Residential Real Estate Assistant
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
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
The Birketts Commercial Real Estate Team is one of the best regarded and largest dedicated real estate teams within any firm outside of London, with over 200 lawyers across the firm as a whole. Our property lawyers are particularly experienced in dealing with development and investment, planning, secured lending and landlord and tenant matters. We are increasingly advising high value, high profile transactions and clients.
The Residential Property Team comprises 60+ members operating out of each office but working together as one team.
The work you will be doing
As Residential Real Estate Assistant, you will work as part of a team, assisting in providing an efficient and accurate administrative service.
You will play a key role in the provision of a high quality and responsive admin service, continuously applying improvements to increase client satisfaction, you will work collaboratively to maintain a consistency approach across the team.
As part of your day to day responsibilities, you will:
- Support and build working relationships with the other pool secretaries.
- Effectively liaise with staff from other departments as required.
- Accurately maintain and update client and other relevant contact details on the firm’s database.
- Develop and maintain a good level of understanding of firm policy and process.
- To proofread all work, checking for spelling and grammar.
- File opening including checking and adhering to compliance requirements.
- Expert in 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.
Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.
What we are looking for
- A positive and professional approach
- Able to confidently communicate with a wide variety of different people, from first time buyers to multi-million pound investor clients, buying and selling agents and mortgage brokers
- Strong attention to detail
- Work efficiently and effectively under pressure and to deadlines
- Self-motivated and reliable with an ability to use own initiative
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 80% office days and 20% 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.
Key skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Highlight your legal administration or residential property experience prominently in your Personal Statement, as the advert specifically seeks someone familiar with property law processes such as file opening and compliance requirements.
📊 Quantify your document output: e.g. 'Produced 50+ legal documents per week with a 99% accuracy rate, supporting 6 fee earners in a busy conveyancing team'.
🎯 Explicitly reference your proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook — the advert lists these as essential software — and include any legal practice management systems you have used (e.g. Leap, Proclaim, or similar).
🌐 Emphasise your experience liaising across departments or teams, as the role requires collaboration with pool secretaries and staff from other departments across multiple offices.
🤝 Demonstrate your understanding of compliance and data accuracy by citing specific examples, such as AML checks, GDPR-compliant data handling, or adherence to SRA requirements in a previous legal role.
Suggested CV bullets
3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.
Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:
- •Managed file opening compliance checks for 30+ new residential property matters per month, ensuring 100% adherence to AML and SRA requirements across a 10-fee-earner conveyancing team.
- •Produced and proofread 60+ legal documents weekly in Microsoft Word and Outlook, reducing amendment requests from fee earners by 25% through implementation of a standardised template library.
- •Maintained and updated client contact records for a database of 500+ active matters in a legal case management system, achieving zero data discrepancy flags during a 2024 internal compliance audit.
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Letter preview — tailored to Birketts LLP
Dear Hiring Manager,
Birketts LLP's reputation as one of the best-regarded real estate practices outside London — and its ranking as the 6th best law firm to work at in 2026 — makes this Residential Real Estate Assistant role a compelling next step. With a 60-member residential property team spanning seven offices, the scope for rigorous document production, compliance-led file opening and cross-departmental collaboration is precisely the environment in which I thrive.
My background in legal administration has equipped me with strong proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook, alongside hands-on experience managing client databases, proofreading complex legal correspondence and conducting compliance checks at file opening stage. I understand the importance of accuracy and consistency when supporting fee earners under deadline pressure, and I have a track record of maintaining high document standards across busy property teams.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›Which legal practice management or case management systems have you used, and how did you use them to manage client files?
- ›How do you use Microsoft Excel to track or manage information in a legal or administrative setting?
- ›Describe your process for proofreading a complex legal document — what tools or techniques do you use to ensure accuracy?
- ›How have you maintained and updated client contact databases, and what steps did you take to ensure data integrity and GDPR compliance?
- ›What compliance checks are typically required when opening a new file in a residential property matter, and how have you handled these?
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time you had to manage multiple urgent tasks for different fee earners simultaneously — how did you prioritise?
- ›Describe a situation where you identified an error in a document before it reached a client. What did you do and what was the outcome?
- ›Give an example of when you suggested or implemented a process improvement in an administrative role.
- ›Tell me about a time you had to liaise with colleagues across different departments or offices to complete a task. How did you manage communication?
- ›Describe a situation where you had to adapt quickly to a change in process or policy within your organisation.
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Describe a situation where you identified an error in a document before it reached a client. What did you do and what was the outcome?
Give an example of when you suggested or implemented a process improvement in an administrative role.