Adams and Adams
Vacancy at a glance
- Employer
- Not provided in listing
- Location
- Not provided in listing
- Pay or stipend
- Not provided in listing
- Closing date
- Not provided in listing
- Employment arrangement
- Secretary
These details come from the listing data. Confirm them on the original advert before applying. An unspecified detail has not been verified and should not be assumed.
Overview
The Secretary role provides high-level administrative and secretarial support to attorneys and professionals within the Trade Mark Prosecution team, ensuring the efficient and compliant management of trademark filings, renewals, and prosecution processes across jurisdictions.
Requirements
- Demonstrates a high level of initiative, proactively identifying tasks, anticipating needs, and taking appropriate action without prompting.
- Strong ability to prioritise tasks and manage competing demands, responding to urgent matters promptly and efficiently.
- Able to work independently with minimal supervision while consistently meeting deadlines in a high-pressure environment.
- Strong administrative and organisational skills, with the ability to manage documentation, processes, and workflows effectively.
- Flexible and adaptable with regard to working hours, particularly in response to operational demands and critical deadlines.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage professionally with clients, colleagues, and external staff.
Responsibilities
- Prepare, format, and file trademark applications (local and international where applicable).
- Manage prosecution workflows including filing new applications, responses to office actions and renewals and recordals.
- Liaise with trademark offices, foreign associates, and clients regarding filings and status updates.
- Assist in preparing documentation for oppositions, hearings, and appeals (administrative support).
- Maintain and monitor critical trademark deadlines using docketing systems.
- Ensure all statutory and client deadlines are accurately recorded and met.
- Proactively follow up on outstanding actions and instructions.
- Draft routine correspondence, emails, and basic legal documents.
- Prepare reports, schedules, and status summaries for clients.
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date electronic and physical filing systems.
- Ensure compliance with firm templates and quality standards.
- Serve as a professional point of contact for internal and external stakeholders.
- Communicate with clients regarding status updates, instructions, and documentation requirements.
- Liaise with foreign counsel and agents on international matters.
- Capture time entries where required.
- Assist with billing processes, including preparing invoices and following up on approvals.
- Monitor disbursements (e.g., filing fees, renewal fees).
- Utilize IP management/docketing systems effectively (e.g., Patricia, CPA, IP Manager).
- Ensure compliance with internal procedures, regulatory requirements, and best practices.
- Maintain confidentiality and data integrity at all times.
How to apply
Application checklist and CV advice
SpanSam application guidance — these tips supplement the original advert; they are not additional employer requirements.
For Adams and Adams, compare your qualifications and experience with each requirement in the original listing. Identify the examples from your work, studies or volunteering that demonstrate your suitability. State your actual responsibilities and achievements clearly; do not add skills or experience you cannot support.
Check the submission instructions
Use the application route shown above and confirm that the vacancy is still open on the original source. Check the closing date, location, reference number and any requested document format before submitting. If a detail is missing here, consult the employer’s advert rather than assuming it is optional.
Prepare the documents requested
Keep your CV contact details current and tailor your profile to this opportunity. Include supporting documents only as requested by the employer. Check whether the employer requires an online profile, a cover letter or answers to screening questions. Complete required fields accurately and review attachments before sending.
Check the opportunity-specific conditions
Consider the practical details of the advertised position as well as its title. Check the stated workplace, schedule and employment arrangement on the employer’s page before deciding whether to apply. If salary or working hours are not advertised, treat them as unconfirmed rather than relying on estimates from similar roles. Where the source provides an enquiries contact, use it to clarify the advert; send applications only to the designated submission destination.
Explain how your experience fits
Read the responsibilities alongside the requirements before editing your CV. For each relevant skill, choose a concrete example that explains what you did, the setting in which you did it and the result. Use dates and qualification names consistently across your CV and application form. If you are applying for an early-career opportunity, relevant projects, practical training and volunteering can help explain your experience, but should be labelled honestly rather than presented as paid employment.
Keep the strongest relevant information easy to find. A short professional profile, clear section headings and readable bullet points help a recruiter locate your education, skills and experience. Avoid copying every phrase from the advert into your CV. Use the employer’s terminology only where it accurately describes your background. Do not include identity documents or private financial information in a public CV unless the verified application process specifically requests them through a suitable channel.
Review before you submit
Open your final attachments to check that the files are readable, the correct versions are included and your contact details are accurate. Where an application portal is used, check for a confirmation screen or email rather than assuming an upload completed successfully. If the advert requests a reference number in an email subject or application form, copy it exactly from the official advert. Submit through the stated route; sharing a CV in a social-media comment is not a substitute for applying.
Keep a record and protect your information
Save a copy of the advert and your submission confirmation. Use Mark as applied to track this opportunity in My Jobs. Verify the destination before sharing personal documents, and investigate requests for payment or sensitive financial information. SpanSam does not decide applications or guarantee interviews.
Prepare your free CVAbout this listing: SpanSam is an opportunity discovery service and is not the hiring employer unless explicitly stated. Application decisions and source-listing changes are controlled by the employer or institution.