Social Care Lawyer

Hertfordshire County Council; Stevenage; Hybrid; GBP 56,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

Hertfordshire County Council is seeking an Adult Social Care Lawyer to join the Resources directorate in Stevenage. The role is permanent with hybrid working and involves providing high-quality adult social care legal services to council departments and professionals.

You will manage a diverse caseload, conduct advocacy before courts, and ensure legal decisions align with policy and statutory requirements. The role emphasizes timely, accurate advice and collaborative teamwork.

Qualifications

• Recognised legal qualification (Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive).
• Significant experience in Adult Social Care Law.
• Experience with managing diverse civil litigation caseloads and carrying out advocacy.

Responsibilities

• Provide adult social care law advice and other required legal guidance (including education and health as needed).
• Attend and advise at meetings across the county with professionals (SAFA meetings, case planning, etc.).
• Conduct advocacy before courts and tribunals and prepare cases for higher courts as required.
• Ensure decisions align with legal boundaries and County Council policy, delivering efficient outcomes.
• Stay updated on legislation, case law, policy changes and provide training when necessary.

Skills

Qualified professional

Adult Social Care Law

Civil litigation & advocacy

Written & oral communication

Time management

Teamwork

Education

Solicitor/Barrister/Chartered Legal Executive qualification

Job description

Job Title: Adult Social Care Lawyer
Starting Salary: £55,582 plus £5,878 market enhancement progressing to £61,460 plus £5,926 market enhancement per annum
Hours: 37
Location: Stevenage with hybrid working
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Resources

About the team

Working as part of the Adults, Children and Health Team you will be providing high quality legal services to the County Council’s Members, Adult Care Services, Children’s Services and Public Health Departments and, in particular, to provide Adult Social Care Law advice, including advice to the Hertfordshire Deprivation of Liberty Supervisory Body, Approved Mental Health Professionals and to act as an advocate before Tribunals and the Court

About the role

This role offers the opportunity to be involved in a wide variety of legal areas primarily relating to the protection of Vulnerable Adults but also relating to Vulnerable Children outside of Care Proceedings. Therefore, you will need to be able to provide accurate, comprehensive and timely legal advice whilst managing a varied and demanding caseload.

In particular you will :-

• Provide adult social care law advice, and additional legal advice on areas including children social care (not care proceedings) education and health as required
• Attend and advise at meetings across the County attended by professionals such as Safeguarding Adults from Abuse Meetings (SAFFA’s), case planning meetings and other similar meetings
• Conduct advocacy before the Court and instruct counsel where appropriate, in matters before the High Court, County Court, Magistrates Court and First Tier Tribunal as well as preparation of these cases in order to see the outcomes required by the client departments
• Ensure that the decisions made by the client departments are within the legal boundaries; accord with County Council policy; and achieve their aims and objectives efficiently
• Maintain an awareness of all relevant legislation, caselaw policy and regulations, investigate and advise on implications of changing legislation, case law and codes of practice and policy and provide training where necessary

About you

Essential

• You will need to have a recognised legal qualification as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive.
• Significant experience in Adult Social Care Law
• You will have experience of holding a diverse caseload of civil litigation matters and experience of conducting your own advocacy.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, used to build and maintain working relationships, and to produce and present reports
• Effective time management skills, prioritising workloads whilst managing a varied caseload
• Experience in working effectively as part of a team

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is Level 13. Please locate the job profile here:

Job profiles - Corporate services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact [e-mail] for an informal discussion about the role.

Interviews will be arranged on an ad hoc basis

Disability Confident

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

English Fluency

The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.