Solicitor Childcare - Worcester, United Kingdom - Novax Recruitment

Novax Recruitment

Verified Company

Worcester, United Kingdom

3 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Solicitor (childcare)
Worcester
Full-time temporary contract
£38 per hour

Main purpose of role:
To assist in the provision of an effective and efficient legal service to and for the County Council.

Key Duties:

To handle legal matters (as allocated from time to time) and take case responsibility in relation to the Council's functions, primarily Children's Services/Worcestershire Childrens First (WCF) work with the main emphasis on childcare matters and secondarilyeducation work as required.
To appear as advocate for the Council in any forum and to prosecute, pursue or defend any case or matter on behalf of the Council. To comply with internal procedures for undertaking contested advocacy.
To research legal questions arising from the work of the Council or its components or associated public bodies.
To participate in the provision of a comprehensive legal advice service to the Council, its component Member Bodies, its officers and such other public bodies as required.
To assist those Officers in Member and Administrative Services who are responsible for administrative work arising from meetings of the Council or its components.
To participate, as required, in Service Improvement, Benchmarking and Best Value processes.
To participate, as required, in the provision of a legal and parliamentary update and information service.
To represent the Assistant Director(Law & Governance) at meetings of Panels, Member Bodies, Working Parties, Briefings and Officer Groups, as required.
To take all reasonable steps to ensure appropriate confidentiality.
To attend meetings and courts both inside the County and beyond both physically and/or remotely.
To bring to the attention of the Head of ACE and Principal Solicitor (PS) or other managers within the Division as appropriate, any matters of which the Monitoring Officer should be aware.
To participate in the implementation, development and maintenance of Practice Management, office procedures, case management systems (Iken), standards and policies, as required.
To record promptly on Iken case management system all relevant case specific documentation and time worked, in accordance with the Division's time recording system, when in operation.
To assist in the training of trainee solicitors.

Requirements:

It is essential that the postholder is:

A Solicitor or Barrister entitled to practise within England and Wales

It is desirable that the postholder has:

An upper 2nd Law Degree

EXPERIENCE/KNOWLEDGE:

It is essential that the postholder has:

Experience in childcare law or family law
Relevant advocacy experience, preferably on a contested basis

It is desirable that the postholder has:

Significant experience of childcare work
Significant experience of local government law

- demonstrable experience of childcare law or family law

SKILLS/ABILITIES:

It is essential that the postholder has:

A proven ability in and aptitude for advocacy, particularly childcare work
Excellent analytical skills, and can demonstrate sound and balanced judgement with good attention to detail and nuance
An ability to work effectively as part of a team and in particular liaising closely and routinely with any jobshare and with your legal assistant and clerk.
A high level of articulacy and communication skills, both verbal and written, with speech and written work concise, fluent and articulate
Can deal with conflicting tasks and responsibilities concurrently, plan ahead and prioritise, and make best use of time and resources
Can work calmly and effectively under pressure and to tight deadlines
Take a pragmatic approach and be innovative, where appropriate
A proven ability to use a case management system to record accurate case specific and other key information promptly
Is able to display foresight, make realistic suggestions based on the evidence available and is prepared to take responsibility for decisions.