Child Care Lawyer - Reading, United Kingdom - Reading Borough Council

Reading Borough Council
Reading Borough Council
Verified Company
Reading, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Tom O´Connor

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Tom O´Connor

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Job description

We are looking for enthusiastic and committed lawyers to join the Joint Legal Team.

You'll be working with colleagues to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable adults, children and young people in Berkshire.


The Joint Legal Team is a long-standing shared legal service for all the Berkshire councils and a recognised centre of excellence for child care law, adults and education law.

We are hosted by Reading Borough Council, working from our modern offices in Reading town centre close to the train station and courts.


The purpose of Legal Services is to provide the Council and its partners with the highest quality professional legal advice and representation which allows them to run their organisations well, and to serve our community.

Our ambition is to be the best place to practice law in local government; being close to our customers, recruiting the best talent, successfully deploying legal technology and ensuring the continued growth of the business to new customers.


We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity and inclusion is the key to our success.

Reading Borough Council is a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to the recruitment and continued employment of people with disabilities.


We are open to flexible working patterns and can provide a hybrid working environment which utilises the best of both worlds with a mix of office working in central Reading and homeworking according to the needs of the Service.


About the role


We are recruiting for qualified solicitors, barristers or FCILEX to join our child care teams in the Joint Legal Team.

Willingness to undertake advocacy at CMHs and IRHs is an advantage.

You will work in a small team of lawyers, supported by paralegals and legal assistants and led by an experienced Principal Lawyer.


You will be supported you in your work and in your professional development to develop your skills by our Professional Support Lawyer and to move to the next level in your career.

We have roles in our in our Child Care Court Teams.

In Child Care Court Teams you will have opportunities to work on a wide range of interesting and complex cases to grow your experience.

Our long-established Adoption and Permanence Team works closely with Adopt Thames Valley to support our clients. We offer advocacy training to our lawyers.


You will report to a Senior Lawyer or a Principal Lawyer who will support you in your work and in your professional development.

We encourage our lawyers to develop their legal skills and to move to the next level in their career.


Our Legal Operations Team will support you in delivering your work as we invest further in our systems and processes and work towards Lexcel accreditation.


Whatever your specialism or previous experience, you will thrive on the challenge of working in a customer focussed environment and in a team which has an ambitious agenda for the future.

You will have opportunities to join in the wider work of the team outside your specialist field in helping us to reach our team objectives.

All of our lawyer roles are open to qualified solicitors, barristers and chartered legal executives.


You'll be part of a team that relies on each individual to play their part to the best of their ability.

As well as the colleagues that you work closely with every day, you'll also be part of Team Reading, playing your personal part in making Reading a successful and vibrant place.


Our vision is to ensure that Reading realises its potential as a great place to live, work and play, and that everyone shares the benefits of this success.

Our values and behaviours guide how we will achieve this:


Work Together as one team - work collaboratively, with each other and with our partners, and demonstrate the Team Reading values in everything we do


Drive Efficiency - show initiative, be adaptable to change and put forward ideas to help improve delivery and efficiency. Take responsibility for our own learning and development and for reaching our potential


Be Ambitious - be demanding of our own performance - striving to be even better - and be prepared to engage with and challenge leaders in a constructive and positive way


Make a Difference to Reading - maintain the highest levels of customer service and be flexible and willing to provide the services needed at the time they are needed


About you

  • A current practising certificate and be entitled to practice in England as a Solicitor, Barrister, or Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executive
  • Experience of providing legal services for a range of local government services
  • An ability to work to tight deadlines and remain calm whilst under pressure
  • Attention to detail and the confidence to work independently as well as in a team
  • Excellent communication, teamwork and relationship building skills.
  • A flexible approach to work and ability to use initiative
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality

Our offer
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