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West Sussex County Council are looking for a number of legal assistants/legal executives to join our experienced and motivated team. As part of the role, you will have the opportunity to undertake an appropriate qualification process to qualify as a legal executive or solicitor (with both financial assistance towards the CILEX/CPQ/SQE or any other equivalent legal qualification, fees considered and study leave).

Salary: £23,194 to £31,099 per annum.

Working Pattern: Full-time, 37 hours per week. Flexible working considered.

Contract Length: Permanent, a number of positions available.

Location: Your office base will be County Hall, Chichester. This is a hybrid/remote working role with any working from home arrangements being at the discretion and agreement with your manager.

Interview Date: Week commencing 06/03/2023.

As a legal assistant you will be working in the Child Care & Advocacy Team supporting Children’s Services with sensitive child protection cases, in which your role will impact on the future wellbeing and circumstances of individual children and families in West Sussex. In this position you will support Children’s Services with their role of ensuring the safety and security of children across West Sussex.

We are looking for Legal Assistants to play a vital role in supporting our team of lawyers to deliver high-quality advice to Children Services. The role will also look to develop and apply the candidate’s professional knowledge and experience effectively in a legal environment.

The successful candidate will provide support to the team, demonstrate initiative and an ability to prioritise work to meet both internal and external deadlines. You will need to achieve and maintain good working relationships with clients, colleagues, Local Authority employees and external Stakeholders

Prior relevant legal experience is required and a legal qualification preferable.

You will become part of our 40 strong Child Care legal team. You will work in an accommodating and dynamic environment supported by a senior management team including 1 Principal Solicitor and 4 Senior Solicitors. With us, employees can achieve their full potential as we strive for a healthy work-life balance and ensure you are rewarded for the work you do. This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious and developing legal assistant/legal executive to come on board and benefit from the team’s wide-ranging expertise.

Key Skills:

• Provide effective and efficient support to qualified lawyers and others as directed.
• Assist in the preparation of court bundles as appropriate (electronic case bundling system- case lines).
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to effectively exchange complicated or sensitive information both orally and in writing with witnesses, solicitors, barristers and lay parties.
• Very good organisational skills, assisting the lawyers to work to deadlines.
• Achieve and maintain good working relationships with clients, colleagues, other Local Authority staff, and external Stakeholders.
• Competence in drafting applications and report writing as appropriate.
• Ability to work as part of a team and to have a flexible and adaptable approach to work.
• Carry out such other duties commensurate with the post as directed.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• Applications will be considered from a range of academic backgrounds (with a minimum of degree level, or equivalent experience).
• Demonstrable experience of working in an office environment, producing high quality documentation, and meeting deadlines.
• An ability to work under pressure, using initiative and having a “can do” approach within a team environment.
• Good working knowledge of IT systems/ procedures, including Microsoft Office applications.
• A good understanding of legal practice and an ability to learn quickly.

In addition to working within a great team and a brilliant opportunity you will receive:

• A competitive salary
• 29 + bank holidays + opportunity to purchase additional annual leave. This will be increasing to 30 days as of 1st April 2023.
• A generous pension scheme, 21.37% employer contribution.*
• The opportunity to obtain the CILEX qualification/CPQ/SQE
• Potential flexible working and condensed hours
• Maternity, paternity, dependent and adoption leave (criteria to be met)
• Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• A strong supportive management team
• Up to 13 flexi days a year
• A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers with the opportunity to save over £1,000 (Including: Argos, Samsung, Asos, B&Q and many more)
• Free access to employee assistance programmes
• Discounted membership at selected local sports and fitness centres
• Car benefit scheme
• A range of commuting and business travel discounts and initiatives

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, go to our Rewards and Benefits page.

• This alters every 01.04.

The reference number for this role is CRS00679.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Katie Davenport, Senior Solicitor at [email protected]. For issues or queries regarding your application please contact [email protected].

To apply, upload your CV and cover letter explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran’s Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our application help page.

Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!