Senior Legal Advisor

Hampshire County Council; Winchester; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 72,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Generous holiday allowance

Desirable pension scheme

Job summary

Hampshire County Council is seeking a Senior Legal Adviser (Solicitor, Barrister or FILEX with litigation rights) to join the safeguarding children team. You will handle complex care proceedings and advocacy, advising Children’s Services on legal aspects of this specialised field.

The role emphasizes resilience, professional excellence, and the ability to work with council colleagues and external parties to meet statutory commitments and improve outcomes for vulnerable children.

Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor/barrister/filex with litigation rights.
• Experience in child care law and public law children proceedings.
• Good drafting skills and client-care understanding.

Responsibilities

• Advise Children’s Services on legal aspects of care proceedings and related matters.
• Present cases to Court and provide advocacy where needed.
• Ensure resources are allocated appropriately and statutory commitments are met.

Skills

Drafting skills

Client care

Resilience

Litigation experience

Education

Qualified Solicitor or Barrister or FILEX

Job description

Supporting the Safeguarding Children’s Team, our close-knit group of 20 enjoy working with Children’s Services to ensure vulnerable children in Hampshire are protected. Join our team with this unique opportunity.

We currently have a Senior Legal Adviser role (Solicitor, Barrister or FILEX with litigation rights) available within our friendly team, with the remit of providing advice relating to all aspects of public children act proceedings including care proceedings, deprivation of liberty cases and adoption, including advocacy.

Our roles offer the unique level of support that comes with working within this team and Hampshire County Council generally and provides a valuable opportunity to further your career in our well-respected team.

What you’ll do:

As a Senior Legal Adviser, you will hold a complex case load, advising Children’s services directly on legal aspects of this specialised area of law, and how best to present cases to Court. Working with both council colleagues and external third parties, you will take responsibility for these cases, ensuring resources have been allocated appropriately and that statutory commitments are being met.

The work is varied, important, and fundamental to the County Council’s corporate priorities, so you will need to be highly resilient and motivated.

What we’re looking for:

We are looking for a qualified Solicitor/Barrister/Filex with litigation qualification.

You need good knowledge and recent experience of providing legal advice on specialism i.e child care law combined with good drafting skills and good understanding of the concept of client care with evidence of having applied this in practice.

Applications are welcomed from those newly qualified with experience in public law children proceedings.

Our commitment to delivering an exceptional quality of life to our residents also extends to our employees. It is important to us that our staff feel supported in their work. We offer a variety of flexible working options and furthermore, you will benefit from a range of benefits -

• competitive salary
• a generous holiday allowance
• access to a desirable pension scheme