Secretary - Pro Bono

**Why Baker McKenzie?**

At Baker McKenzie not only do we pride ourselves on leading pay and a great culture, joining a leading Global Law firm provides unique development opportunities to grow in a highly supportive working environment throughout all stages of your life. We know our people value flexibility around when and where they work. So we are committed to offering a more adaptable way to work, we call this BAgile. As a highly valued employee we will also provide you with an extensive range of wellbeing, recognition & benefits offerings.

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**The Role**

We are seeking an experienced legal Secretary to join our Pro Bono team. The primary focus of this role is to provide administrative support to the Pro Bono lawyers. From time to time, the role will also be required to provide support to the First Nations and Community Services Lead.

**Responsibilities**

Key Duties of the role include but not limited to:

- Opening new pro bono matters
- Undertaking conflict searches
- Drafting C&D letters for new pro bono matters and submitting pro bono Matter NBR's
- Assisting with monthly pro bono expense and WIP reports
- Processing expense claims
- Managing billing processes
- Maintaining pro bono matter registers
- Collating pro bono matter statistics
- Maintenance of the Firm's pro bono intranet and extranet sites
- Organising meetings
- Assistance with event management tasks for pro bono
- First Nations and community service events
- Preparing presentations and newsletter
- Assistance with tracking the Firm's RAP commitments
- Other administrative tasks as required

**What we're looking for -**
- 2 years' minimum experience as an secretary / administrative assistant at a law firm, ideally with litigation experience
- High degree of technology literacy and usage including all products in the Microsoft Office suite and CRM systems
- Excellent listening, verbal and writing skills, including good telephone skills
- Friendly, self-motivated, enthusiastic, personal drive and energy
- Adaptable, flexible, works well independently and in a team
- Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to work with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
- A proven ability to pay close attention to detail
- Strong management and organisational skills and a track record of fully implementing projects to completion, on time and often in a high pressure environment
- Ability to prioritise and consistently meet deadlines
- Diligent and proactive approach to keeping authors regularly updated with progress of assigned tasks

**About the team**

The Pro Bono practice group is responsible for pro bono legal services across the Firm's 3 Australian offices. The Firm's First Nations and Community Services initiatives also fall within the responsibility of the Pro Bono Partner and First Nations and Community Service Lead.

Pro Bono

At Baker McKenzie, we believe that the provision of pro bono legal service is a fundamental professional responsibility. As lawyers, we have a particular skills set and the best way to assist those in need is to utilise those skills. We have a formal pro bono program, in which matters are referred to our pro bono team and evaluated to see if they fit our pro bono criteria. The pro bono team co-ordinates the pro bono practice across the firm, and the lawyers within our team manage their own pro bono legal practices. Our pro bono program offers a diverse array of pro bono opportunities requiring differing levels of experience, skill and time commitment. Our lawyers have the opportunity to undertake matters for charities and not-for-profit organisations as well as marginalised or disadvantaged individuals. Our lawyers also undertake challenging international research and analysis to support the rule of law.

First Nations

Baker McKenzie is committed to reconciliation with First Nations Australians. The Firm has an Innovate Reconciliation Plan and all our staff are encouraged to engage with our First Nations initiatives which are coordinated by our First Nations Lead.

Community Service

Legal and non-legal staff have the opportunity to participate in a variety of community service initiatives. Our community service programs include the Gawura reading program and participation in FareShare and Eat Up events.

All staff have the opportunity to participate in awareness raising and fundraising initiatives to support the Firm's chosen charities, as well as our workplace giving program.

**About the Firm**

At Baker McKenzie, we are different in the way we think, work and behave. Like no other law firm, we were born global. Our Australian practice was established in Sydney in 1964, in Melbourne in 1982 and in Brisbane in 2014. Our lawyers work seamlessly with our global colleagues, collectively providing a capacity of more than 5,600 locally qualified lawyers and 6,000 professional staff in 78 locations across 46 countries.

Baker McKenzie Australia can offer