Paralegal

About the team

 

The childcare litigation team are part of the Legal Services team at Hertfordshire County Council. The Lexcel accredited department provides a full legal service across all specialisms to both the county council and other public sector bodies.

The child litigation team consists of 3 Principal lawyers, 17 lawyers and 9 paralegals who provide a high-quality litigation and advice service to the Director of Children’s Services and the Children’s Services Department. The team deal with a variety of public law proceedings under the Children Act 1989 and Adoption and Children Act 2002, as well as providing advice and support with the public law outline pre-proceedings process.

The paralegals in the team work closely together and individually supporting the lawyers to progress cases and ensuring the needs of our client department are met.

The team have excellent working relationships with external stakeholders such as the court service, CAFCASS, police colleagues and others.

The team is hardworking, friendly, and supportive and has recently been recognised and awarded by the county council receiving the Resources directorate award for ‘Acting with Integrity.’

 

About the role

 

As a paralegal in the team you will work with the lawyer responsible for the case to:

• maintain and revise court bundles and ensure that these are sent to the Court and parties to proceedings within required timescales and in accordance with the Child Care Litigation Team protocols
• undertake routine case management, for example acknowledge receipt of statements and documents, file and serve evidence, and liaise with the Court and CAFCASS when issuing new care proceedings applications;
• draft straightforward legal documents including care order applications, part 25 applications, letters before proceedings, briefs to counsel, and letters of instruction to experts
• obtain costs estimates and availability of expert witnesses.
• gather evidence (including hair strand testing and DNA testing), and documentation, including taking statements from lay witnesses; preparing witness templates and dealing with the administration tasks necessary to ensure final hearings take place.
• participate in any other areas of work in the Legal Services Department, including attending PLO pre-proceedings meeting on occasions, when required to do so by a Senior Lawyer/Principal Lawyer.

 

About you

 

Essential:

• have as a minimum a law degree, post graduate diploma in law or have passed the Institute of Legal Executives Level 3 examination.

• be self-reliant and able to carry out day to day tasks without the need for close supervision.

• have excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to forge and maintain relationships with a wide range of professionals.
• have the ability to work under pressure and be able to organise and prioritise your workload.

Desirable:

• Ideally you will have access to your own transport and be willing to use this for travelling around the County and further afield to different offices and Courts.

It's no secret it is a challenging time for local government. With a wide-ranging variety of cases it’s an exciting time to join us and develop your skills and gain experience as part of our hard-working, friendly, supportive team.

We want to hear from you if you are keen to progress your career in local government, and have great interpersonal, organisational, and drafting skills and want to work in a dynamic team.