Junior Clerk / Office Assistant (Temporary Contract, end 31st December 2026)
Job type: Junior Clerk / Office Assistant (Temporary Contract, end 31st December 2026)
Salary: Starting from c. £32,708 pro rata (London Living Wage)
Location: London
Closing date: 04/09/2026
Contract: Full time (42.5 hours per week), fixed term (end 31 Dec 2026)
The Role: Junior Clerk / Office Assistant
We are recruiting a temporary Junior Clerk / Office Assistant to join our team. The role is busy and varied. You will be providing both legal and administrative support to barristers (preparing legal materials, delivering papers to Court), event logistics support as well as more general office support.
Although this is a fixed term contract role, there may be the opportunity for this role (or similar) to become permanent.
We are open to candidates of all backgrounds. You may not have any experience in the legal sector. Equally, you may already be working in a legal admin role. Either way, you will have great communication skills and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment.
We welcome applications from candidates from backgrounds that have not traditionally been represented in the legal sector.
The Organisation: 39 Essex Chambers
39 Essex Chambers is a leading civil law barristers’ chambers with offices in London, Singapore, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. Chambers is made up almost 200 barristers (including 62 King’s Counsel), along with a staff team of 53.
We work in a wide range of sectors and practice areas of law, specialising in Civil Liability, Planning, Environment and Property, Commercial and Construction and Public law, throughout the UK and internationally.
In all of our work we aim to provide an excellent, efficient service to all of our clients, giving sound practical advice and explaining legal issues in clear terms. We are friendly, approachable and work as a team with our clients and their other professional advisers. Our members and staff are committed to equality and fairness in all aspects of their work.
Our values
- Excellence: We aim for nothing less than excellence in the service that we offer our clients. We promote and support the success of every individual, no matter what their role.
- Inclusivity: We are friendly, welcoming and open in our communication. We celebrate difference and expect everyone to have a voice and to be heard.
- Innovation: We encourage creativity and new ideas. We welcome change and are not afraid to do things differently.
Our culture is open, friendly, supportive and caring. Our staff have the opportunity to develop and grow on their own path. We foster and support ongoing learning and development, with many of our staff studying alongside working with us. We trust our staff team with responsibility and are open to everyone’s ideas about their own futures and how to take the business forward. While we work hard, we believe in a healthy work / life balance, and we try hard to make sure that work is enjoyable and rewarding. We want to understand the needs of everyone on our team so that they feel well supported. We have recently been awarded the Investors in People Silver Awards accreditation. This globally recognised accreditation acknowledges the quality of our leadership and how well our people are supported and managed in the workplace.
Person Specification
The Candidate
We are looking for a candidate who has the following:
- Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) and good numeracy skills.
- Ability to multitask and operate within a fast-paced and demanding environment.
- A confident and positive attitude.
- Ability to work on own initiative as well as part of a team.
- Physical stamina, and able to handle heavy daily deliveries and court runs of bundles.
- Highly organised with attention to detail.
- IT literate.
- 3 A-levels or degree in any discipline.
Some of the above may be demonstrated through extra-curricular activities or voluntary work rather than formal employment.
Please see full personal specification for the role here.
Contract Terms And Benefits
What we can offer you:
- A full time (42.5 hours per week) and temporary contract, end 31st December 2026
- £32,708 pro rata (London Living Wage)
- 23 days’ holiday pro rata plus Bank holidays. You will also have access to our employee assistance programme, 1 day religious holiday and 1 day annual slow travel leave.
- Our office is well situated. We are close to tube and overground stations, as well as Lincoln’s Inn Fields (the largest public square in London).
Please see the full benefits in the job specification here.
Applications
How to Apply
Please send your CV, along with the Equality & Diversity monitoring form, to recruitment@39essex.com. Please ensure that you put ‘Temp Junior Clerk / Office Assistant Application’ in the email subject heading.
If you have any questions about the role or the application process please contact recruitment@39essex.com.
Please see our website for general information about our recruitment, including more information about who we are.
We will make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled candidates to demonstrate their suitability for the position. Please contact us at recruitment@39essex.com.
The interview date is Wednesday 9th September (In-person, please keep free), and the closing date for applications is Friday 4th September at 12:00 noon. Applications received after this time will not be considered.
Please note:
- We may not be able to respond to every candidate individually. You will, however, receive an automatic reply to your email acknowledging receipt of your application.
- We will only consider applications from individuals who are eligible to work in the United Kingdom.
39 Essex Chambers is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We encourage and welcome applications from people of the global majority, those with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, women and candidates from groups which are under-represented in the legal sector.
