Commercial Litigation Paralegal – Dispute Resolution

Location: London / Hybrid

Salary: £34,000 - £40,000, flexible depending on experience

My client is seeking an ambitious and capable Commercial Litigation Paralegal to join their established Dispute Resolution team. This role offers an excellent opportunity to gain exposure to a broad range of high-quality commercial and civil disputes, working closely with experienced litigators. The team supports business clients across sectors including property, construction, financial services, and professional services, as well as individuals in commercial and civil disputes. The role will provide hands-on involvement in matters from initial enquiries and pre-action correspondence through to court proceedings, settlement, and enforcement, under solicitor supervision

The successful candidate will be a confident and commercially minded individual with a genuine interest in dispute resolution. They will have excellent attention to detail, strong analytical skills, and the ability to build effective working relationships with colleagues and clients alike. They will take ownership of delegated tasks, keep accurate records, and recognise when to seek guidance or escalate an issue. This role would particularly suit a paralegal seeking to progress their litigation career within a highly regarded commercial law firm and gain hands-on experience across a diverse and challenging caseload.

Essential skills and experience required:

• Have a minimum of 12 months’ recent private practice experience as a commercial or civil litigation paralegal, with substantive exposure to commercial disputes.
• Have experience working within a litigation or dispute resolution team and providing practical support on a varied contentious caseload.
• Demonstrate a solid understanding of civil litigation procedure and commercial dispute resolution, including a working knowledge of the Civil Procedure Rules and relevant pre-action requirements.
• Have experience supporting fee earners on contested matters through various stages of the litigation process, including pre-action work and issued proceedings.
• Possess strong drafting, organisational and client communication skills.
• Be able to manage competing priorities effectively in a fast-paced legal environment, maintain reliable task and deadline records, and escalate urgent issues promptly.
• Be confident using Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook, together with electronic document management and PDF tools, including practical experience using Adobe Acrobat Pro or equivalent software to prepare and manage electronic litigation bundles
• Be comfortable learning and using new legal technology, including firm-approved AI tools, with an understanding of the need to protect client information and independently verify AI-generated content.

Preferred experience, although not essential:

• Breach of contract and misrepresentation disputes.
• Debt recovery and enforcement proceedings.
• Shareholder and partnership disputes, including disputes concerning directors’ duties and company management.
• Professional negligence claims.
• Injunctive relief applications.
• Commercial and business-to-business disputes, including disputes concerning the provision of goods and services.
• Banking, lending, and finance-related disputes.
• Insolvency-related litigation and recovery claims.
• Mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, including settlement negotiations.
• High Court and County Court proceedings.
• Practical experience using Microsoft Copilot or other firm-approved AI tools to support document summarisation, preparation of chronologies and first-draft correspondence would also be advantageous.

Key Responsibilities:

• Assisting solicitors with the management of commercial litigation matters from initial instruction and pre-action correspondence through to proceedings, settlement, and enforcement.
• Preparing first drafts of correspondence, court documents, witness statements, instructions to counsel and briefing notes for solicitor review.
• Preparing indexed, paginated and, where required, searchable electronic bundles for court hearings, mediations, and conferences, using Adobe Acrobat Pro to combine and organise documents, add bookmarks and hyperlinks, apply text recognition (OCR), and check completeness, legibility and pagination against the index and applicable court requirements
• Conducting legal research and reviewing documentation, producing concise research notes, chronologies, case summaries, and evidence schedules, and identifying gaps or inconsistencies for solicitor review, including following up outstanding documents and information with clients and third parties as directed.
• Assisting with document preservation, collection, review, and disclosure exercises, and flagging potential confidentiality and privilege issues to the supervising solicitor.
• Liaising with clients, counsel, experts, courts, opponents and third parties as directed, including coordinating conferences and hearings, arranging the secure delivery of papers, and preparing routine progress updates for solicitor review.
• Assisting with filing and service of documents and maintaining records of court directions, procedural deadlines, and key dates, with prompt escalation of approaching deadlines or potential difficulties.
• Attending client meetings, conferences with counsel and hearings as required, taking accurate attendance notes and tracking follow-up actions.
• Assisting with settlement documentation, including draft agreements, consent orders and Tomlin Orders, and monitoring agreed implementation steps.
• Supporting fee earners with case management, including client onboarding, maintaining orderly electronic files, accurate time recording and assisting with costs information and billing administration.
• Supporting the team’s business development initiatives, including attending networking events, seminars, and client events as appropriate.