Legal Secretary - International Arbitration

Role overview

The Singapore office is seeking an experienced legal secretary to support its litigation and international arbitration work. The position involves comprehensive administrative assistance at partner level, including client file administration, billing and finance coordination, support for client relationships and business development, diary and travel planning, and document preparation. The successful candidate will also provide cover across practice groups during leave, peak workloads, and billing-heavy periods.

In this role, you will work closely with fee earners and partners while being part of a wider secretarial support network, including Legal Support Team Leaders. The ideal person is adaptable, dependable, collaborative, and committed to delivering accurate, timely, high-quality legal support.

Key responsibilities

• Support the partner on active matters and handle other tasks as assigned from time to time.
• Provide day-to-day secretarial and administrative assistance, including diary management, meeting coordination, and appointment scheduling.
• Manage incoming calls by screening, directing, and responding to queries from internal and external contacts, including their assistants.
• Handle incoming mail and email by reviewing messages, scanning documents, and saving them into the document management system.
• Prepare outgoing correspondence, arrange mail dispatch, and ensure items are ready for collection at the correct times.
• Carry out copying, scanning, printing, file maintenance, and bundle preparation.
• Maintain client files in both electronic and paper form, including indexing, trial bundle support, archiving, and coordination with off-site storage for retrievals and collections.
• Keep communication channels professional and open with internal teams and external clients to ensure business needs are met.
• Work collaboratively with lawyers, secretaries, and admin assistants within Singapore and across other regions.
• Organize and prioritize your own workload so assignments are completed within agreed timelines.
• Use Excel for data entry, logging, merging, and report generation as needed.
• Support billing processes, including preparing and reviewing draft bills and related correspondence.
• Assist with financial administration such as disbursement bills, third-party invoices, expense claims, and cheque requisitions.
• Manage e-litigation tasks, including filing court documents, distributing documents from the portal, tracking hearing dates, and performing cause book searches.
• Provide receptionist cover when required.
• Complete other operational tasks, including errands, as needed.

Requirements

• Relevant legal secretarial experience is essential.
• Previous experience as a personal assistant will be considered an advantage.
• A recognized secretarial qualification, supported by strong academic results, is required.
• Fast and accurate typing ability of 60+ words per minute.
• Strong working knowledge of MS Office, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Excellent command of spelling, grammar, and legal terminology.
• Very high attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and set priorities to meet deadlines.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Shows initiative and works proactively.
• Remains composed and professional under pressure.
• Capable of handling confidential information with discretion.
• Flexible, committed, and a positive team-oriented attitude.

Team reporting

In addition to any reporting lines to a partner, all legal support staff report to the Team Leader Legal Support and the Senior Manager Legal Support APAC.

About the firm

Clyde & Co is a global legal business with a large international footprint, bringing together partners, lawyers, legal professionals, and staff across nearly 70 offices and associated offices worldwide. The firm is guided by values centered on working as one, delivering strong client service, embracing difference, and acting decisively. It is also committed to responsible business practices, including diversity and inclusion, community support through pro bono work, volunteering and charitable partnerships, and reducing environmental impact through climate and emissions-reduction commitments.

Equal opportunity commitment

The firm is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from suitably qualified candidates of all backgrounds and identities. Fairness, inclusion, and respect for diversity are core expectations in the workplace.

Privacy and notice

Candidates should review the privacy notice to understand what personal data may be held, how it is used and obtained, their rights, and how to contact the firm regarding data matters. Recruitment agency partners are responsible for ensuring candidates are aware of this notice.

Additional information

This job description reflects the role as it stands at present. The firm may reasonably update the role requirements or duties as business needs change.