Lawyer - Senior (MM2)

BE BOLD, MAKE A DIFFERENCE, SHOW YOU CARE

JOB ROLE PROFILE AND PERSON SPECIFICATION

Post Title and Number: Senior Lawyer – Civil/Commercial Litigation

Present Grade: MM2 Dept: CEX____________________

Service/Section/Team: Legal______________________________________

Reports to (title): Principal Lawyer _________________________

Purpose of the Role:

As a middle manager within the Council you will:

· Ensure that corporate/departmental people practices are understood and implemented within your service
· Recommend areas for service improvement based on relevant data and information
· Communicate effectively with elected members and other partners/stakeholders
· Collaborate constructively with partner organisations and other stakeholders including internal services and colleagues
· Build a culture of trust in your team
· To provide a comprehensive legal service to colleagues throughout the Council, to maintained Schools and to the Council’s Local Authority Trading Companies.
· To be responsible for their own work as allocated by management, always ensuring value for money for the Council, communication with the client and working to high in-house standards.

Dimensions including Structure Chart:

1. Annual budgetary amounts with which the role is either directly or indirectly concerned:

2. Structure Chart:


Principal Lawyer



Senior Lawyer


3.

4. Number of direct reports: This post carries no formal managerial responsibilities. However, the post holder is expected to provide informal coaching, supervision and support to other members of the team.

5. Nature of reporting relationship between post holder and line manager -The post holder will be supervised and managed by the Director of Law and Governance or a Principal Lawyer.



Key Accountabilities:

Accountabilities

1. To handle a caseload of complex and/or politically sensitive legal matters with minimal supervision, ensuring that good governance arrangements are in place to support effective decision making. The post holder will be responsible for the following:

· Civil and/or commercial litigation
· Landlord and Tenant
· Housing
· Employment
· Licensing
· Judicial Review
· Advocacy

2. To contribute to the management and strategy of the Legal Services Team
3. To contribute to ensuring that colleagues within the Legal Services team, members and officers in other areas of the Council are trained in relevant developments in law and policy and receive guidance on their implementation in a timely manner, including delivering training.
4. To advise members in public and private meetings including committees and sub-committees.
5. To provide cover for others in Legal Services
6. Occasional attendance at evening meetings may be required.
7. Any other duties reasonably requested by management


Key Relationships (Internal and External):

Team members
Manager
Clients
External contacts – barristers and solicitors

Equality and Diversity:

The Council has a strong commitment to achieving equality in its service to the community and the employment of people and expects all employees to understand, comply with and promote its policies in their own work.

Health and Safety:

The post holder shall ensure that the duties of the post are undertaken with due regard to the Council’s Health and Safety Policy and to their personal responsibilities under the provisions of the Health and Safety at work Act 1974 and all other relevant subordinate legislation.

For a more detailed definition of these responsibilities, refer to the current versions of the Corporate Health & Safety Policy, Group Safety Policy and employee information leaflet entitled "Health & Safety Policy; Guidance on Staff Health & Safety Responsibilities".

Corporate Health and Safety Responsibilities
All employees have personal responsibilities to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and others. This means:

1. Understanding the hazards in the work they undertake;
2. Following safety rules and procedures;
3. Using work equipment, personal protective equipment, substances, and safety devices correctly; and
4. Working in accordance with the training provided and only undertaking tasks where appropriate training has been received.

Employees shall co-operate with the Council by allowing it to comply with its duties towards them. This requires employees to:

· take part in safety training and risk assessments and suggest ways of reducing risks; and
· take part in emergency evacuation exercises.

Employees shall report all accidents, ‘near miss’ incidents and work related ill health conditions to their manager/supervisor/team leader.

Employees shall read the Corporate Health & Safety – Organisation Part B Policy to ascertain and understand their responsibilities as an employee, line manager, Assistant Director or Director of the Council.

Information Security:

In order to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of Council information, including information provided by customers, partner organisations, and other third parties, where applicable, employees will comply with the Council’s Information Security Policy.

Other duties & responsibilities:

This Job Role Profile is not to be regarded as exclusive or exhaustive. There will be other duties and requirements associated with your post and in addition, as a term of your employment, you may be required to undertake various other duties as may be reasonably required of you. This includes making yourself available to participate in a range of corporate initiatives as determined by your Line Manager. These could include activities such as participation in the Civil Emergencies Planning Rota, supporting the Scrutiny function, actively leading/participating in a range of cross-functioning review and working groups.

Statement of Commitment to Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults through safer employment practice:

Enfield Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Safe recruitment of staff is central to this commitment, and the Council will ensure that its recruitment policies and practices are robust, and that selection procedures prevent unsuitable people from gaining access to children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff employed to work with or on behalf of children and young people in the Council must be competent.

All staff working with Children & Vulnerable Adults should be aware of and share the commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults when applying for posts at Enfield Council.





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Job Role Profile and Person Specification
Published 18/10/2010
Last revised 24/9/20
PERSON SPECIFICATION

Job Title: Senior Lawyer – Litigation Team Grade: MM2

Department: CEX Team: Legal

HOW TESTED
Application – A
Test – T
Interview – I
Job Specifics – Skills, Experience, Knowledge & Abilities

Essential:

1. Qualified Solicitor of England and Wales, Barrister, CILEX or equivalent

2.At least 5 years’ post-qualification experience

3. At least 5 years post qualification experience in some of the following areas of legal practice:

· Civil and/or commercial litigation
· Housing
· Employment
· Licensing
· Judicial Review
· Advocacy

4. In-depth knowledge of the law relating to the above areas of legal practice.

5. Experience of providing informal coaching, supervision or support

6. Excellent oral and written communication and comprehension skills

7. Ability to negotiate, draft complex legal documentation and advice often under time pressure while meeting deadlines, and to demonstrate an innovative, problem-solving approach to legal problems,

8. Experience of collaborative working with a range of stakeholders.

9. Advocacy experience

Desirable:
1. An awareness of the law, practice and procedure of local government and public administrative law
2. Experience of dealing with members in a local authority context








A/I













A/I
Behaviours

Appropriate behaviours are key to the delivery of our vision for Enfield.

We want staff who will work collaboratively, flexibly and constructively, and exhibit this ethos in all their dealings with residents, colleagues and partners. Our leaders will be exemplars of the following behaviours and encourage them in staff at all levels; 

Take Responsibility
We want staff who are willing to make decisions and be accountable for them. Staff should have a positive can-do attitude where they see problems as challenges which can be overcome. They should accept responsibility for service delivery, be clear about their service offer and deliver what they promise.

Open, Honest and Respectful
We want staff who are comfortable and confident to acknowledge the difficulties and the barriers they face. They should also be able to constructively challenge the way things are done where there is evidence that it impedes service delivery. Challenge should be conducted in a professional, courteous manner with the aim of reaching a mutually agreeable resolution.

Listen and Learn
We want staff who are prepared to actively listen and reflect on customer concerns with a view to understanding the customer’s point of view. Staff should be able to receive constructive criticism and be prepared to adapt the way they operate and deliver services where appropriate.

Work Together to find solutions
We want staff who can work collaboratively with other departments and partners, freely sharing their knowledge and skills to identify solutions to address customer concerns.

Candidates: Please ensure you address these behaviours in your responses to the essential (and desirable if applicable) criteria above.



A/I

Competencies:

Candidates: Please ensure you address these competencies in your responses to the essential (and desirable if applicable) criteria above.

1. Customer focus
2. Deliver service performance
3. Focus on continuous improvement
4. Political awareness and context



A/I
Qualifications & Professional registration criteria

Candidates: Please ensure you address these qualifications in your responses to the essential (and desirable if applicable) criteria, you will be expected to meet these requirements of the role and they will be explored with you at interview.

1. Qualified solicitor, barrister or FILEX

I

Special requirements

None

I

To handle a caseload of complex and/or politically sensitive legal matters with minimal supervision, ensuring that good governance arrangements are in place to support effective decision making. The post holder will be responsible for the following:
· Civil and/or commercial litigation
· Landlord and Tenant
· Housing
· Employment
· Licensing
· Judicial Review
· Advocacy
To contribute to the management and strategy of the Legal Services Team
To contribute to ensuring that colleagues within the Legal Services team, members and officers in other areas of the Council are trained in relevant developments in law and policy and receive guidance on their implementation in a timely manner, including delivering training.
To advise members in public and private meetings including committees and sub-committees.
To provide cover for others in Legal Service
Occasional attendance at evening meetings may be required.
Any other duties reasonably requested by management