Childcare Solicitor

The Legal Service Team

Portsmouth Legal Services is a friendly hardworking and dedicated team of approximately 40 lawyers and assistant staff who provide commercial and litigation support to the Council departments.We are committed to ensuring an excellent service in all aspects of our work.

The Childcare Team offers a friendly and supportive environment.Team management is supportive and dedicated to providing good outcomes for children in challenging and demanding circumstances.We work closely with Children's Social Care and it is a small but hardworking team who manage the specific difficulties of this role with resilience and support.

The Role

The role is within the Legal Service based in the Civic Offices however flexible working will be considered and remote working is currently in place.

You can expect considerable autonomy as you take on your own caseload and work as part of an in-house team.You will advise on all aspects of childcare, you will conduct negotiations, execute agreements and documents and co-ordinate court proceedings.You may also be asked to enhance your skills base to include other litigation as determined by the Head of Litigation.An ability to work in a busy stable and multi-skilled team with a clear structure of support and experience is to be welcomed and is available to the candidate.

The ideal candidate

You will need to have/be

• A qualified solicitor, barrister or legal executive and have a detailed knowledge and experience of Childcare law. (This said applications from suitably qualified persons with less experience will be considered).
• The ability and interest in advocacy, being able to deal with case management hearings, directions and issue resolution hearings. Candidates who wish to undertake contested hearing are encouraged to apply.
• Able provide urgent advice to Children Social Care and assist in determining plans for children within the city.This includes working with Senior Management in Children Social Care to decide on cases going in to PLO and proceedings.
• Be able to work as part of a team to ensure a smooth delivery of the service and be flexible in being able to adapt to the changing needs of the team.Be organised and have attention to detail as you will be dealing with a varied workload and be expected to ensure work is completed within agreed timescales and ensuring excellent outcomes.Have excellent communication and influencing skills as you will be dealing with people at all levels of the organisation and need to ensure your advice is understood and implemented to eradicate any unnecessary exposure
• Able to carry out supervisory duties (according to your own seniority and as delegated by the Deputy City Solicitor)
• The ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.

Attendance requirements to the designated workplace

Minimum attendance is 2 days per week and expectation that you will attend to suit the needs of the client

Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:

If you have any questions, or would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact Ciara Morgan on 023 92 834600

Interviews will be held on: 26th September 2025

Please ensure that you read the full job profile attached for the details and expectations of this role, paying particular attention the section 'Who is the person' as you will need to refer to this when completing your Personal statement.

Application process

We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered.

As part of your application, we ask that you complete a personal statement, this statement is crucial and is where you must demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job against each of the points described in the'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience.

We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal. We are committed to offering an interview to all those candidates that qualify under one of our commitments and meet the minimum criteria, however for roles that receive a large number of applications, this is not always possible, and we will select the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria.

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

About Portsmouth City Council

What we can offer you:

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act.

Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our careers portal homepage: Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council

Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.uk. or call the recruitment team on 023 92 616800