Locum Lawyer

· To provide timely, solution focussed and effective legal advice and representation to the Council, schools and other clients in following area of specialism:

ONLY INCLUDE THE TEAM SPECIALISMS / DELETE OTHERS
o Child Protection
o Commercial Law
o Property and Regeneration
o Adult Social Care and Litigation
o Planning and Regulatory Law

· To be able to provide legal advice and representation in areas of law of relevance to the Council including information governance and public law challenges to decisions.
· To supervise and develop Legal Officers and Legal Assistants
· To support the supervision and development of Trainee Lawyers.
Directly Responsible For:
· Legal Officers and Legal Assistants
Directly Responsible To:
· Senior Lawyer
Main Areas of Responsibility:
· To have personal responsibility for a caseload of complex and non-complex legal work, and act as a subject expert, with appropriate support and supervision from a Senior Lawyer or Head of Law.
· To carry out own advocacy, when necessary, on own caseload and not to instruct external counsel/legal support except in accordance with agreed procedures.
· To draft legal documents to a high standard.
· To notify all high-risk matters to the Senior Lawyer.
· To pick up casework arising in their respective teams as required including where additional resources are required to meet demand in the service as a whole.
· To provide support to other teams if requested to do so by the Senior Lawyer or Head of Law.
· To work flexibly and collaboratively with their own team and across the wider legal service and with client services, as required.
· To supervise the work of working in the team or on the lawyer's caseload.
· To attend meetings of the council as required to provide legal and governance advice and support.
· To provide legal input into reports for various council meetings or decision-making processes in accordance with Council's standards and processes.
· To proactively maintain and improve client relationships.
· To provide training and awareness to clients and other stakeholders on legal matters proactively or as required.
· To act in accordance with and promote the Nolan Principles in the Council and your work and to escalate concerns when identified.
· To externally commission legal work for the Council where required and on client instructions, ensuring value for money and high-quality advice and representation is received.
· To keep up to date with current and future law and practice affecting the Council.
· To support the Director, Deputy Director, Head of Law and Senior Lawyers in the delivery of projects and programmes in the Legal Service and / or corporately.
· To support the Head of Law and Senior Lawyers with the development of legal procedures and policies.
· To support the Head of Law and Senior Lawyers in the delivery of value for money and income generation in the work of the team.
· To deputise for the Senior Lawyer in their absence or as requested.
· To be flexible with regards to working hours to ensure that service needs and client requirements are met.
· To maximise the use of information technology and systems to provide more effective, efficient and economical legal services.
· This job description is not intended to be either prescriptive or exhaustive, it is issued as a framework to outline the main areas of responsibility at the time of writing. The job holder will carry out such other tasks as may reasonably be required.
Supervision and Management Responsibility:
· Ensuring activities are planned and matters are delegated effectively to legal Officers and legal assistants.
· Ensuring that legal Officers and legal assistants undertake allocated tasks in a timely manner and to a high standard.
Budget and Financial Responsibility:
· Being accountable for managing the council's resources well and complying with statutory requirements. This includes managing time, avoiding unnecessary waste, reuse and recycle resources to reduce personal impact.
· Ensuring that use of external counsel / legal advice is not commissioned unless necessary and in accordance with agreed procedures and on client instructions.
Social Value Responsibility:
· Drive for social value through all activities, ensuring wider social, economic and environmental benefits for the council, residents and communities.
Physical Demands of the Job:
· None
Corporate Responsibility:
· Contribute to the delivery of the Council Plan.
· Delivering and promoting excellent customer service, externally and internally.
· Commitment to customer excellence and learning from feedback in the drive for continuous improvement.
· Making the council a great place to work, living the council's values, actively engaging in regular communications including team meetings, undertaking training as required and being responsible for managing own performance.
· Develop the City Council's commitment to equal opportunities and to promote non-discriminatory practices in all aspects of work undertaken.
· To ensure that all work functions are undertaken in accordance with health and safety legislation, codes of practice and the City Council's health & safety policies.
Competency Framework:
We operate a competency framework, a set of core behaviours which define how we are expected to approach our work, how we perform in certain situations and how we treat each other. Each competency details the standards of behaviours and skills required by all staff and this in turn supports delivery of our aim and our council plans linking them together with our values.
The post holder will be required to demonstrate the ability to perform at the following competency level 2
The competency framework can be found here.
This job description is not intended to be either prescriptive or exhaustive. It is issued as a framework to outline the main areas of responsibility. You will be expected to carry out any other duties that may reasonably be required in line with your main duties and changing priorities of the organisation., · To promote good and ethical governance in line with the Nolan Principles and the Council's statutory duties. (A/I)
· A commitment to implementing the Council's diversity and inclusion policies. (A/I)
· A commitment to gaining a greater understanding of the workings of Local Government Law and Practice. (A/I)

Other
Not Applicable

The person appointed to the role should have expertise in the following areas:

• the relevant housing legislation including but not limited to the Housing Act 1985, the Housing Act 1996, the Homelessness Act 2002, the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, along with both statutory and non-statutory guidance


• local authority housing and homelessness strategies, policy and procedure,


• general advice on housing and homelessness duties,


• general advice to housing services,


• responding to correspondence received under the pre action protocol for judicial review, and dealing with any subsequent issued proceedings,


• homelessness appeals to the County Court,


• complaints and LGSCO referrals
  
  · Qualified solicitor, barrister, FCILEX (in all cases authorised to practice in England & Wales) or equivalent. (A)

· Extensive working knowledge and understanding of the law and procedure relating to the relevant area of specialism. (A/I)
DESIRABLE
· An understanding of public law as it applies to local authorities, including decision making and governance. (A/I)

Experience
ESSENTIAL
· Experience of building and maintaining positive relationships with clients (internal and external) and delivering their needs. (A/I)
· Experience of using case management systems and Office 365 applications effectively. (A/I)
· To provide legal advice in the team's specialism and / or the specialism identified in any recruitment process, including advising and representing the Council in internal and external forums and courts. (A/I)
· To provide risk based and solution focussed advice to clients. (I)
· To work under pressure and with minimal supervision. (A/I)
· To support the delivery and cost effectiveness of legal services through continuous improvement. (I)
· To work collaboratively at all levels and in a non-hierarchical way. (I)
· A skilled communicator to a range of audiences in writing and verbally. (A/I)
DESIRABLE
· Experience of providing high quality legal advice to a local authority or similar organisation. (A/I)
· To have an understanding of working in a political environment. (I)

· To promote and advance diversity and inclusion and challenge inequality in the service and Council. (A/I), The following is desirable:
- Experience in the interaction with adult social care, including experience of adult social care duties under relevant adult social care legislation