Working at Owen Reed

Owen Reed was established in 2001. We are a leading legal recruitment consultancy, based in the City of London, and are dedicated to providing service of the highest quality. We specialise in the recruitment of Legal Secretaries and Legal Personal Assistants into temporary, permanent and contract roles. We also provide a myriad of other legal support staff to leading City law firms, including paralegals, administrative assistants and receptionists.

Our Founding Director, Anna Wallbank, has specialised in legal recruitment since 1995. Having identified a gap in the market, Anna brought together some of the best legal secretaries in London, and quickly began delivering solutions for her clients. Bringing the needs of Legal Secretaries and Business Support together with the needs of Law Firms is at the heart of what we do. Most of our consultants have worked as Legal Secretarial and Professional Support personnel in some of the largest Magic and Silver Circle law firms in London. This means that they have the unique insight and understanding of what it is that Legal Secretaries and Professional Support look for in a placement or workplace.

As an agency, we are unique. This is due to our values.

We value honesty and integrity:

Owen Reed aims to work openly with our candidates throughout the entire recruitment process. We pride ourselves upon applying consistency, thought, and rigour to the search and selection process, in order to ensure that candidates are considered for appropriate and attainable positions.

We value partnership:

Our business is developed around the concept of partnership and confidentiality. Our relationships with our candidates reflect this ideal, and we hope to build a strong relationship with you throughout your search for a new role.

Our Market Position and Knowledge:

We are one of the leaders in our field. We work to maintain our awareness of changes in the legal market, and aim to use this knowledge of structural changes to help to place our candidates.

By remaining small and personal, Owen Reed stays committed to the highest levels of service and delivery to our candidates. To us, you will stay a valued candidate and will never become just another name on a list.

At Owen Reed, all candidates are interviewed equally, fairly, based upon their skill-set, experience, and interest in particular roles. The interview invitation is initially based upon a candidate’s experience. This is then followed by skills assessments, including typing and IT. We would then conduct a face-to-face interview with a trained consultant, who appreciates the reasons behind diversity.

During the last 15 years, we’ve helped thousands of law professionals build their careers.

Our focus on Secretarial and Business Support recruitment means that we have the market knowledge and skill-set to assist talented Secretarial and Business Support personnel in furthering their careers.

Bringing the needs of Secretaries and Business Support staff together with the needs of law firms is at the heart of what we do.

All of our recruitment consultants have worked as Secretarial and Professional Support personnel in some of the largest Magic Circle and Silver Circle law firms in London.

This means that we have the unique insight and understanding of what it is that Secretaries and Professional Support staff look for in new roles.

Over the years, we’ve helped to build established connections and networks within the Magic Circle and Silver Circle firms, as well as the UK’s wider top 200 and US law firms.

In addition, our reputation for sourcing high-calibre personnel has attracted assignments from within HR functions, including finance, insurance, and professional services.

Owen Reed is proud to be a member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the regulatory body for the UK recruitment industry.

The REC’s Code of Professional Practice can be viewed by clicking here.

Having specialised in law sector recruitment for more than 15 years, our name is both respected and trusted amongst Human Resources professionals.

Whilst Owen Reed specialises in providing secretarial and business support staff to law firms in London, we’re also experienced in filling such vacancies throughout the UK.

When combined with our global reach, our national network enables us to place Secretarial and Business Support professionals into their ideal roles, in their preferred geographical locations.