Employment Specialist Solicitor - Legal Services

Job Description

What's involved with this role: Interim Employment Specialist Solicitor - Legal Services Reference no: Merton Pay Rate: up to £40.16 per hour PAYE DOE35 Monday - Friday, normal working hoursThis opening assignment is for 5 monthsCity: MORDEN, LONDONKey responsibilities:

Provide timely and effective specialist legal advice to elected members, including committees and to Directors, senior managers and officers across both authorities as part of a team of lawyers, and to any other clients of the Shared Legal Service.
Be responsible for providing innovative solutions to deal with complex issues arising in connection with the work within the team and the legal issues presented by clients.
Manage a large caseload of wide-ranging work within two of the above specialisms , including but not limited to; drafting legal letters, legal agreements, deeds, notices, orders, consents byelaws as well as negotiating agreements, settlements and such matters, managing competing demands and meeting deadlines and the requirements of the Shared Legal Service.
Where relevant, to prepare and process all matters relevant to any proceedings before a court, arbitration, mediation or public inquiry and to attend such as the client's advocate or, if appropriate, select and instruct appropriate external legal representation.
Work proactively to maintain and improve the relationship with the clients of the Shared Legal Service.
Supervise, and be responsible for the work of, junior staff as required and to provide management and leadership to the staff working on their cases.
Undertake duties on behalf of the Monitoring Officer for all five authorities.
Keep clients informed of new legislation and case law relevant to their operations, including training seminars where appropriate and to ensure that they maintain a sound application of legal requirements.
Advise upon, draft and approve committee reports in respect of cases and legal issues.
Attend as the sole representative in order to advise and provide legal services to elected members at council Cabinets, Committees and Panels as are required.

Key requirements:

Qualified solicitor or chartered legal executive or equivalent legal experience with a background in local government
Good knowledge of relevant legislation to the service area and the decision-making processes and procedures
Good understanding of current issues and best practice on service delivery relevant to the service areas
Good communication skills, both orally and in writing and good numeracy and analytical skills
Ability to provide visible support and leadership which empowers, enables and develops staff to achieve results
Ability to work under pressure and respond efficiently to the changing needs of the clients
Ability to be able to travel to attend client officers or courts wherever the client's case is being considered

Please quote the Job Title & Vacancy Reference No. in your application, or we will be unable to match your CV to the role being applied for.Clients are generally looking for candidates who are local to, orwho can commute easily to the place of work. It will help your application if your CV states, in broad terms, where you reside - there is no need for a full address.Please feel free to apply to us directly via by quoting the job reference and exact job title.If you are successful in securing this role, please note that for the entire duration of this contract, regardless of extension, you will be working at the PAYE rate that has been advertised. For absolute clarity, we only work on a PAYE basis, rather than umbrella pay terms. We do not offer Ltd/umbrella or outside IR35 rates. If you wish to understand PAYE vs Umbrella more, please let us know and we can send you some additional information for clarity.Due to the number of CVs being sent to us under current market conditions, unfortunately we cannot respond to all applications. If you have not heard from us within 3 working days please assume that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. We will, however, be very happy to receive future applications from you for other roles.Please note that clients invariably ask us to strip out contact details from CVs before we submit them for consideration. This is always quicker and easier to do if you send your CV to us in Word format, rather than as a PDF please