Solicitor (Child care)

We have a permanent full-time vacancy for an experienced child care lawyer with full advocacy and conduct of litigation practice rights.

Working for Leicestershire County Council as a child care lawyer –

• very positive working relationships with client department, the local Courts, CAFCASS and private practice
• professional culture of proactive advice, planned applications and collaboration.
• each lawyer having a nominated paralegal to give lawyers time and space for quality advice/drafting and preparation for court
• high quality supervision and support from management team (two team leaders and an Assistant Head of Law all very experienced in this area of law)
• proper work life/ balance
• flexible hybrid ways of working policies and IT systems supporting effective remote/home working
• job satisfaction – mentoring paralegals and training social workers
• interesting range of legal work including the law relating to Deprivation of Liberty and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children

Also -

• Attractive benefits package including

What’s not to like?! We look forward to receiving your application.

If you have any queries about these roles please ring Clare Bianchina (team leader) on 0116 3051504 or Kate Reeves (team leader) on 0116 3056008. All applications must be made on the EMSS jobsite via the submission of a CV and a supporting statement.

About the Role

As a Solicitor in the Child Care Team, you will provide an efficient and effective legal advisory service to the Children and Family Services Department and other departments when required. To support you to undertake your role, you will have:

• An effective IT system to enable flexible and efficient working away from the office.
• An experienced and highly motivated paralegal to provide dedicated case work support.
• The opportunity to focus on quality written and verbal advice work.
• Space and time to undertake advocacy where appropriate (we encourage advocacy but are not an in-house advocacy team).
• High quality supervision and support from an experienced management team (two Team Leaders and an Assistant Head of Law, all very experienced in this area of law).

In addition to the above, you will also have the opportunity to gain experience in niche areas, such as Deprivation of Liberty, the law relating to Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and Public Law and to contribute to the training of social workers and other professionals.

Team working is very important to us, and we encourage our solicitors to work with colleagues in a positive and supportive way that promotes learning and development. In addition to supervising paralegals and support staff, you will therefore be expected to provide mentoring, advice, and informal supervision to colleagues to enhance learning, where appropriate.

About You

To apply for this post, you must:

• Be qualified as an admitted Solicitor, Barrister or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives.
• Have knowledge of the Children Act 1989, Adoption & Children Act 2002, the Public Law Outline and the Family Procedure Rules 2010.
• Be able to communicate effectively with colleagues, customers, and internal and external stakeholders to persuade and influence appropriate outcomes.
• Be able to assimilate information rapidly and present effective solutions and appropriate advice and guidance in a timely manner.
• Have excellent organisation and prioritisation skills, IT skills, and written communication skills to enable the drafting of legal documents.
• Be able to work accurately under pressure with minimum supervision.
• Be a team player.

In addition, we expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the interview process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Kathryn Reeves or Clare Bianchina

Telephone: 0116 3056008 or O116 3051504

To contact Kathryn via email, please click here or Clare here