Lawyer – Advocacy

Join us at Coventry City Council and be part of a friendly, supportive and dedicated in-house legal team making a real difference for children and families across our city. Coventry has achieved recognition for significant improvements in statutory timescales and outcomes for children, making this an exciting time to join a team that is delivering real impact for families across the city. The team offers a professional, comprehensive, tailor-made service to address legal issues of every description. The team is highly motivated, eager to develop and face challenges head-on.

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and strive to create an inclusive workplace culture that is accepting of all and free from discrimination and bias.

In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a talented advocate within the Advocacy team. We are looking for an enthusiastic and able lawyer to join our service and to represent the Council as our in-house advocate.

As a qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive, you will require experience to handle Local Authority Children and Adoption cases in all tiers of court. There will also be the opportunity to carry out hearings in the Court of Protection, Education Tribunals, and Inquests, as well as in Adult Matters with relevant support and training.

You must be self-motivated and able to provide a high-quality, client-focused legal service, as well as to work effectively as part of a team and establish good relations with client departments and outside agencies.

All candidates must have the Right to Work in the UK. We are currently not offering sponsorship for this role.

We are looking for a candidate with good knowledge and experience in public law children’s legal work, strong drafting and advocacy skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, client departments, Members, and external partners. You should be customer-focused, with a commitment to service improvement and professional development. You will have an appreciation of, or a willingness to learn, adult work, SEN Tribunal work, and Court of Protection cases.

Good organisational, communication, and IT skills will be required, as well as the ability to work to tight deadlines and give sound, practical advice under pressure. You need to be able to draft legal correspondence and documentation, conduct legal research, and deliver training sessions.

In return, you will join a welcoming and encouraging team, enjoy hybrid working (home and office), an excellent holiday package, and the opportunity to accrue additional leave through flexible working, supporting a work-life balance. We are committed to supporting your professional development, helping you build skills and experience and progress within Legal Services.

For full details on the application process, please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme - As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

For full details on the application process, please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'. If there is any evidence of a candidate using AI to complete their application, then the application will be rejected unless the candidate can provide a justification that the Council considers reasonable.

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies