Litigation Executive - (Paralegal – opportunity to complete CILEx Foundation Professional Qualification)
Job summary
Are you looking to start or develop a career in legal services while gaining a recognised professional qualification?
As an Litigation Executive (Paralegal), you’ll join HM Land Registry’s Litigation Team, providing litigation, case management and administrative support while developing practical legal skills and experience.
You’ll help ensure litigation matters are well organised, accurately recorded, appropriately prioritised and progressed in line with key deadlines. Working closely with the Head of Litigation, Litigation Lawyers, Lawyer & Business Support colleagues and stakeholders across HM Land Registry, you’ll play an important part in supporting the delivery of high-quality, timely and efficient litigation services.
You’ll also be a valued member of the Data and Register Integrity Business Support Team, contributing to the effective delivery of priorities across the wider Data and Register Integrity Group.
Alongside your role, you’ll undertake the CILEx Foundation Professional Qualification – Dispute Resolution Pathway, giving you the opportunity to gain a nationally recognised legal qualification while applying your learning in a professional legal environment.
The CILEx Foundation Professional Qualification is intended for individuals who do not already hold a higher-level legal qualification.
In accordance with CILEx eligibility requirements, applicants who already hold a law degree are not eligible to undertake this qualification. This also applies where an applicant already holds an equivalent or higher-level professional legal qualification.
This includes, but is not limited to:
- a Qualifying Law Degree (LLB or equivalent);
- CILEX Level 6 or Chartered Legal Executive qualifications;
- the Legal Practice Course (LPC);
- the Bar Practice Course (BPC), formerly the BPTC; or
- another equivalent higher-level legal qualification.
Applicants will therefore need to meet the relevant CILEx eligibility requirements to be appointed to this role.
To learn more about the CILEX Foundation Professional Qualification and what it involves, please follow the link below.
CILEx Foundation Professional Qualification
These opportunities are available in Birkenhead and Fylde only.
Job description
As a Litigation Executive (Paralegal), you will provide litigation, case management and administrative support to HM Land Registry's Litigation Team. Working closely with Litigation Lawyers, the Head of Litigation and colleagues across Lawyer & Business Support and Data & Register Integrity, you will help ensure litigation matters are effectively managed, accurately recorded and progressed in line with key deadlines.
This is an excellent opportunity for colleagues who are motivated to develop legal knowledge and gain practical experience while working towards a recognised legal qualification.
The programme is designed to build legal knowledge, case management expertise, research skills and an understanding of how legal services operate in a professional environment. Learning can be applied directly to your day-to-day responsibilities, helping you develop both personally and professionally while supporting the delivery of high-quality legal services.
We welcome applications from colleagues from all backgrounds and are committed to creating an inclusive working environment where everyone can thrive and reach their potential.
The role is open to both full-time and part-time colleagues. To be eligible, colleagues must have an overall working pattern of at least 30 hours over 4 days per week.
Main Duties:
As an Litigation Executive (Paralegal), you will:
- Provide litigation, case management and administrative support to the Litigation Team, helping to ensure matters are clearly recorded, tracked and progressed.
- Maintain and update litigation records, case trackers, deadline diaries, action logs and associated documentation, ensuring information is accurate, up to date and accessible.
- Support the triage and allocation of incoming litigation referrals, identifying urgent matters and promptly escalating risks or deadlines to the appropriate colleagues.
- Assist with preparing and formatting correspondence, instructions, court pleadings, evidence bundles, disclosure materials, case files, briefings, reports, meeting papers and other litigation documentation.
- Organise and support meetings, case reviews, conferences with Counsel, external provider meetings and internal governance discussions, including preparing agendas, taking notes and monitoring follow-up actions.
- Liaise professionally with colleagues across HM Land Registry and with external legal providers, supporting clear communication and timely responses.
- Assist with monitoring external legal spend, purchase orders, invoices and financial records relating to litigation activity, escalating queries where appropriate.
- Undertake ad hoc tasks required to support team priorities and contribute flexibly to wider business support activity within Central Legal Services and Data & Register Integrity.
Person specification
To be successful in this role, you will have:
- GCSE Mathematics and GCSE English Language at Grade C/Grade 4 or above.
- Experience of supporting litigation matters or contentious legal work, including maintaining accurate records, monitoring key dates and litigation deadlines, and delivering work in a faced-paced environment.
- Experience of supporting litigation meetings, conferences with Counsel or external legal provider meetings, including preparing agendas, taking notes and tracking follow up actions.
- Experience of handling or organising case documents, Instructions to Counsel, court pleadings, witness evidence, correspondence, bundles or other litigation documentation.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to prepare clear documents and communicate confidently with colleagues, lawyers, stakeholders and external providers.
- Experience of identifying opportunities to improve administrative processes, systems, templates, trackers or ways of working, using initiative to resolve issues and identify and escalate litigation risks where appropriate.
- Good IT skills, including confident use of Microsoft Office applications and the ability to use case management systems.
Please see job description/candidate pack for further details.
Qualifications
Holds GCSE Mathematics and GCSE English Language at Grade C/Grade 4 or above.Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £33,227, HM Land Registry contributes £9,625 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).As part of the role and to support ongoing professional development, the successful candidate will be required to complete CILEx Foundation Professional Qualification. This provides a nationally recognised legal qualification and offers the opportunity to develop practical legal knowledge, case management skills, legal research capabilities, and a broader understanding of the legal profession.
The qualification will complement the litigation support responsibilities of the role, helping the postholder build expertise, gain valuable professional experience, and establish a strong foundation for future career progression within legal services.
Things you need to know
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.To apply, you will be asked to complete a short application form in the first instance and take the following test:
- Civil Service Judgement Test
Should you be successful in the test, you will be asked to complete the full application form. Please attach an anonymised CV into the online application form when prompted and be sure your CV covers the Essential Criteria list below:
- Experience of supporting litigation matters or contentious legal work, including maintaining accurate records, monitoring key dates and litigation deadlines, and delivering work in a faced-paced environment.
- Experience of supporting litigation meetings, conferences with Counsel or external legal provider meetings, including preparing agendas, taking notes and tracking follow up actions.
The personal statement section (in no more than 750 words) must be used to provide details of how you meet the Essential Experience criteria listed below:
- Experience of supporting litigation matters or contentious legal work, including maintaining accurate records, monitoring key dates and litigation deadlines, and delivering work in a faced-paced environment.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to prepare clear documents and communicate confidently with colleagues, lawyers, stakeholders and external providers.
- Experience of identifying opportunities to improve administrative processes, systems, templates, trackers or ways of working, using initiative to resolve issues and identify and escalate litigation risks where appropriate.
Please review your application form before clicking ‘submit’ – once you have submitted, you will not be able to amend your application. Ensure your application form is received by the closing date for receipt of applications – this is 23:55pm on the advertised date.
In the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift may be conducted on the following essential criterion:- Experience of supporting litigation matters or contentious legal work, including maintaining accurate records, monitoring key dates and litigation deadlines, and delivering work in a faced-paced environment.
The sift will take place shortly after the closing date. If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to attend a virtual interview and deliver a pre-prepared presentation, from week commencing Monday 9th November 2026. Further details will be provided on invitation to interview.
The blended interview will assess the behaviours and experience listed in the candidate pack, as well as the strengths associated with the role. We want to hear your first, unrehearsed, natural response to the strength questions, and so we don’t advertise which strengths are being tested. The best way to prepare for strengths questions is to reflect on what you identify as your own personal strengths, and your preferred ways of working. The pre-prepared presentation topic will be provided to candidates invited to interview.
Candidates may refer to notes within their interview, but they should be used as a prompt only.
HMLR is accredited to the Disability Confidence Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria at the shortlisting stage are guaranteed an invitation to interview.
If any candidate requires the panel to consider a reasonable adjustment or there is anything else they would like the panel to take into consideration they are asked to notify us of this at application stage where possible or during the process as soon as it becomes a requirement.
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to share these values. Please ensure all examples provided throughout the recruitment process are representative of your own experience. Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating (including the improper use of artificial intelligence) will be investigated and, if proven, the application will be withdrawn.
Please note that we will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa where a role is in a certain business critical category. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a skilled worker visa. You must ensure you have the appropriate right to work in the UK before applying.
HMLR expect everyone to spend at least 60% of their working time in the office.
You can find more information on how we use your personal data on our website
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Gill Hancock
- Email : Gill.Hancock@landregistry.gov.uk
Recruitment team
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance to the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email hrresourcingteam2@landregistry.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from HM Land Registry then you may take your complaint to the Civil Service Commission: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/making-complaint/Attachments
Litigation Executive - Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 2137kB)Salary range
- £33,227 per year