Alia Choudhury showcases a day in the life of a legal assistant

Legal Assistant Alia Choudhury describes their average day working on Keller Lenkner UK’s group action vehicle emissions claims, in Simply Law.

Alia’s article was published in Simply Law, 7 February 2022, and can be found here, and syndicated in ILSPA’s Legal Secretary Journal, 1 March 2022, and can be found here.

I am a legal assistant working at a multi-claimant legal US firm specialising in commercial, employment and consumer class action litigation. Prior to this role, I had studied my LLB at Liverpool John Moores University where I had graduated this summer with a 2.1.

After graduating from University, I continued working weekends in my part-time job as a retail assistant across two national museum gift stores, whilst also interning at Liverpool City Council on weekdays as a Legal Intern under the City Solicitor.

In September I got my first full time legal job at Keller Lenkner UK working on the class-action Vehicle Emissions Claims. My standard working hours are from 9:30 am to 6 pm. The firm allows for flexible working, so some days I work from the office and other days I work from home.

8:45 am – I leave my house and begin my commute by bus to the office which is in the city centre.

9:15 am – One of the perks about going into the office is that there is a free hot drinks machine – no one can say no to a nice cup of hot chocolate! I grab my drink and set up my laptop for the monitors at the office. Having multiple screens really helps with my tasks so I don’t have to keep switching between windows or tabs. During this time, I also catch up with my emails and Team messages.

9:30 am – Every morning I attend a daily AM meeting with other members of the Client Service Team. These calls last around 30 minutes where important announcements are made and case handlers from each team discuss the agenda for the day.

10 am to 1 pm – I check the team rota to see which task I have been assigned for the day and begin working on a set task for the first half of the day until task rotation at lunchtime. My tasks fluctuate daily but tend to be the same week-on-week depending on claim deadlines. As I work on group litigation cases, I work with large volumes of data in my day-to-day job. One example of a task I work on is escalating clients who may need a claim transfer due to a name mismatch found on their claim portal.

When communicating with clients, I alternate between phoning clients or emailing them – this may be regarding their supporting documents for their claim or to answer any queries and provide information concerning their claims.

1 pm – Occasionally, I will attend Network meetings around lunchtime which means I will have a later break. I am a member of the BAME Network at my company, so I attend weekly Committee meetings to discuss ways to highlight and encourage diversity within the workplace. In October I took part in helping to organise a firm-wide event for Black History Month which was a huge success.

As I used to be the first BAME Office at my University’s Law Society Committee, I try to use my experience to work collaboratively to identify and resolve issues faced by BAME counterparts in the workplace.

I have recently set up a Women’s Network myself, which is to provide a safe space for women from all backgrounds within Keller Lenkner. A crucial part of my role is to balance extracurricular tasks such as these meetings throughout the week, whilst ensuring my daily responsibilities are fulfilled. Whilst there is a lot of responsibility (such as leading and partaking in Networks and meeting claim form deadlines), there is constant intellectual stimulation from learning every day!

1:30 pm to 2 pm – By this time I have usually taken my lunch break if I have no extracurricular meetings. Another perk about working in the city centre is that there are so many independent cafes nearby so there is always something new to try at lunch!

2 pm – After my 30-minute break I will begin my afternoon task which I have been assigned to on the rota. Sometimes we are allocated as a ‘float’ – this is where we assist one another on tasks that require more support or is closer to the deadline.

One example of a task may be phones, where I may take inbound or make outbound calls. This requires great customer service skills – something which I have practised from my last few retail jobs – managing and answering client queries.

Mini break: my workplace encourages us to always take frequent breaks throughout the day – whether we grab a quick hot drink or just take a walk to stretch our legs, as long as we give our eyes a quick rest. I try to fulfil my daily prayers during these small breaks and use one of the vacant meeting rooms.

4:30 pm – Every afternoon I attend a daily PM meeting. During these calls an itinerary is followed, members from each team will announce their goals and achievements for the day or week. It is a nice way to catch up with others from the London office who we may not see or speak to as often due to working on different case groups.

5 pm to 6 pm – I carry on working on my afternoon task until the end of the working day. I will update my daily report and weekly timesheet, which I will email to my manager before leaving the office at 6 pm.