Solicitor

Job Title: Solicitor
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time / Part time or Job Share - Flexible / Hybrid working.
Responsible To: Senior Solicitor / Board of Trustees
Starting Salary: £33,000-£37,000 (FTE)                        
Location: Llandudno Junction, with some area travel.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters we have secured funding for a new Law Centre in North Wales.

About the Role:

We require passionate solicitors with a strong commitment to social justice to lead our housing and family casework. As well as providing specialist legal advice on housing and / or domestic abuse matters, this is a rare opportunity to significantly influence the design and delivery of an innovative new service. Our solicitors will form part of a small, dedicated team working together to launch, establish and run the Centre. Law and social policy in Wales exists within a unique context, with an agenda of progressive and
innovative legislation such as the landmark Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (extending the right to vote to 16 and 17 year olds). Our Law Centre will defend the rights of people who can’t afford a solicitor within this dynamic legislative landscape. If you relish the opportunity to use your legal skills and your wider professional experience to make real, tangible and lasting change, we’d love to hear from you.

About Us:

Working with us you can expect flexibility, autonomy, and a highly collaborative culture built on trust. We value the unique perspectives individuals bring with their own combination of professional and life experience, and give staff the space and the support to do their best work. You will enjoy an informal and dynamic work environment, investment in your professional development and expert supervision from senior practitioners. We're excited to build a passionate, dedicated team, with the tools and resources to use the law as a lever to create change.

In addition you can expect 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata), extra leave between Christmas and New Year, generous additional leave policies, a company pension scheme and employee assistance programme.

About You:

Communities in North Wales need more social welfare lawyers. To achieve this we are committed to developing and rewarding talent. We will consider a broad range of applications from practitioners with experience of civil litigation, including people with varied previous experience, career changers, job sharers and those looking to move into new areas of law.

Job Purpose:

To give specialist legal advice and assistance to those with housing and / or domestic abuse issues. To help us establish and grow our service to meet the needs of people living across the North Wales region.  

Duties:

1. To give appropriate, specialist advice and assistance on housing matters, managing your own caseload and making applications for public funding as required.
2. To ensure that all casework, advice, assistance and representation complies with the requirements of the organisations’ accreditation and where publicly funded complies with the requirements of the Legal Aid Agency.
3. To support clients at the county court as required.
4. To liaise with landlord’s and other parties’ representatives, solicitors, other agencies and groups as required.
5. To maintain quality of casework, comply with case management systems, administrative & billing procedures, and reporting / standards as required by funders and the Law Centre. 
6. Work in partnership with our wider team and external partners to provide seamless specialist advice across different areas of law.
7. To collate evidence and work in partnership with other advice providers locally and regionally to influence the development of policy and legislation in relation to housing and domestic abuse.
8. To undertake outreach work, including liaising with local communities, delivering talks and presentations to groups, and visiting centres as appropriate. Work from various locations as reasonably required.
9. To inform and participate in our public legal education work, to promote the Law Centre and a rights-respecting culture in North Wales.
10. To deliver training sessions in connection with own field of work to other agencies.
11. To prepare reports on own work for the information of the Trustee Board, funders and other stakeholders, as required.
12. Actively contribute to internal meetings, including cascading learning.
13. To attend appropriate training courses and maintain readership of relevant publications in order to maintain and develop professional expertise.
14. Supporting own and team’s wellbeing and encourage a positive working environment.
15. To travel to other locations for the purposes of giving advice, advocacy or for training. 
16. To carry out a share of administrative tasks including those detailed in the Law Centre`s Quality Manual.
17. To carry out such other duties as may be required. 
18. To ensure compliance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority requirements.
19. (If suitably experienced) to undertake supervision and line management of other members of the legal team.

Person Specification

Essential

• Experience of complex casework, advising and supporting clients through the legal system.
• Ability to manage a busy caseload, working under pressure and meeting deadlines.
• Good organisational, prioritising and time management skills.
• Excellent listening, verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with the organisation’s client group.
• Experience of team and multi-agency working. 
• Commitment to sharing learning, skills and knowledge.
• An understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and its relevance to legal advice.
• Strong commitment to challenging inequality, promoting social justice, and to Law Centre’s mission
• Excellent IT skills.

Desirable

• Experience of civil litigation, representing clients in the county court.
• Experience of working with communities/individuals who are marginalised, affected by discrimination and/or of working with agencies in the voluntary or statutory sector in a relevant field of work.
• Sound understanding of the SRA Professional Conduct Rules, SQM standards and Solicitor’s Accounts Rules and ability to apply them as necessary.
• Experience of legal aid (including certificated) work, and an understanding of optimising legal aid income.
• Experience of providing advocacy (e.g. on a duty possession scheme).
• Proven experience of billing procedures, meeting financial targets and time recording requirements using case management systems.
• Experience of working with IT systems including CCMS, SharePoint and paperless working. 
• An understanding of partnership working. 
• Experience of working on grant funded projects.
• Experience of line management.
• Ability to speak Welsh.

To Apply:

Please structure the covering letter so that you provide answers to the following questions:

1. Please describe how your skills, qualities and experiences meet the requirements set out in the Job Description. Where possible, provide examples (which could be from a professional, voluntary or personal context) which demonstrate those skills, qualities and experiences. [500 words max.]

2. Tell us how you have used, or how you would like to use, the law and /or community participation to bring about positive change in your community. Where possible please relate your answer to previous experience, which could be in paid or voluntary work, or research you have conducted. [250 words max.] 

We look forward to hearing from you.