Corporate & Commercial
Contracts, structures and governance for businesses that need the paperwork to hold when something goes wrong.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Buying or selling a business, from the term sheet and due diligence through to completion and the restraints that follow.
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Commercial disputes in the NSW, ACT and Federal courts, resolved early where that is possible and run properly where it is not.
Technology and Software
Your product scales digitally. Your contracts have to scale with it.
The track record
Judgments and tribunal outcomes, transactions completed, appointments taken, and the conversations we are part of in Australia and in Germany.
Germany
A German desk for businesses moving between Australia and the German-speaking market.
Singapore
Singapore law where it governs the contract, and the arbitral seat that carries much of the region’s work.
Open position
Legal Administration Assistant, Canberra
Keep the Canberra office running, be the first person a client speaks to, and get your hands on real court work. Reporting to the firm’s Practice Manager, working beside the lawyers whose files you are running, with a written path to the Office Manager role as you take it on.
- Full time, ongoing
- On site in Canberra
- $80,000 to $90,000 plus superannuation
- Written path to Office Manager
- Start as soon as you are available
Legal Administration Assistant, Canberra Full time, on site. $80,000 to $90,000 plus superannuation.
At a glance
The position, in short
Position
Legal Administration Assistant, Canberra office
Progression
To the full Office Manager position. The title, the responsibility and the remuneration move up as you demonstrate the capability for it
Firm
Boettcher Law. Sydney, Canberra, Frankfurt
Location
2/37 Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603. On site
Employment type
Full time, ongoing
Hours
9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, plus reasonable additional hours when the work of the office requires it
Remuneration
$80,000 to $90,000, exclusive of superannuation. Where you sit in the range depends on your experience and on how much of the role you can take on
Superannuation
Payable in addition, at the superannuation guarantee rate
Award
Legal Services Award 2020 (MA000116), legal clerical and administrative stream, Level 5. Classification follows the duties rather than the title, and the duties are the full list below. The Level 5 minimum from 1 July 2026 is $1,291.80 a week, being $33.99 an hour and $67,173.60 a year. Our range sits above it and award conditions still apply
Reports to
Sarah Kelly, Practice Manager
Start date
As soon as the successful applicant is available
Probation
Six months, with a check in every week
Training
Office practice management coursework at the Canberra Institute of Technology, funded by the firm
Applications
Rolling. We interview as applications arrive, so earlier is better
The work
What this job actually is
It is three jobs that most firms split up, which is what makes it worth having on a curriculum vitae.
You are the front of the office
The phone, the mail, the general inbox and the front door. A client ringing this office speaks to you first, and what they think of the firm in the next thirty seconds is largely down to how that call goes. It is not a switchboard job: you take the details, you answer what you can answer, and you get the rest to the right lawyer the same day.
You own the administration of the files
New enquiries become intake records, intake records become open files, and files stay current because you keep them that way. You allocate what comes in, you run the diary including court dates and limitation deadlines, and you finalise the correspondence that goes out.
You do real litigation support
Briefs and bundles assembled, indexed and paginated, and checked page by page before they go anywhere. Documents filed and served, filing deadlines watched, and attendances at the ACT Courts registry. This is the part of the role people are surprised by, and it is the part that turns an administrator into someone a law firm cannot replace.
You use the firm's systems, and you use them properly
The firm invests in its systems and uses AI across the practice. We do not expect you to have used ours before. We do expect you to pick them up, work inside them and not around them, because a system half the office ignores is worse than none. If you are the sort of person who likes getting good at a tool, this is a firm that will keep handing you new ones.
Responsibilities
The full list, so there are no surprises
Straight from the position description. Nothing has been left out to make the role look smaller than it is.
Client contact and intake
- Answer the telephone, take accurate messages, and act as the first point of contact for clients, other firms and the courts
- Open, sort and distribute the daily mail, and manage couriers and deliveries
- Monitor the firm’s general email inbox: answer routine enquiries and refer everything else to the responsible lawyer the same day
- Take initial details from new client enquiries, prepare the intake record, and assemble what is needed to open the file
Matter administration
- Allocate incoming matters and correspondence to the responsible lawyer, and keep a record of what went where
- Maintain matter records in the firm’s practice management and document management systems so the file is complete and current at all times
- Manage the firm’s diary: appointments, court dates, and limitation and procedural deadlines. Coordinate travel where required
- Format, proofread and finalise correspondence and documents, and manage electronic signature workflows
- Keep client and matter information confidential at all times
Legal and litigation support
- Prepare file notes of calls and attendances, and check and finalise them to the standard the file needs
- Work in the firm’s practice management, document management and AI tools as the office’s standard way of working, rather than keeping a parallel system of your own
- Carry out initial research on request, and report what was found and where
- Prepare materials for hearings and conferences: assemble briefs and bundles, index and paginate documents, and check that each bundle is complete
- File and serve court documents, monitor court dates and filing deadlines, and liaise with courts and registries, including filing and retrieving documents at the ACT Courts registry
Office administration
- Maintain office supplies, equipment and meeting rooms, receive visitors, and liaise with building management and suppliers
- Assist with the administrative steps in billing and file closing, including time entry, invoicing and expense processing, in coordination with the accounts team
- Assist the Sydney and Frankfurt teams with administrative tasks as required
Selection criteria
What we are looking for
Work ethic and reliability are the firm’s primary criteria for this role, ahead of qualifications. That is not a figure of speech: it is the order we assess in.
Essential
- A consistent record of attendance, and of finishing work when you said you would
- Available to work full time on site in the Canberra office, 9.00am to 5.00pm, and to work reasonable additional hours when the work of the office requires it
- Previous administrative experience in a law firm or a professional services office
- Accurate written English and a professional telephone manner
- Competence with Microsoft 365, and the confidence to learn new systems quickly
- Discretion in handling confidential client information
- A valid driver’s licence, because the role includes attending the ACT Courts and other registries
- Full working rights in Australia
Desirable
- Experience with Actionstep, iManage, or comparable practice management and document management systems
- Confidence with new software, and an interest in using AI tools well rather than working around them
- Familiarity with court filing and litigation support, including bundle preparation, electronic filing and eLodgment, and court deadlines
- Familiarity with legal billing or time recording
- A certificate level qualification in business administration or legal studies
- An interest in office practice management as a career, and in doing the formal coursework in it
If you meet most of the essential list and not all of it, apply and say which one you do not meet. We would rather read that sentence than not hear from you.
What the firm offers
What you get back
The first six months of this role are structured on purpose, because an administrative hire who is left to work it out alone is being set up to fail.
A written work plan from week one
You are given a written work plan at the start and it is reviewed at every check in. You will know what you are expected to have done and by when, rather than finding out at a review six months later.
A check in every week through probation
Every week with the supervising lawyer, for the whole six months. Probation here is a training period with a schedule attached, not a waiting period.
A pay review at six months, earlier if you earn it
The first pay review is at six months. The firm may bring it forward where performance is exceptional, and has done.
Funded coursework, and the title it leads to
The firm funds the office practice management coursework at the Canberra Institute of Technology for whoever holds this role. This is the Legal Administration Assistant position and the Office Manager role is where it goes: the title, the responsibility and the remuneration move up as you demonstrate you can carry them. That is written into the role rather than being a conversation to have later.
Genuine variety, because the practice is broad
Commercial, property, estates and international matters, and files that cross between Sydney, Canberra and Frankfurt. Nobody here spends their week on one narrow slice of one department’s work.
One reporting line, and it is clear
You report to Sarah Kelly, the firm’s Practice Manager, who holds practice management and human resources across all three offices. You run the Canberra office within that structure and work daily with the Canberra lawyers.
Where you would be
Canberra, and why the role is on site
The office is at 2/37 Canberra Avenue, a few minutes from Manuka and about five from the parliamentary triangle. Parking is straightforward, which is not true of every office in this city.
The role is on site, and that is a real requirement rather than a preference. Somebody has to be in the office during business hours to receive the mail, take the calls, meet whoever walks in and deal with whatever the day produces. A hybrid version of this job would be a different job.
Lake Burley Griffin. The office sits a few minutes south of it.
Canberra’s court precinct. Filing and retrieving documents at the ACT Courts is part of this role.
Three offices, one firm
Sydney, Canberra and Frankfurt. Files cross between them constantly, and you will be asked to help the Sydney and Frankfurt teams with administrative work from time to time.
A boutique commercial firm
Boettcher Law acts for owner managed businesses and mid market companies, many of them international. The Canberra office covers commercial, property, estates and dispute work across the ACT and the surrounding region.
How to apply
One email, and we read it
01
Email admin@boettcherlaw.com.au
Mark it for the attention of Sarah Kelly, Practice Manager. Attach a curriculum vitae and a short covering letter that addresses the essential criteria above. Addressing them one by one is fine and is easier for both of us than a general letter.
02
We interview as applications arrive
The firm wants this position filled as soon as possible and interviews suitable applicants as they come in rather than waiting for a closing date. There is no closing date, which means applying early is worth something.
03
A conversation, not an assessment centre
You meet the people you would work with. No psychometrics, no group exercise, no case study.
04
An answer either way
Every application gets a reply. If it is no, we will tell you why. That costs us ten minutes and it is worth more to you than silence.
If you would rather ask something before you apply, email Sarah Kelly directly at skelly@boettcherlaw.com.au. A question is not a strike against you.
Questions we are asked
Frequently asked
Is the role really on site, five days a week?
Yes. The office needs a person in it during business hours to take the mail, the calls and the walk ins, and that is most of what the first responsibility on the list means. We would rather say so plainly now than discover it is a problem in month two.
What does reasonable additional hours actually mean?
Ordinary hours are 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Litigation produces occasional weeks where a bundle has to be finished or a filing deadline lands awkwardly, and in those weeks the work runs past five. It is not a pattern and it is not unpaid: the position is covered by the Legal Services Award 2020, overtime is an award condition, and the employment contract deals with it.
Do I need experience in a law firm?
Administrative experience in a law firm or another professional services office is on the essential list. Court and litigation experience is on the desirable list, not the essential one, so if you have run the front of a professional office and never touched a court bundle, apply.
Why is a driver's licence essential?
Because the role includes attending the ACT Courts and other registries to file and retrieve documents, and that is not something we can do from the desk.
Where does the pay sit against the award?
The position sits at Level 5 of the legal clerical and administrative stream of the Legal Services Award 2020 (MA000116). The Level 5 minimum from 1 July 2026 is $1,291.80 a week, being $33.99 an hour and $67,173.60 a year. The advertised range of $80,000 to $90,000 sits above that, and the award conditions continue to apply on top of it.
Is the coursework at CIT really paid for?
Yes, for whoever holds this role. It is in the position description as a firm commitment, not as something to negotiate for later, and it is one of the reasons the role is worth taking if office practice management is a career you want rather than a job you are filling.
Why is this a Legal Administration Assistant role rather than an Office Manager role?
Because the title and the pay should agree with each other, and at this range they do. The responsibilities above are the ones the office needs from the start, and the Office Manager title, responsibility and remuneration follow as you take them on. We would rather advertise the entry point honestly and show you the path than put a senior title on a salary that does not match it.
What if I am not sure I am ready for all of it?
Apply anyway and say which parts you have not done. The role is built to be grown into, the first six months are structured for exactly that, and the coursework is funded. Nobody here expects the whole list on day one.
How quickly will I hear back?
Quickly. There is no closing date and no shortlisting committee: applications go to the Practice Manager, who reads them as they arrive.
Talk to us
Sarah Kelly is the person to speak to
Applications go to admin@boettcherlaw.com.au, marked for Sarah Kelly. If you want to ask something before you apply, or you would rather this stayed quiet while you are still in a job, email her directly and say so in the first line.
Sarah Kelly
Practice Manager, Boettcher Law
Practice Manager, Boettcher Law
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