Legal Assistant – Financial Litigation team

Brent Council; Wembley; Hybrid; GBP 34,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

Brent Council's Financial Litigation Team is recruiting two Legal Assistants on a 12-month fixed term contract. The role involves managing a caseload of debt recovery matters and pursuing county court proceedings where required.

The successful candidate will work with various council departments, support in dispute resolution, and may engage Counsel and costs draftsman as needed. The post is open to internal and external applicants and requires strong organization.

Qualifications

• Experience handling debt recovery matters within local government or public sector.
• Good knowledge of civil procedure rules is beneficial.
• Ability to quickly pick up a range of debt recovery cases.

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of debt recovery matters across council departments.
• Instigate county court proceedings against debtors when needed.
• Assist in dispute resolution and explore mediation.

Skills

Debt recovery

Civil procedure rules

Dispute resolution

Instruct Counsel

Job description

Job Description

Salary range: £37,692 p.a. incl. London weighting

Contract: 12 month fixed term

Hours of work: 36 hours per week

Location: Remote working 2 days a week (3 days attendance office attendance required) and other locations from time to time

This post is open to both internal and external applicants.

Join an exciting Legal Service

Brent is a tremendously vibrant London borough where the iconic arch of Wembley Stadium dominates the skyline. Spanning both inner and outer London, it is a borough of huge contrasts in terms of its economic, environmental, ethnic and social make up. Brent’s diversity is evident to all who visit our borough and our long history of ethnic and cultural diversity has created a place that is truly unique and valued by those who live and work here.

The council is pursuing a far-reaching transformation agenda that better meets the needs of our community so it is an exciting time to join us.

The Post

In our Financial Litigation Team we are looking to recruit two Legal Assistants on a 12 months fixed term contract. This will be a great experience for someone seeking to gain valuable experience to enhance an opportunity to pursue a career in the legal profession.

The Legal Assistant will manage a caseload of debt recovery matters working with a wide range of client departments within the council. This often requires instigation of county court proceedings against debtors so good knowledge of civil procedure rules will be ideal. Some knowledge of recovery of service charge and ASC debt will be of advantage but not essential as training in this area will be provided.

The Legal Assistant Will Need

• To consider and investigate matters referred to the legal team and allocated to the caseworker.
• Request and obtain further information and documentation from our various client departments, acknowledge referrals and advise on the merit of the case.
• To take prompt action in the debt recovery process.
• Engage in dispute resolution and explore alternative methods of settlement such as mediation.
• Instruct Counsel and costs draftsman when necessary.
• Manage a caseload of service charge, Adult social care, council tax arrears, housing benefit overpayment, and general, sundry debt recovery matters on the Council’s legal electronic case management system.

The Person

We are looking for an organised, flexible individual. The Legal Assistant, should demonstrate aptitude and the ability to quickly pick up a wide range of debt recovery cases. They will report to the Senior Lawyers in the team.

Closing Date: Wednesday 9th September 2026 (23:59pm) GMT

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role.

Additional Information

You must provide a supporting statement as part of your application that clearly shows how you meet the criteria on the Person Specification. We will accept a CV in support of your application, however, you should still provide a supporting statement.

Brent Council values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this and therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community. We positively encourage all applicants to self-identify their characteristics in the diversity survey section in the application.

We are committed to safer recruitment and safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Applicants should be aware that posts working with children, young people and vulnerable adults are subject to an Enhanced DBS check as well as other employment clearances.

The information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas and your data protection rights, can be found here.

Brent has a positive approach to flexible working.

As a disability confident employer Brent welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the essential criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on [e-mail]