Find out more about this organisation on their careers site
Job description
https://apply.weightmans.com/vacancies/651/police-solicitor-advocate-or-barrister.html
Our specialist practitioners act exclusively for the police service, representing a diverse range of forces across England and Wales. As the largest dedicated police legal team in the country our lawyers have been involved in some of the most high profile and significant cases involving the police service over the last 15 years. We are currently recruiting for solicitor advocates or barristers to join our National Police team, based on secondment in-house with Surrey and Sussex Police. In particular, we are looking for lawyers to advise, prepare and present civil protective orders in the Magistrates' Court including Domestic Violence Protection Orders, Stalking Protection Orders, Sexual Harm Prevention Orders, Sexual Risk Orders, Anti-Social Behaviour injunctions and closure orders.This is predominantly an advocacy role and regular attendance at court is required.
Main duties and responsibilities
- Specialise in acting on behalf of various police forces, protecting their interests
- Manage a caseload of civil protective order applications in the Magistrates' courts including, but not limited to, domestic Violence Protection Orders, Stalking Protection Orders, Sexual Harm Prevention Orders, Sexual Risk Orders, Anti-Social Behaviour injunctions and closure orders
- Represent police forces and advocate in disclosure applications to the Family court
- Present cases in the Magistrates' and County courts
- Provide face to face training to groups of police officers
- Assist the Team Manager and other team members with their cases, client development, client training, networking and potentially public speaking where required
- Liaise with various parties such as other solicitors, experts, counsel and clients
- Control Case Manager diary and action lists
- Attend court hearings as appropriateDraft various documents including court applications
- Satisfy standards of client care and compliance with SLAs in accordance with guidelines and directions
- Complete Client MI procedures
- Achieve set financial and chargeable targets
- Comply with relevant rules, policies and procedures
- Keep up to date with legal developments
- Work in accordance with Weightmans' values
This list is not intended to be exhaustive and you will be expected to perform other duties and have other responsibilities that fall within the wider remit of the role.
About You
You will be a qualified solicitor or barrister with the following skills and experience:
- Experience of drafting and presenting cases in Court
- Strong advocacy skills or a willingness to learn and undertake this work
- Self-motivated & self-directed
- Excellent organisation skills
- Excellent time management skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Excellent IT skills
- Ability to work to strict deadlines and targets
- Ability to work as part of a team or on own initiative
- Willingness to learn new areas of law
- Flexible approach to work and a willingness to travelLocated in Guildford or within easy commuting distance
- Experience of advocacy in the Magistrates' Court (desirable)
- Experience of advising and acting on behalf of police forces (desirable)
Why work for us
Weightmans is a Top 45 law firm with offices throughout the UK. Having been recognised as the leading legal employer at the annual Britain's Top Employers awards 2021 and achieved record rankings in Chambers UK.The independent research showed "Weightmans provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout all levels of the organisation."We are truly committed to fostering a culture of equality and diversity, where everyone in the firm is respected and recognised on merit for the work that they do.We strongly encourage applications from people of all ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and disabilities. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustment at any stage of the application process.Please feel free to note your preferred pronouns in your application.
Work for a firm where people matter - work for Weightmans.As well as being immensely proud of the work we carry out for our clients and the culture we provide to our people we offer a wide range of benefits including;
28 days' annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rated for part time)
Agile / working from home including provision of home office equipment*
Healthcare cover/ Medicash
Pension plan
Life Insurance 4 x salary
Interest free travel loan scheme
Employee Assistance Programme including counselling, legal and consumer advice service
Discounted gym membership
Discounted dental scheme
Cycle to work scheme
Offers & discounts
Great reward and recognition scheme
*there are a small number of roles that cannot be performed from home, your Recruitment Adviser can confirm.
Please note Any reference to experience or PQE in our adverts or job descriptions is to be used as a guideline only. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and with different levels of experience who can demonstrate that they fulfil the requirements of the role.The successful candidate appointed to this role will be subject to our standard background checking process, and any offer of employment made is conditional upon successful completion of those checks. Further details can be obtained from the Recruitment team.We are open to part time/job share applicants. Recruitment agencies (PSL /non-PSL)Weightmans operates a strict 'preferred supplier list' (PSL) and is committed to working closely with the recruitment agencies that feature on that list. As such, Weightmans does not accept speculative or unsolicited CVs, profiles or any other introductions from both our PSL and non-PSL agencies. If a PSL or non-PSL agency chooses to submit a speculative or unsolicited CV, profile or introduction without instruction from a member of Weightmans' recruitment team, we will reserve the right to treat the introduction as a gift and contact the candidate directly without accepting or entering into the agency's terms nor being liable for a recruitment fee.Eligibility to work in the UKEligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process. All candidates must either already have a right to work in the UK before commencing employment, or meet the Home office criteria for Visa sponsorship. Candidates who require sponsorship should evaluate the Home Office eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker visa before applying.