Bates Wells

Practice Manager – Practice Advisor

Bates Wells

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Hybrid

Location: London • United Kingdom

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About the role

  • **Business management******Supporting the Practice Director with business management across the firm’s largest practice groups, including:
  • - Partners' meetings: helping to prepare agendas and papers; note taking; tracking actions and giving reminders; inviting and briefing guests from other teams; general co‑ordination
  • - Department meetings: helping to prepare agendas; inviting and briefing guests from other teams; general co‑ordination
  • - Allocating legal work: if requested by partners or senior lawyers
  • - Department inductions: delivering to new joiners
  • - Process improvement: working with Practice Support Managers and other Business Teams
  • - Supervision arrangements: co‑ordinating and documenting changes for new joiners, promotees, returners etc., liaising with HR.
  • - Gathering feedback: for annual reviews in collaboration with HR.
  • - Team updates: preparing updates for the department on joiners, leavers, secondments etc.
  • **Secondments**
  • - Managing client secondment requests end‑to‑end, including reverse secondments, liaising with the practice and other Business Teams.
  • **Resource sharing**
  • - Coordinating resource‑sharing requests across practice groups, e.g. during busy periods or absence cover.
  • **Utilisation**
  • - Monitoring utilisation across the practice, identifying trends and concerns to raise with supervisors or Heads of Department.
  • - Identifying reporting errors and working with colleagues to resolve them.
  • - Responding to queries from lawyers and partners about individual or team utilisation.
  • **Intranet**
  • - Maintaining and improving the Practice Management team’s intranet pages.
  • **Projects**
  • - Supporting the Practice Director on projects, including:
  • - Working with the Emerging Talent Manager on paralegal role design and resourcing
  • - Improving management information for the practice
  • - Streamlining communications from Business Teams to the practice

Requirements

  • - You’ll have experience working as a Practice Manager or Practice Advisor, ideally gained within a law firm or professional services environment.
  • - Proactive self‑starter with a can‑do attitude.
  • - Well‑organised with excellent attention to detail.
  • - Comfortable navigating new areas and working fluidly with colleagues across functions.
  • - Able to build effective and trusting relationships quickly at all levels, from partners and directors to early‑career colleagues.
  • - Strong influencing skills, including the confidence to provide constructive challenge where appropriate and the openness to adjust approaches based on feedback.
Benefits
  • **Impact‑Driven Purpose:** We align profit with social purpose to create lasting positive impact for our people, communities and planet.****Committed to the Climate:** Through our Climate & Nature Group, we reduce environmental impact and support a just transition to net zero.****Championing Inclusion:** We foster a diverse and inclusive culture where creativity and innovation thrive.****Flexible and Hybrid Working:** Our hybrid model supports balance, with at least two office days per week.****Progressive Benefits:** We offer sustainable pensions, IVF support, private healthcare and a range of wellbeing and personal‑development benefits.****At Bates Wells, equity, diversity and inclusion are part of who we are and how we work. As a B Corp and purpose‑driven law firm, we’re committed to building a workplace that is fair, inclusive and representative of all.
Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Soft Skills
proactive self-starterwell-organisedattention to detailrelationship buildingstrong influencing skillsconstructive challengeadaptabilitycommunicationteam coordinationfeedback responsiveness