Senior Solicitor

Shelter; Camden Town; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

An organization dedicated to housing rights is seeking a Senior Solicitor to lead a legal team in defending the right to a safe home. The role involves delivering legal services, managing contracts, and supervising a team focused on housing issues. Candidates should have at least 4 years of experience in housing law and a commitment to combating social injustice. This is an opportunity to significantly contribute to systemic change in housing services.

Benefits

30 days annual leave

Enhanced family-friendly policies

Pension and interest-free travel loans

Qualifications

• Minimum of 4 years post-qualification legal practice experience required.
• Substantial knowledge of housing and homelessness law necessary.
• Experience in litigation and representing homeless clients is ideal.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high quality legal services and manage the Legal Aid Contract.
• Supervise and support the legal team, managing own caseload.
• Contribute to the strategic direction of legal services nationally.

Skills

Housing and homelessness law

Litigation

Policy analysis

Case management

Job description

Overview

At a time when the housing emergency continues to deepen, your experience could help transform lives and challenge the systems that perpetuate injustice. Come and play a central role in our mission as a Senior Solicitor to lead a team to defend the right to a safe, and secure home. Working with Shelter means being part of a passionate team that believes a safe home is a fundamental right. Here, your legal skills don't just change lives-they shape a fairer housing system.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high quality legal services and manage our Legal Aid Contract, with main focus on your own caseload and on managing and supervising the legal teams who are advocating for clients with housing issues, as well as bringing about systemic change.
• Deal with personnel issues, provide professional support and supervision to your team, including independent file reviews (IFRs), time recording and good case management, as well as carrying your own caseload of housing litigation.
• Contribute to the strategic direction of Shelter legal services nationally and lead on delivering strategic change aligned to Shelter's strategy, ensuring Legal Aid contract requirements and performance targets are met.
• Identify test case opportunities to address systemic bad practice to achieve change for a greater number of people and work closely with the Head of Legal Services, the Hub Management Team and teams within Communications, Policy and Campaigns and Business Development.
• As a key member of the management team, participate in the management of our offices, including attending management team meetings and collaborating with other teams.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 4 years post-qualification legal practice experience, supervisor status and substantial knowledge of housing and homelessness law. Able to carry out research and policy analysis in housing, homeless and welfare law, and to produce reports and presentations.
• If post-qualification experience includes litigation and representing in court on behalf of homeless people or people in housing need, consider a move to Shelter. The ideal environment to use your expertise to deliver a specialist legal casework service in housing law as part of the national legal services team.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

About the team

Our legal Teams (Managing Solicitors, Solicitors, Legal Advisors and Trainees) are based throughout the England hubs; we are currently based in London, Plymouth, Dorset, Bristol, Norwich, Birmingham, Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Sheffield and Newcastle. Our teams are enthusiastic, driven and champions for fighting the housing injustice. Our teams whilst generating an income also address the housing crisis.

About Shelter

Home is a human right. It\'s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet everyday millions of people are being devastated by the housing emergency. We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything. We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve. Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.