Family Law Legal Secretary Employment Contract UK

Responsibilities reflected in the contract

• Prepare supervised family-law documents.
• Manage hearings appointments and deadlines.
• Communicate sensitively with clients and professionals.
• Maintain secure financial and children records.
• Escalate safety urgency and conflict concerns.

A realistic working scenario

You join a family team and use the matter-management system and document management to prepare court bundles, diarise hearings and instructions, take attendance notes after client meetings, exchange documents by secure email and flag conflicts or unexplained client‑money movements to the practice manager or authorised fee earner.

Outputs to agree

• Prepare court and tribunal bundles, subpoenas and hearing packets
• Draft client letters, attendance notes and settlement communications
• Open and update matters in the matter-management system
• Monitor and diary key dates, limitation and hearing deadlines
• Transmit documents via secure email and manage document version control

Records and evidence

• Client file entries and attendance notes in the case and document records.
• Court and tribunal bundle index, witness statements and hearing lists.
• Conflicts register checks and conflict clearance notes.
• Client-money transaction records and referral notes for unexplained movements.
• Undertakings log and record of who approved or accepted an undertaking.
• Client files.

Reporting relationship

Typically reports to Supervising Solicitor, Practice Manager, Legal Director or Head of Department. Confirm the employer's actual reporting structure in the builder.

Authority and escalation

• Can progress routine client communications, prepare and file court papers, update matter records and diary hearings, and send documents by secure email. Must not authorise payments from client-money, accept or give undertakings without designated approver, resolve a conflict of interest, or close a matter without instruction from a partner or authorised fee earner. Escalate immediately any suspected unauthorised disclosure of privileged papers, unexplained client‑money entries, missed court deadlines, or conflict-check failures to the practice manager or supervising fee earner.
• May allocate routine work and make operational decisions only within documented staffing, financial, contractual and policy limits.

Supervision

• Prepare supervised family-law documents.
• Allocate and review assigned work within delegated authority and escalate formal people matters through the Employer's procedures.

Tools and systems

• Case management systems.
• Document management systems.
• Secure email.
• Legal research tools.
• Deadline or diary systems.

Workplace context

• Legal office, client meeting rooms, court or tribunal locations where required and secure administration spaces.

Contract priorities

• Protect client confidentiality, legal privilege and settlement discussions
• Accurate diary management of hearings, deadlines and limitation periods
• Complete and accurate entries in the matter-management and document systems
• Perform conflicts checks and record outcomes before undertaking new work
• Report suspected client‑money irregularities and obtain approval for undertakings

Information the employer should prepare

• the family case types and lawyer team
• the court filing and hearing process
• the client identity safety and contact controls
• the legal-aid billing and payment duties
• the cover urgency and safeguarding route