ELS Solicitor

Solicitor

Salary: Band 6, from GBP35,500.00
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full Time, 37 hours
Location: Seax House, County Hall, Chelmsford

Essex Legal Services ("ELS") is the in-house legal service of Essex County Council, one of the largest local authorities in the country. Its innovative vision has led to ELS being at the forefront of developing shared legal services and proactively disseminating its expertise and experience with a wide range of public bodies.
Our Service has an extremely wide ranging client base and is committed to increasing and expanding our range of services. We have been accredited to the Lexcel standard for over a decade and work continuously to improve not only the service that we offer to our clients but also the opportunities we offer to those who work for us.
The Childcare Lawyer will:

• Advise on all legal matters as requested by clients ensuring that their decisions are legally sound and that these achieve the aims and objectives of that service.
• Ensure that litigation is dealt with efficiently and cost effectively achieving the purposes of our client in each case.
• Be required to act as an in house child care advocate
• Be required to travel either routinely or as an integral part of the role.

The role demands a clear understanding of the legal framework within which the Council and its partners operate with a depth and breadth of experience necessary to apply creative solutions in supporting the Council's Family Operations' Service.
Knowledge, skills and experience
• A qualified, skilled experienced lawyer who is fully conversant with all aspects of children law and procedure; who demonstrates transferable skills and the ability to become competent in other areas of law such as education and judicial review.
• Experience in acting on behalf of Local Authorities or equivalent experience.
• You will need to have substantial knowledge of the Children Acts, Adoption and Children Act and wider aspects of children law
• Proven ability to manage cases before the Family Court and High Court
• Experience as an advocate in hearings in relation to children
• Experience in dealing with complex and lengthy contentious hearings
• Good at problem solving and using your own initiative
• A proven track record in achieving results
• Ability to establish credibility with senior management and other key stakeholders
• Ability to contribute effectively in a large complex organisation with plans for radical change and improvement

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please visit:

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees, including:

• A local government pension scheme (LGPS), a career average scheme with employee and employer contributions
• Annual leave entitlement of up to 29 days per year (depending upon grade and length of service)
• Purchase of additional annual leave (up to agreed limits)
• Flexible working arrangements (for most roles but depending upon service requirements)
• Discounted shopping through a dedicated Reward Portal (including discounts at major supermarkets)
• Training and development and payment of professional fees (approved professions only)
• Relocation package (up to GBP8,000) where agreed
• Employee assistance programme provided in-house (wellbeing and counselling provision)
• Childcare vouchers, through salary sacrifice
Please note ECC regularly reviews its reward and benefits)

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity is key to our success.