Senior Solicitor
This job is closed and is displayed for reference only.
Reference:0473
Salary:Starting salary is £56,860 within a pay band up to £65,900
Working pattern:Full time, Fixed Term
Location:Edinburgh
Closing date:21 August 2024 at midnight
We are seeking to recruit a Senior Solicitor (Grade 7) for the Civil Legal Assistance Office (CLAO) in Edinburgh for a fixed term of 18 months. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced litigator to help shape how we deliver impactful legal services and promote access to justice within the civil areas that we serve.
Starting salary is £56,860 within a pay band up to £65,000 (pro rata if part time).
About us
CLAO is a network of publicly funded court solicitors and support staff employed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). We help people with civil law problems by providing holistic advice and representation to legally aided clients within core areas. In addition, we deliver a referral service to other providers of legal assistance and second tier support (including training) to advise organisations. Our work involves developing project work with local and national organisations, operating within the geographical areas we cover.
Client Legal Services (CLS) is Scotland’s largest multi-disciplinary legal aid practice with a network of publicly funded solicitors and support staff employed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). CLS comprises CLAO and the Public Defence Solicitor’s Office (PDSO) and Solicitor Contact Line (SCL), to deliver high quality criminal and civil advice, assistance and representation services that improve outcomes for our clients and service users,
Further information about CLAO can be found at www.clao.org.uk. If you wish to learn more about the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) and our other client legal services, please visit www.slab.org.uk.
Why work for us
We are an ethical organisation, carrying out rewarding work that can have a considerable impact on clients’ lives. We seek high calibre people and in return, we set out to provide good training and development with rewarding working conditions. We aim to be an ‘employer of choice’. Should you come to work with us, you’ll discover that no matter what your job or level of responsibilities, you are treated as an individual, with fairness, dignity and respect. Our reward package includes:
· a competitive salary with potential for pay progression
· a generous holiday entitlement of 35 days per year (inclusive of public and privilege holidays) increasing to 42 days after five years of continuous service
· a defined benefit pension scheme with 6% employee contribution
· flexible and hybrid working arrangements
· comprehensive access to learning and development opportunities, and wellbeing support
· job security in a stable environment
· supportive and positive work culture
· a cycle to work scheme.
About the Job
Assist the Head of Office and be part of a team delivering high quality specialist advice and representation to legally aided clients in predominately housing (evictions, disrepair, mortgage repossession, homelessness), benefits and debt matters.
The Edinburgh team is involved in high impact work that tackles homelessness and inequalities. Therefore, in addition to managing your own complex and varied caseload, appearing at court/tribunals and instructing counsel in Court of Session cases, you will have the opportunity to be involved in CLAO’s strategic project work including our innovative homeless helpline which provides direct legal advice to people rough sleeping.
You will also work closely with external advice and support providers to help triage and refer certain cases, where appropriate, to our duty solicitor service as required, and provide second tier advice and training on our core areas of casework, exploring opportunities for strategic partnership working to maximise our service impact.
The successful candidate should have significant civil court experience, ideally within our core work areas, and be passionate about using their legal skills to improve the lives of as many people as possible. Comprehensive training will be provided to support you with this important work as required.
The work of this role will be based in Edinburgh, and you will generally be required to work from the Edinburgh office a minimum of two days a week, subject to business needs. From time to time, you may also need to travel to geographic locations covered by other CLAO and PDSO offices.
This post is on a full time basis for 18 months with the possibility of an extension or a permanent post becoming available, depending on our business planning.
If you are applying on a part time basis (less than 35 hours per week), please give details of the number of hours and pattern of part time work you would be interested in. Further details are supplied in our ‘General Information for Applicants’ document.
We are an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to being fair, inclusive and a place where all belong.
We welcome and encourage applications from diverse backgrounds, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people, and LGBTQI+ people.
We will ensure that disclosure of disability status will not negatively impact anyone’s application. We are committed to guaranteeing an interview to every applicant who indicates they have a disability, in terms of the Equality Act 2010, that meets the minimum criteria for the role.
For more details about this role and a full list of essential criteria and required competencies, please see the ‘Additional Information’ section on the vacancy page of our recruitment portal.
Completed applications should be returned by Wednesday, 21 August 2024 (midnight) via SLAB’s recruitment portal. The interviews will be organised in the week commencing 26 August 2024.
Starting salary is £56,860 within a pay band up to £65,000 (pro rata if part time).
About us
CLAO is a network of publicly funded court solicitors and support staff employed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). We help people with civil law problems by providing holistic advice and representation to legally aided clients within core areas. In addition, we deliver a referral service to other providers of legal assistance and second tier support (including training) to advise organisations. Our work involves developing project work with local and national organisations, operating within the geographical areas we cover.
Client Legal Services (CLS) is Scotland’s largest multi-disciplinary legal aid practice with a network of publicly funded solicitors and support staff employed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). CLS comprises CLAO and the Public Defence Solicitor’s Office (PDSO) and Solicitor Contact Line (SCL), to deliver high quality criminal and civil advice, assistance and representation services that improve outcomes for our clients and service users,
Further information about CLAO can be found at www.clao.org.uk. If you wish to learn more about the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) and our other client legal services, please visit www.slab.org.uk.
Why work for us
We are an ethical organisation, carrying out rewarding work that can have a considerable impact on clients’ lives. We seek high calibre people and in return, we set out to provide good training and development with rewarding working conditions. We aim to be an ‘employer of choice’. Should you come to work with us, you’ll discover that no matter what your job or level of responsibilities, you are treated as an individual, with fairness, dignity and respect. Our reward package includes:
· a competitive salary with potential for pay progression
· a generous holiday entitlement of 35 days per year (inclusive of public and privilege holidays) increasing to 42 days after five years of continuous service
· a defined benefit pension scheme with 6% employee contribution
· flexible and hybrid working arrangements
· comprehensive access to learning and development opportunities, and wellbeing support
· job security in a stable environment
· supportive and positive work culture
· a cycle to work scheme.
About the Job
Assist the Head of Office and be part of a team delivering high quality specialist advice and representation to legally aided clients in predominately housing (evictions, disrepair, mortgage repossession, homelessness), benefits and debt matters.
The Edinburgh team is involved in high impact work that tackles homelessness and inequalities. Therefore, in addition to managing your own complex and varied caseload, appearing at court/tribunals and instructing counsel in Court of Session cases, you will have the opportunity to be involved in CLAO’s strategic project work including our innovative homeless helpline which provides direct legal advice to people rough sleeping.
You will also work closely with external advice and support providers to help triage and refer certain cases, where appropriate, to our duty solicitor service as required, and provide second tier advice and training on our core areas of casework, exploring opportunities for strategic partnership working to maximise our service impact.
The successful candidate should have significant civil court experience, ideally within our core work areas, and be passionate about using their legal skills to improve the lives of as many people as possible. Comprehensive training will be provided to support you with this important work as required.
The work of this role will be based in Edinburgh, and you will generally be required to work from the Edinburgh office a minimum of two days a week, subject to business needs. From time to time, you may also need to travel to geographic locations covered by other CLAO and PDSO offices.
This post is on a full time basis for 18 months with the possibility of an extension or a permanent post becoming available, depending on our business planning.
If you are applying on a part time basis (less than 35 hours per week), please give details of the number of hours and pattern of part time work you would be interested in. Further details are supplied in our ‘General Information for Applicants’ document.
We are an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to being fair, inclusive and a place where all belong.
We welcome and encourage applications from diverse backgrounds, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people, and LGBTQI+ people.
We will ensure that disclosure of disability status will not negatively impact anyone’s application. We are committed to guaranteeing an interview to every applicant who indicates they have a disability, in terms of the Equality Act 2010, that meets the minimum criteria for the role.
For more details about this role and a full list of essential criteria and required competencies, please see the ‘Additional Information’ section on the vacancy page of our recruitment portal.
Completed applications should be returned by Wednesday, 21 August 2024 (midnight) via SLAB’s recruitment portal. The interviews will be organised in the week commencing 26 August 2024.
