Children Solicitor - Milton Keynes

Regulated by the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority, Duncan Lewis Solicitors was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in the City of London (Fenchurch Street EC3M), with offices nationwide. We are recognised by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners UK independent legal directories as a top-tier law firm in all of our key practice areas. A paperless law firm with over 500 personnel that embraces hybrid-working, we service both corporate entities and private individuals in over 25 areas of law across 60 languages. Choosing a career with Duncan Lewis is choosing a law firm that is the largest provider of publicly funded (legal aid) legal services in the country and has a growing private client practice. We have been Investors in People Gold Standard accredited for over 15 years and are continuously applauded nationally for the work that we do.

Child Care Department: Our highly specialised Child Care Department is ranked and recommended by The Legal 500 UK and Chambers & Partners UK independent legal directories for its expertise in all aspects of child care law. The key aspect of our work is assisting guardians to represent a child and representing parents. We act for children, parents and family members to provide expert advice to adopted parents and the birth parents who are considering adoption. The department also advises same-sex couples on child care matters, including child care arrangements following divorce, separation or dissolution of a civil partnership, adoption, co-parenting and surrogacy. Setting us apart from other firms, the Child Care Law department consists of members of the Law Society Children and Family Panel Members.

Main Responsibilities of the Role:

• Responsible for all aspects of Child Care work including providing technical expertise and guidance to other team members.
• Ability to manage and supervise Solicitors, Trainee Solicitors and Caseworkers to manage appropriate caseload types and complexities.
• Assisting with delivery of appropriate training and development in the department.
• Variety of duties including dealing with a range of public and private children cases including child abduction, child protection issues, special guardianship and adoption matters as well as undertaking your own advocacy.

Key Skills Required:

• NQ - 3 years PQE as Solicitor.
• Have extensive experience in dealing with all Family / Child Care related work.
• Must have a clean, valid Practising Certificate at the time of applying.
• Committed team player with ability to approach team concerns fairly, foster culture of positive change and encourage cross referrals.
• Previous proven supervisory experience and working to key performance indicators.
• Professional with a pro-active approach; excellent client care skills and ability to deal with vulnerable clients and resolve complicated practicalities involved in child care issues.
• Excellent networking and communication skills with the ability to successfully market the Company and generate new business.
• Working knowledge of the publicly funded Child Care work and have the ability to service privately funded cases.
• Experience in own advocacy is an advantage.
• Excellent IT Skills - familiar with Microsoft Office applications and document management skills.

What we offer:

• A fantastic supportive team.
• Excellent progression opportunities.
• Support for appropriate legal awards/recognition.

Salary: £38,000 to £43,000 per annum, depending on experience.

Duncan Lewis is committed to Equal Opportunities and embraces diversity of its staff. The Company strives to ensure that our staff reflects the diversity of the communities we serve. We guarantee an interview for candidates that disclose a disability and meet the essential requirements for the post.