Immigration Solicitors (x2) – Birmingham

Duncan Lewis; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent progression opportunities

Professional development support

Job summary

Duncan Lewis Immigration Department seeks a proactive solicitor to lead and develop a busy immigration practice. You will supervise Trainee Solicitors and Caseworkers, deliver training, and handle cases from initial applications through Tribunal and upper Court appeals.

The role requires strong client care, advocacy experience, and ability to market the firm’s immigration services. A professional pro-active approach is essential in a large, nationwide firm.

Qualifications

• Must hold a valid Practising Certificate at the time of applying.
• Registration with or eligibility for Law Society Immigration & Asylum Accreditation is desirable.
• Strong management and leadership capabilities.
• Excellent client care and professional communications.
• Ability to develop business and market the firm’s immigration services.
• Solid networking skills to foster referrals and client growth.
• Proficiency with IT and document management tools.
• Experience with advocacy and Home Office processes is advantageous.
• Knowledge of publicly funded and privately funded immigration work.
• Ability to manage complex cases including asylum and human rights matters.

Responsibilities

• Report directly to Department Director and oversee immigration work.
• Provide technical guidance to team members and supervise trainees.
• Deliver training and professional development within the department.
• Handle diverse immigration caseloads including detained clients and asylum work.
• Prepare funding applications to the Legal Aid Agency and manage documents.
• Draft witness statements and gather evidence for cases.
• Draft Home Office representations and manage conference and court attendances.
• Proactively market the firm’s immigration services to generate new matters.
• Ensure compliance with GDPR and internal quality standards.

Skills

Practising Certificate

Immigration Accreditation

Management skills

Client care

Business development

Marketing

Networking

IT skills

Advocacy experience

Home Office processes

Education

Qualified Lawyer

Tools

Microsoft Office

Document management

Job description

Regulated by the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority, Duncan Lewis Solicitors was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in the City of London (Fenchurch Street EC3M), with offices nationwide. We are recognised by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners UK independent legal directories as a top-tier law firm in all of our key practice areas – “a diligent and professional team that is prepared to go the extra mile for its clients”. A paperless law firm with over 500 personnel that embraces hybrid-working, we service both corporate entities and private individuals in over 25 areas of law across 60 languages. We give people a voice - that is our ethos.

Recognised among The Times 200 Best Law Firms, we have been awarded Law Firm of the Year at the 2024 Lexis Nexis Awards and 2023 Modern Law Awards, reflecting our dedication to legal expertise and client service. We hold Investors in People Gold Standard accreditation for over 15 years, showcasing our commitment to professional development. Duncan Lewis is also Law Society Lexcel, Cyber Essentials Plus, and ISO 27001 certified, ensuring excellence in practice management and data security.

We are committed to recruiting dedicated and talented professionals and welcome applications from exceptional candidates. At Duncan Lewis, we value training and diversity, and we take pride in our inclusive workforce.

Immigration Department Background:

We have one of the largest legal aid immigration law practices in the UK and are ranked and recommended as a top-tier practice by The Legal 500 directory for our services including, business immigration, human rights, appeals and overstay. The Legal 500 legal directory applauds the services we provide nationwide, stating: “The breadth and depth of the team makes Duncan Lewis a real market leader for immigration matters. The \"innovative and courageous\" team \"are one of the most successful and effective immigration practices in the UK\". \"They are a credit to the profession\". Specialists in the full spectrum of immigration law; including asylum, human rights, nationality and business immigration - our immigration lawyers have an established reputation in acting for high net worth individuals, new and established business men and women, and innovative and skilled individuals under the Tier 1 visa categories.

Our Immigration team offer a wide range of services to all foreign national individuals and families wishing to enter, remain, or settle in the UK. With over 160 specialist Immigration lawyers nationwide, we bring the highest level of expertise to all immigration matters. The department has a number of highly skilled lawyers who have trained as barristers, and undertake complex appeal cases in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Our immigration team is renowned for their extensive experience in asylum (international protection) claims and challenging human rights violations for unaccompanied minors and victims of torture, trafficking, and domestic abuse. In these cases, we are committed to assisting no matter the individual client’s circumstance.

Main Responsibilities of the Role:

• Report directly to Department Director
• Responsible for all aspects of Immigration work including providing technical expertise and guidance to other team members
• Ability to manage and supervise Trainee Solicitors and Caseworkers to manage appropriate caseload types and complexities
• Assisting with delivery of appropriate training and development in the department
• Variety of duties including dealing with a range of Immigration work including; detained clients; victims of trafficking & torture; asylum work from initial applications through to Tribunal appeal and upper Court appeal matters; entry clearance applications and appeals and some judicial review work
• Preparing and managing funding applications to the Legal Aid Agency,
• Preparing draft documents including witness statements and processing evidence
• Preparing applications to meet Home Office requirements (incl drafting application forms, index of documents and letters of representations)
• Attending conferences and court
• You will have a professional pro–active approach, strong client care skills and be interested in Business Development and Marketing to supplement the substantial work volumes brought in by the company

Key Skills Required:

• Must have a clean, valid Practising Certificate at the time of applying
• Be committed and highly driven to provide an excellent standard of service to our clients
• Registration with the Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum Law Accreditation is desirable, though not mandatory.
• Strong management skills
• Committed team player with ability to approach team concerns fairly, foster culture of positive change and encourage cross referrals
• Professional with a pro–active approach; excellent client care skills and ability to deal with vulnerable client matters in a sensitive manner and resolve complicated practicalities involved in Immigration issues
• Excellent networking and communication skills with the ability to successfully market the Company and generate new business
• Working knowledge of the publicly funded Immigration work and have the ability to service privately funded cases
• Have extensive experience in dealing with all Immigration related work and some expertise on adoption matters
• Experience in own advocacy is an advantage
• Excellent IT Skills -familiar with Microsoft Office applications and document management skills

What we offer

• A fantastic supportive team
• Excellent progression opportunities
• Support for appropriate legal awards/recognition

The recruitment process will fully comply with GDPR and other applicable laws. Background checks including CRB / DBS checks will establish your eligibility to work in the UK and suitability to the role.

Equal Opportunities:

Duncan Lewis is committed to Equal Opportunities and embraces diversity of its staff. The Company strives to ensure that our staff reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, which is reflective at all levels within our workforce. We guarantee an interview for candidates that disclose a disability and meet the essential requirements for the post. Please provide additional details in your covering letter if this applies.

APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED BY AGENCIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR THE ABOVE VACANCY