Paralegal - Dispute Resolution

Job Title: Paralegal - Dispute Resolution
Starting Salary: £34,433 opportunity to progress to £37,280 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Hours: 37.0
Location: Stevenage/Hybrid
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Resources

About the team

With more than 100 colleagues in the team Herts Legal is one of the largest and most successful legal teams in local government and offers a complete legal service to clients across the County Council, District Councils and other public sector bodies.

Our lawyers, paralegals and support staff are crucial to the County Council's continued success. We have high standards for our services and we are pleased to be recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the Law Society's Lexcel quality standard assessor.

The Dispute Resolution team sits within Herts Legal and provides a litigation service to Herts County Council and shared service clients. Dispute resolution covers all areas of council litigation including employment tribunals, contentious property matters in the first tier (residential) tribunal, housing possession and disrepair for Stevenage Borough Council, prosecutions and all aspects of civil litigation including debt recovery, commercial leases and contract disputes, judicial review, planning and licensing disputes. In addition, the team supports service departments with effective complaints handling and corresponding with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

About the role

Supporting litigation lawyers in all areas of council litigation including civil litigation, debt recovery employment tribunals, prosecutions, housing conditions claims (for shared service partners), contentious commercial lease and contract disputes, judicial review, planning, property and licensing disputes.

Handling a case load of litigation cases in the above areas.

Playing a key role in county council complaints process liaising with local government ombudsman’s office and local government ombudsman complaints.

Liaising with support staff and preparing bundles for court proceedings, you will be asked to draft documents and witness statements and attend the County Court and Magistrates’ Court on applications and provide legal advice.

About you

Essential:

• Law degree, post graduate diploma in law, Level 3 CILEX qualified or equivalent.
• Previous experience of working in a legal environment.
• Previous experience of working in one of the following: civil litigation, debt recovery, housing, employment law.
• Self-reliant and able to carry out tasks with minimal supervision.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Able to work under pressure, to organise and prioritise workloads and comply with court deadlines.

Desirable:

• Completed legal practice course or equivalent.
• Experience one or more of the following: civil litigation, debt recovery, housing, employment tribunal claims.
• Access to own transport to use for travelling to local courts.

If you are a career paralegal or looking to qualify as a solicitor/legal executive or equivalent and have a strong commitment to local government and litigation and dispute resolution more generally this role is for you. You will gain experience in a wide range of key areas of practise and be able to run your own cases as well as supporting the progress of more complex claims.

You will be required to work at a fast pace often to tight court deadlines without compromising quality and attention to detail and, in turn, supporting the County Council’s wider aims of delivering effectively for its residents.

This job role is within the Corporate Services, level CORP9 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles - Corporate services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact,

Email: alexander.mcdowall@hertfordshire.gov.uk Tel: 01992 556920 (56920) | Mob: 07812 322336 for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: to be confirmed

Benefits of working for us

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Additional information

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.