14475 - Head of Legal Team (Senior Legal Advisor) in Brighton

Overview

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. We receive over 40,000 applications a year for compensation from people who have lost loved ones or have been injured as a result of violent crime. We know financial compensation can never fully redress what they have suffered. Nevertheless, what we do is an important part of providing justice for victims and we take pride that the compensation we pay helps people move forward with their lives. Some of the material you will access may include upsetting personal accounts of harm inflicted by others, including sexual assault and violence against children. We recognise the personal impact this may have and provide resilience training to promote wellbeing. We employ around 300 people and are based in Glasgow city centre, with excellent transport links. We are a small, engaged, productive workforce with a real sense of corporate community. We want to keep improving our services and the way we work to best serve the public, meet new challenges, deliver value for money and ensure CICA is a great place to work. This position is based at Buchanan Wharf, 10 Clyde Place, Glasgow, G5 8AQ. We operate a hybrid working model, where a typical employee spends 50% of their working time in the office and the remainder at home.

Role Description

As Head of Legal, you will play a key role in CICA’s Legal and Policy Directorate, reporting directly to the Director of Legal & Policy Services and being a member of CICA’s Senior Leadership Team. You will manage a small team of Legal Advisors which may include a Trainee Solicitor.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide sound legal advice on issues relating to interpretation and application of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Schemes, data protection, freedom of information matters and other matters.
• Have principal conduct of a caseload of litigation, including complex judicial review claims, ensuring that CICA is appropriately represented; draft submissions and instruct counsel as appropriate in Tribunal and court proceedings.
• Lead, supervise and manage solicitors and legal trainee(s) within the legal team, ensuring they are supported to provide high quality legal advice and input.
• Contribute to the achievement of CICA’s corporate objectives by providing sound legal advice to ensure CICA delivers a compassionate, efficient, trauma-informed service to victims of violent crime, managing the day to day running of the legal service and directing the work flow through the legal team.
• Support the Director of Legal & Policy Services in ensuring that CICA operates in accordance with legislative and policy frameworks and in ensuring the effective provision of a range of legal services.
• Set clear expectations of individuals within the team, discuss performance regularly to motivate and enhance services which meet customer expectations and comply with Law Society training requirements.
• Assist the Director of Legal & Policy Services in the selection and employment of legal staff.
• Where compensation is to be paid into trust, provide legal input to the trust provisions and ensure the trust is fit for purpose.
• Support the team of Presenting Officers who represent CICA at appeal hearings before the First-tier Tribunal, review Tribunal decisions, represent the CICA before the Tribunal where required and, where necessary, raise judicial review proceedings on behalf of CICA.
• Be a model leader for the organisation through participation in senior management meetings and contributing to the formation and delivery of CICA’s corporate objectives, deputising for the Director of Legal & Policy Services as necessary.
• Undertake other duties as required including providing training and managing staff disciplinary proceedings.

Essential criteria

• Solicitor qualified to practice in Scotland and/or England & Wales, who has been in continuous practice as a solicitor for a period of at least three years.
• The ability to draft written argument, guidance and correspondence to the highest quality standards.
• An excellent and demonstrable understanding of public law.
• A familiarity with criminal law, trust law and data protection legislation.
• Strong organisation and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritise effectively when under time pressure.
• Strong analytical and reasoning skills, with the ability to assimilate information quickly and interpret statutes, case law and other sources of law.
• Effective managerial and supervisory skills in the oversight of a team of solicitors.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of conducting judicial review litigation in the Court of Session and/or the Administrative Court/Upper Tribunal.
• Experience of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 and older Schemes including the pre-statutory schemes.

Other duties

The post holder is required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.