Job Introduction
We are a modern and progressive authority that is ambitious and empowers its employees to be courageous and innovative in their approach.
Staffordshire Legal Services is a large in-house corporate legal team, consisting of lawyers, trainees and support staff, with a key focus on staff training, retention and progression. The services supports the county council in the delivery of its objectives by providing quality services to support the Council’s functions.
We are looking to recruit a Legal Officer to work within our Contracts team. This is ideal if you have some contracts experience.
- Permanent opportunities to join our friendly and supportive Contracts legal services team with:
- Great benefits including flexible working arrangements , generous holiday entitlement, annual leave purchase scheme, local government pension scheme
- Forward-thinking team with lots of experience to share
- Excellent reputation
You must be an Associate Member of CILEX (i.e. you must have completed the CILEX Level 3 Professional Diploma in Law and Practice), or be a graduate with a Qualifying Law Degree (as determined by CILEX). There is no requirement for you to be either a Graduate Member or a Fellow of CILEX although this is desirable. The post holder must also have a minimum of 2 years’ experience in a relevant legal environment.
There are a number of benefits to working at Staffordshire County Council including generous holiday entitlement, flexi time, annual leave purchase scheme, employee discounts, local government pension scheme, optional car lease scheme and a staff parking discount scheme.
We understand the importance of a work-life balance and currently offer remote working with attendance at our Stafford office on flexible patterns and in accordance with business need.
Main Responsibility
- Support Contracts colleagues by delivering a service to internal and potentially external clients by:
- Managing a full caseload.
- Supporting Contracts colleagues in relation to their cases by undertaking various legal or case-related tasks
- Specific tasks may include but are not limited to:
- Undertaking legal research
- Providing advice to clients
- Preparing other contracts documents and letters
- Preparing and maintaining “management information” in relation to the work undertaken
- Adherence to the Legal Services Unit’s quality standards (Lexcel) including time-recording and contributing to the process of securing re-accreditation as and when.
- To undertake in-service training as required by the training plan and to participate in the in-service training of other staff.
- To comply with employee’s health and safety responsibilities.
- Such other duties as may reasonably be required.
You will undertake reasonably complex legal case work relevant to length of experience / job requirements and the workload must be clearly and consistently in excess of the general level of complexity dealt with at Lawyer 1. You will also be expected to assist other more senior lawyer grades with appropriate levels of work.
There is no minimum requirement for additional post qualification experience over and above that entailed in obtaining the requisite legal qualification for the post. You must however have a reasonable understanding of County Council procedures. In the absence of exceptional circumstances, the post does not entail any formal supervision responsibilities in respect of other team members and you will therefore not be responsible for carrying out any workload reviews, or MPCs, or return to work interviews. However, you will be expected to (firstly) pass on some work elements of your own case files to other fee earners where this can be achieved with minimum support and assistance and (secondly) participate in the training and guidance of other more junior staff in the same team.
The Ideal Candidate
Applications are invited from an enthusiastic, innovative, suitably qualified individual for an opportunity that has arisen for a Legal Officer to join our busy, experienced and friendly Contracts Team.
The ideal candidate will be an excellent communicator and able to prioritise a varied workload. Self-motivated with excellent organisational skills and an eye for detail will also be important.
You will be expected to conduct and manage your own caseload with appropriate supervision. You must be able to communicate effectively with members, senior officers and clients.
For more information about this role please contact: Tracy Giles, Team Senior Solicitor, on 01785 276113 or Imran Razaq, on 01785 854186.
About Staffordshire County Council
We are no ordinary county council:
Our Values:
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.
Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.
We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.
Our benefits:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to a range of benefits.
Our recruitment process:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities
As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Silver Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
