Official Solicitor and Public Trustee - Lawyer, Family Litigation Team (Ref: 16094)

Job summary

These positions are based nationally.

Job description

Background

The Offices of the Official Solicitor and Public Trustee (OSPT)

The OSPT is an Arms’ Length Body of the Ministry of Justice and combines the duties and responsibilities of 2 separate independent statutory office holders - the Official Solicitor to the Senior Courts and the Public Trustee. There are around 135 staff who support the work of the Official Solicitor and Public Trustee, including lawyers, lay case managers and administrators. We promote access to justice for the most vulnerable members of our society who might otherwise be unable to use the services offered by the justice system due to their lack of mental capacity or because of their young age. We are committed to providing the best level of service we can for our clients.

We have a Grade 7 Lawyer vacancy in our Family Litigation lawyer team.

Job Purpose and Summary

We are looking for a highly motivated qualified lawyer eligible to practice in England and Wales at the point of applying for this role, to join the Official Solicitor’s family litigation team.

The successful candidate will work to the Senior Family Lawyer and will be expected to fulfil all elements of a lawyer role, and to contribute to OSPT’s corporate objectives.

You will need to be able to work efficiently in a dynamic work environment. You will need to be a team player, have strong communication skills, good self-awareness and a commitment to role modelling positive behaviours and using feedback to learn and develop as a professional. You will be expected to make confident and informed decisions within your own casework and in advising colleagues, while also escalating risks and seeking guidance from senior colleagues where appropriate. You must be able to demonstrate specific professional skills, knowledge, and qualifications.

The Family Litigation Team

The Official Solicitor’s Family Litigation team manages family cases in the Family Court, the High Court and the appellate courts where the Official Solicitor has been appointed as litigation friend of a party.

In family proceedings the Official Solicitor can be asked to act as litigation friend of a protected party or non-subject child.

When acting as litigation friend the Official Solicitor retains external solicitors to act for the vulnerable client and to advise her about the conduct of the proceedings. The successful applicant will be required:

• to case manage more complex cases
• to provide timely and proportionate advice, guidance and training to non-lawyer case managers, and
• to advise the Official Solicitor herself when called on to do so
• to work with stakeholders.

The casework covers the full range of family law although it is predominately made up of public and private law cases about children and financial remedy cases. The work is often time critical and may involve novel points of law.

In addition to supporting the Official Solicitor in her family litigation work, her family lawyers provide legal support and guidance to two administrative teams co-located in OSPT - the International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU) and the Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO) unit - which carry out the work of the Lord Chancellor as central authority in England and Wales for the operation of the 1980 and 2007 Hague Conventions, and - in England only – as central authority for the 1996 Hague Convention.

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• take on the full range of family work,
• support the work of the central authority teams (ICACU and the REMO unit)
• take on cases in other jurisdictions - primarily Court of Protection welfare cases - if so required
• engage with stakeholders including the legal profession, the judiciary and others.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Qualifications

Qualified to practice as a barrister or solicitor, in England and Wales or,

A CILEX Fellow where (i) a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) is held; or (ii) the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE has been completed; or (iii) where exams have been passed and a score of 50% or above achieved, at CILEx Level 6*, in all the following foundation subjects:
1.Contract Law
2.Criminal Law
3.Equity and Trusts Law
4.European Union Law
5.Land Law
6.Public Law
7.Law of Tort

Qualification for appointment is 2 years post qualification relevant experience as a solicitor, barrister, or CILEX Fellow at the point of making the application for this post.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,511, Ministry of Justice contributes £16,950 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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.

https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

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.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 : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk
• Telephone : 0345 241 5359

Recruitment team

• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/16094?entityId=16094