house style;
• Clarify instructions from fee earners should they be unclear or if deadlines are not made explicit.

What we are looking for

• Strong administration experience;
• Positive, enthusiastic and professional approach;Able to communicate with a wide variety of different people
• Strong attention to detail, high level organisational skills and reliable;
• Self-motivated with an ability to use own initiative with a desire to learn;
• Typing Speed -  50+ wpm
• Solid understanding of key IT packages to include Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel
• Good spelling and punctuation
• Typing dictation (Preferred but not essential).

Hybrid Working

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. During your 6 month probation period, there will be a requirement to be in the office full time whilst you are developing in the role. Once you have successfully passed probation, this role attracts a split of 60% office days and 40% working from home days per week.

Benefits

As a Birketts colleague, you will be eligible to receive a wide range of benefits:

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays 
• Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme 
• Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
• Paid CSR Day
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Subsidised gym membership
• Electric car scheme
• Dress for your Day Policy

You can find out more on our website: https://recognition-reward-benefits/

Inclusivity and Culture

At Birketts, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth. 

Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or sexual orientation.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates, and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.