Paralegal - Commercial

Job Title: Paralegal - Commercial
Starting Salary: £34,433 opportunity to progress to £37,280 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Hours: 37.0
Location: Stevenage/Hybrid
Contract Type: Fixed Term End date 31/12/2027
Directorate: Resources

About the team

With more than 100 colleagues in the team Herts Legal is one of the largest and most successful legal teams in local government and offers a complete legal service to clients across the County Council, District Councils and other public sector bodies.

Our lawyers, paralegals and support staff are crucial to the County Council's continued success. We have high standards for our services and we are pleased to be recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the Law Society's Lexcel quality standard assessor.

The Commercial Law Team provides expert advice on commercial law matters, including:

• Contract drafting and negotiation
• Procurement and tender processes
• Subsidy control
• Major projects
• Pensions
• Information governance
• Company secretarial work

About the role

As a Paralegal, you will support the Commercial Law Team by:

• Assisting Lawyers with commercial law matters.
• Conducting administrative tasks including file management, arranging meetings, populating contracts and arranging contract sealing.
• Liaising with internal and external stakeholders.
• Drafting straightforward legal documents such as contract variations and deeds of extension and novation.
• Undertaking legal research.
• Supporting with training and the maintenance of legal precedents.
• Completing any other tasks assigned to you by the Principal Lawyer.

You will manage day to day tasks independently without the need for close or prescriptive supervision.

About you

Essential:

• Law degree, post graduate diploma in law or equivalent
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Ability to build and maintain professional relationships
• Organised, able to prioritise and work under pressure
• Client focused and a commitment to delivering results.
• Good attention to detail.

Desirable:

• Previous legal work experience.
• Experience in commercial and/or procurement law.

This is a great opportunity for a motivated and organised individual to join a thriving public sector legal team. You’ll gain valuable experience working alongside experienced commercial lawyers, making this an excellent step for career development.

If you think you have the attitude and skills to make a success of this exciting role at Herts Legal, we look forward to receiving your application.

This job role is within the Corporate Services, level CORP9 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles - Corporate services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact:

Craig Athorn, Principal Lawyer,

Email: Craig.Athorn@hertfordshire.gov.uk

T. 01992 555037 for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: to be confirmed

Benefits of working for us

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Secondment
This position is open to secondments. If you work for HCC or any other Local Authority and would like to be considered as a Secondment contract, please ensure you complete the Secondment Form as part of your application. If you do not, your application will be considered as a Fixed Term Contract only.

Additional information

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.