Immigration Level 2 Accredited Solicitor - Director in Birmingham

Duncan Lewis Solicitors (Ltd) has one of the largest legal aid Immigration practices in the UK and is ranked as a top tier practice by The Legal 500 directory for services including business immigration, human rights, appeals, and overstay. Our immigration lawyers have an established reputation in acting for high net worth individuals, new and established business men and women, and innovative and skilled individuals under the Tier 1 visa categories. Our Immigration team offers a wide range of services to European Economic Area (EEA) and non-EEA individuals and families wishing to enter, remain, or settle in the UK. With over 160 specialist Immigration lawyers nationwide, we bring the highest level of expertise to all Immigration matters.

The department has a number of highly skilled lawyers who have trained as barristers and undertake complex appeal cases up to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Our Immigration team is renowned for their extensive experience in Asylum claims and challenging human rights violations for unaccompanied minors and victims of torture, trafficking, and domestic abuse. In these cases, we are committed to assisting no matter the individual client's circumstance.

Main Responsibilities of the Role:

• Report directly to and collaborate with the Board to ensure performance targets are met.
• Responsible for all aspects of Immigration 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 Immigration work including detained clients; victims of trafficking & torture; asylum work from initial applications through to Tribunal appeal and upper Court appeal matters; entry clearance applications and appeals and some judicial review work.
• Preparing and managing funding applications to the Legal Aid Agency.
• Preparing draft documents including witness statements and processing evidence.
• Preparing applications to meet Home Office requirements (including drafting application forms, index of documents, and letters of representations).
• Attending conferences and court.
• Professional pro-active approach, strong client care skills, and interest in Business Development and Marketing to supplement the substantial work volumes brought in by the company.

Key Skills Required:

• Must have a clean, valid Practising Certificate at the time of applying.
• Registered with the Law Society Immigration & Asylum Law Accreditation - level 2 membership is essential.
• Committed and highly driven to provide an excellent standard of service to our clients.
• Strong management skills.
• Committed team player with ability to approach team concerns fairly, foster a 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 client matters in a sensitive manner and resolve complicated practicalities involved in Immigration issues.
• Excellent networking and communication skills with the ability to successfully market the Company and generate new business.
• Working knowledge of publicly funded Immigration work and ability to service privately funded cases.
• Extensive experience in dealing with all Immigration related work and some expertise on adoption matters.
• Experience in own advocacy is an advantage.
• Excellent IT Skills - familiar with Microsoft Office applications and document management skills.

The recruitment process will fully comply with GDPR and other applicable laws. Background checks including CRB / DBS checks will establish your eligibility to work in the UK and suitability to the role.

Equal Opportunities: 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, which is reflective at all levels within our workforce. We guarantee an interview for candidates that disclose a disability and meet the essential requirements for the post. Please provide additional details in your covering letter if this applies.