Solicitor/Associate - Clinical Risk

DAC Beachcroft; Leeds; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Disability Confident Scheme

Job summary

DAC Beachcroft in Leeds is seeking a Solicitor/Associate to join a leading clinical negligence team. The role offers exposure to a diverse caseload and high-profile clients, with potential to develop specialist expertise in a supportive firm environment.

You will handle defendant clinical negligence claims, draft documents, negotiate settlements and manage cases to court deadlines, while delivering practical, client-focused advice and contributing to knowledge sharing and business development.

Qualifications

• Experience in clinical negligence, personal injury, civil litigation or insurance law.
• Strong client focus and ability to handle multiple claims.
• Ability to work in a collaborative environment and mentor junior staff.

Responsibilities

• Handle a challenging caseload of defendant clinical negligence work for NHS Resolution, NHS Trusts, MDO and insurers.
• Draft legal documents, negotiate and mediation of claims, and prepare case files for court deadlines.
• Engage in direct client care, acting as primary contact and providing commercially focused legal advice.
• Contribute to knowledge sharing, training, client seminars and business development.

Skills

Clinical negligence

Personal injury

Civil litigation

Insurance law

Client-focused

Education

Solicitor qualification

Job description

Our Clinical Risk cluster is the biggest nationally, handling a challenging but fulfilling caseload of defendant clinical negligence work. We act for a variety of clients, including NHS Resolution, NHS Trusts, the MDU, independent healthcare providers and medical malpractice insurers.

Our reputation speaks for itself. The Legal 500 Series describes DAC Beachcroft as having "unrivalled experience in the sector of clinical negligence. It is that experience combined with an ongoing enthusiasm to adapt and react which attracts clients. This firm is in the top rank". (http://www.legal500.com/)

We are now seeking a Solicitor/Associate to join our Leeds office. This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious and passionate individual to join an award-winning, progressive and highly specialised team.

Key Responsibilities

• Handling a challenging but fulfilling caseload of defendant clinical negligence work acting for a variety of clients, which may include work for NHS Resolution, NHS Trusts, MDU, independent providers, and medical malpractice insurers.
• Drafting legal documents, conducting face to face negotiations and mediation of claims, preparing cases for and adhering to court deadlines.
• Engaging in direct client care, acting as first and primary contact for clients on a day to day basis, providing them with commercially focused legal advice, and adhering to their protocols and processes.
• Making an appropriate contribution to non-fee-earning activity. You will be encouraged to participate in knowledge sharing, training, client seminars, writing articles for publication both for in-house and external publications, and business development.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• A Solicitor/Associate (~18 months PQE+) with experience in clinical negligence, personal injury, civil litigation, or insurance law.
• Experience of an NHS Resolution or MDO panel firm would be desirable but is not essential. We want the best candidates no matter what their background is.
• Strong technical and organisational skills to ensure a pragmatic and methodical approach to handling a variety of clinical negligence claims simultaneously, through an IT case management system.
• A demonstrable ability to adopt a commercial perspective rather than an ‘academic' approach to legal issues and to be highly client focused.
• Team oriented and collegiate with a willingness to mentor, coach and supervise less experienced members of teams.

Additional Information

As a Disability Confident Scheme employer, we’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need any reasonable adjustments at any stage (including the application, assessment or interview process), please contact [e-mail] in confidence with the vacancy reference in the subject line, and we’ll be happy to help.

About DAC Beachcroft

We are a leading international legal business with over 3,000 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We are market leaders in insurance, health and real estate but with a full-service offering, including growing Financial Services and Tech capabilities. We represent a wide range of clients - from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for nearly all of the top-20 UK and global insurers, we're market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise all of the UK’s top-five housebuilders.

We are a fast-growing international business with offices around the globe. In addition to our 11 UK offices, we also have offices in Bogota, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Lima, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, New York, Paris, Rome, Santiago de Chile, and Singapore plus a representative office in Miami and broad network of affiliations across the globe.

At DAC Beachcroft we are committed to and recognise the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion across the board, including and beyond the protected characteristics. We take decisions based solely on merit. We value, welcome and seek out people with different backgrounds and life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, ways of thinking and identities.

We are happy to talk flexible working with our Flex Forward scheme. We would encourage you to talk to us about our approach to flexible working during the hiring process if you would like to explore this further.

Note for Recruitment Agencies

DAC Beachcroft manages all vacancies via our in-house recruitment teams, prioritising direct sourcing and referrals. When external support is required, roles are released to selected agencies on our Preferred Supplier List (PSL).

Speculative CVs sent to any DAC Beachcroft employee without prior instruction from our recruitment teams (LLP and CSG) will not be accepted, and no fees will be payable.

For PSL queries, please contact: [e-mail] or [e-mail]