Job Description:

The firm

DMH Stallard provides a comprehensive range of commercial, dispute resolution and litigation, employment, cyber security and cyber-crime, corporate, intellectual property, real estate and technology, media and telecoms advice to both businesses and individuals. Our clients, our people and our professional networks are the keys to our success.. With offices in London and across the region, including Brighton, Gatwick, Guildford, Horsham, and Haywards Heath - we’re proud to have grown to around 410 people.

Culture really matters to us. In our most recent staff survey, 99.6% of our people said DMH is a great place to work, with 90% feeling they have a strong work-life balance, and 93.9% expressing confidence in the leadership team.

We’re committed to building a genuinely inclusive and supportive workplace. Our Women in Law group meets quarterly, and we’re actively working toward gender balance at all levels. We already exceed the industry average, with 40% of our partners being women compared to the sector average at 29%.  

We actively invest in learning and development at all career stages. Our mentoring programme is available to all partners, and we are preparing to launch an internal mentoring programme to support progression right up to partnership. We also recognise that work-life balance is essential to long-term success and wellbeing, and we promote hybrid working arrangements to help our people perform at their best inside and outside of work.

We’re also especially proud to achieve gold accreditation from Investors in People, which reflects our strong commitment to people development and leadership.

The department

New business enquiries are increasingly important to DMH Stallard. How we handle them directly affects our conversion rates, our brand and the experience prospective clients have of the firm. Enquiries reach us through different channels: website enquiry forms, emails sent direct to fee earners from the website, and telephone calls.

This is a new graduate role within MBD. You will be the main point of contact for new client enquiries, whether they come in by enquiry form, email or telephone. You will make sure every enquiry is captured, handled quickly and professionally, allocated to the right internal contact and followed through to a recorded outcome. You will also produce the data the firm needs to understand which marketing channels generate profitable work.

Subject to performance, after 12 months the postholder may apply for a paralegal role or another position within the firm. Any such move is subject to there being a suitable vacancy and completing a successful interview process.

Purpose of the role

To make sure every new client enquiry is captured, handled quickly and professionally, allocated to the right internal contact, and tracked through to a known outcome, so that the firm can maximise conversion and measure the success of its marketing activity.

Key responsibilities

Enquiry intake

• Answer and log all new client enquiries received by website enquiry form, email and telephone.
• Monitor and take initial action on all enquiries within 2 hours.
• Capture key details, contact information and the enquiry source code (and URL information where relevant) on every record, in line with the enquiries spreadsheet.
• Monitor the enquiries@ mailbox and make sure non-new business correspondence (for example panel correspondence, HR enquiries, general enquiries and complaints) is passed promptly to the right person.

Triage and allocation

• Identify the legal issue and the relevant practice area for each enquiry.
• Route each enquiry to the correct internal contact in line with the agreed allocation matrix.
• Flag urgent or high-value matters.

Follow-up

• Chase internal contacts so that every enquiry reaches a recorded outcome (for example instructed, declined, referred, lost to competitor or no response).
• Record the reasons for non-conversion.
• Make sure no enquiry is left without a response, unless advised to take no action.

Measurement and reporting

• Maintain the enquiries spreadsheet and ensure data quality, including completing all mandatory fields.
• Report monthly on enquiry volumes, response times for initial handling and conversion rates.
• Analyse enquiries by source code, practice area and internal contact.
• Align management reporting with bi-monthly source code reporting.

Continuous improvement

• Identify trends and recommend improvements to marketing spend and website content.
• Work with practice teams to personalise the website enquiry forms and translate this into actionable web changes that help triage enquiries.
• Work with MBD on improvements to enquiry handling arising from the data.

Working relationships

• Partners and fee earners across all practice areas.
• The MBD team, who will cover web enquiries during absence and lunch breaks.
• Office Services (Switchboard), who will continue to handle all other calls to the main line numbers and will cover telephone enquiries during absence and lunch breaks.
• HR and other support teams, for enquiries received through the enquiries@ mailbox.

Other information

Person specification

Essential

• Law Degree (or equivalent) with an interest in pursuing a legal career
• Excellent telephone manner and clear, professional written communication
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail; able to manage competing deadlines
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams); confident using spreadsheets and with basic data analysis
• Commercial awareness and an understanding of client service 
• Calm under pressure, able to prioritise independently, and approachable and professional when working with colleagues at all levels of the firm

Desirable

• Progress towards or interest in the SQE
• Experience in a client-facing or customer service role
• Experience of working to response-time targets
• Experience of CRM systems or web analytics
• Interest in legal marketing and business development
• Self-starter with a 'can do' approach, eager to learn and take ownership of tasks

Development

The postholder is expected to remain in the role for at least 12 months. Subject to performance, they may then progress towards a legal career, for example a paralegal role, which could then lead to a training contact subject to meeting the firm’s criteria and in line with our policy and procedures.  Any progression to any other position within the firm is not guaranteed.

• Formal reviews against KPIs and competencies.
• Exposure to the firm’s practice areas through triage and regular contact with Partners.
• Clear criteria for progression, communicated at appointment.

Applications for other internal roles, i.e. paralegal roles, made before the postholder has completed 12 months in this role may be considered with the prior agreement of the postholder’s line manager and HR. This job description is not exhaustive and may be amended in line with the needs of the firm. The postholder may be asked to carry out other reasonable duties.

Benefits: 

• 25 days holiday (of which 3.5 are taken during the Christmas period), plus Birthday holiday, plus Bank Holidays.
• Buying Holiday Scheme
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Pay
• Life Assurance
• Private Healthcare
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Sodexo Discounts
• Pension Scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts on Legal work