Court of Protection Solicitor, Legal Executive or experienced Paralegal - Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom - Legal Southwest

Description

This firm has several offices across the Devon area, offering an extensive legal service to businesses and individuals both locally and nationally. They are recognised as the leading law firm for several niche sectors and acting for trade associations puts them at the cutting edge of legal developments affecting those businesses.

On behalf of our client we are seeking to recruit a Court of Protection Solicitor, Legal Executive (FCILEx) or experienced Paralegal to join the firm on a full-time, permanent basis.

You will be acting for attorneys, deputies, and trustees in managing the affairs of your clients. You will be liaising with the Court of Protection and Office of the Public Guardian in relation to the affairs of existing and new clients.

You will have a broad range of clients which will include:

• children and adults, some with highly complex needs, who have been awarded significant compensation;
• older people in care homes or those considering making that move;
• the trustees and beneficiaries of personal injury trusts;
• lay and professional attorneys and deputies.

You will liaise with vulnerable clients to ensure they are involved in the management of their affairs so far as possible and appropriate. This will involve visiting your clients and their families where needed.

You will liaise with family members, care homes, private care providers and case managers, amongst others, to ensure appropriate and affordable support is in place and will be proactive in reviewing and reassessing the assistance needed.

You will take care of your clients' day to day financial needs including arranging the settlement of their bills, helping them with budgeting and working with your clients' financial advisors to take the administrative steps needed to put their financial plans into place. You will use specialised accounting software to track and control your clients' funds.

Skills and Experience required for the role:

• You will have upwards of 2 years' PQE in Court of Protection / Vulnerable Client work, or equivalent experience without qualification.
• You will be able to cover all aspects of Court of Protection and attorneyship work.
• You will be able to handle a caseload with minimal supervision.
• Be able to communicate with clients, and their family, to establish long-term relationships and understand their views and background to assist with "best interest" decisions under the application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and MCA Code when reaching decisions for clients;
• Be able to prepare standard Court of Protection Applications;
• Be able to prepare and advise on Statutory Will Applications;
• Be able to assess capacity to make certain decisions;
• advise on the fiduciary duties of attorneys, deputies, and trustees, Local Authority care home funding and NHS CHC funding and when these should be available.
• experience in a fast-paced environment and be ambitious within the area of Court of Protection;
• strong organisational, time management and interpersonal skills;
• good communication skills;
• an ability to explain complex areas of law in a simple and coherent way;
• a strong attention to detail;
• an enthusiastic interest in the department's business development and ideally hold a STEP qualification, support is available to the successful candidate in the relevant studies to achieve this standard.

Our client believes that their people are our most important asset, and are committed to supporting their teams, cultivating a healthy culture of challenge and expectation with support and care. They invest in their teams and their infrastructure to ensure that they attract and retain talented staff and are committed to giving all colleagues the opportunity to reach their full potential, with a real focus on training and development.

Values: high quality work, healthy growth and happy teams are at the heart of everything they do. Commitment to colleague wellbeing, and colleague benefits.

Please get in touch if you would like more information on this role or send us your CV below in complete confidence and we will get back to you.

Legal Southwest will never, without exception, send out your CV without your prior knowledge or consent so please be assured that we treat every application with the utmost confidentiality.