(Shipping) Knowledge Management Paralegal (3-month fixed-term contract)

Knowledge Management Paralegal

The Firm

HFW is a sector focused global law firm.  We have over 600 lawyers working across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.  We take a progressive approach to our roles in commercial business – thinking creatively and pragmatically to support our clients.

Whether we are solving complex issues within the construction, aviation or shipping industries, or providing advice across insurance, commodities and energy, we are specialist lawyers here to add value to our clients.  We think about the commercial solution first, and then underpin our advice with a solid foundation of legal expertise. 

Entrepreneurial.  Creative.  Collaborative.

The Role

• Knowledge Management Paralegal to join the central Knowledge Management (KM) team, reporting to the Head of Research and Knowledge Resources and supporting the firm’s Shipping Knowledge Counsel (KCs).  
• The aim of the KM team at HFW is to ensure that, in line with the firm's business strategy, we provide world class support to our lawyers, enabling them to provide quality legal advice and to effectively serve our clients.
• This role would be to assist the KCs to support the firm’s Shipping sectors.

Key Responsibilities

• Knowhow enquiries and legal research
• Handling varied queries from lawyers  – you will be responding directly to simple queries and supporting the firm’s KCs to respond to more complex queries.
• Carrying out legal research using the firm’s KM system and external knowledge resources for the KM team and lawyers.
• Preparing research notes for the KM team and fee earners and researching specific technical points to help answer queries from lawyers.
• Writing up notes of technical and practice points discussed at group meetings and helping to add these to the maintained KM resources and bulletins where appropriate.
• Knowhow resource management
  • Profiling, indexing and filing documents for knowhow databases using a knowhow classification system.
  • Creating and amending intranet knowhow pages, including assistance with formatting and maintaining key fee earner knowhow legal and technical resources. Potential to work with KCs to provide more substantive input.
  • Assisting in the creation of KM resources (precedents, specimen documents, templates, checklists, etc.
  • Assisting with regular reviews of existing knowhow materials to determine relevance and usefulness, and removal of out-of-date material.
  • Liaising with lawyers to assist with knowhow collation.
  • Summarising and reporting on intranet/KM resources usage statistics. 
• Current awareness bulletins
  • Assisting with keeping HFW's lawyers and clients up-to-date on topical technical and market developments, including:
  • Working with the KCs on the preparation of the firm’s monthly global Knowhow Updates; this requires identifying items of interest (from journals, online resources, cases etc.), preparing brief summaries of those items for the updates, with close attention to clarity, consistency and accuracy, liaising with KCs and other teams as appropriate.  
  • Reviewing journals, online knowhow resources, legislation and cases and liaising with the KCs and the Global Research and Resources Hub to identify items of interest to fee earners and clients.
  • Helping to prepare ad hoc summaries of key news and legal items for internal and external use.
  • Assisting KCs with the preparation of bespoke client specific legal updates and other regular (quarterly/monthly) legal updates for clients as a “value add” service. Includes drafting, proof reading, and editing as required under KC supervision.
• Training
  • Assisting with the implementation of internal global technical training programmes, including:
  • Liaising with speakers and HFW's Learning & Development team to coordinate technical training sessions
  • Assisting with training updates and provision of materials
  • Assisting with ongoing fee-earner KM training and KM inductions for trainees and new joiners.
  • Collating and uploading materials from client and other external training sessions.
  • Paralegals will be welcome to attend legal training subject to work capacity. 
• Administrative responsibilities
• Any other ad hoc duties as may be required.

Key Skills & Experience Required

• Law degree or GDL qualification.
• Strong academics – including a 2.i at degree level or equivalent.
• Excellent legal research skills (including using online legal research platforms) and the ability to prepare clear, concise research notes.
• Excellent organisation and communication skills.
• High level of IT proficiency – strong working knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel.
• SharePoint experience useful but not essential.
• Excellent attention to detail, willingness to learn and to use initiative.
• Ability to quickly assimilate and summarise information
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.

Additional Information
Kindly note that this job description is not contractual. It will be reviewed periodically and may be amended or altered to meet the needs of the firm.

HFW aims to ensure equality of opportunity and we are actively working towards improving the diversity of our staff.  All applications will be considered only on merit and the applicant's suitability to meet the requirements of the role.

Due to the volume of applications, only those candidates shortlisted for interview will be contacted.

Recruitment agencies should not submit CVs for this vacancy. 

HFW collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants to manage its recruitment process. The firm is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations. For information on how the firm will process your data, please see our Privacy Notice on our website, in the section "What we collect and how we use it".