Solicitor (Child Care)

Golearnleicestershire; Leicester; On-site; GBP 41,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Disability Confident Employer

Flexible working options

Job summary

Leicestershire County Council is seeking a permanent, full-time Solicitor to join the Child Care Team at County Hall, Leicester. You will provide high-quality legal advice to the Children and Family Services department, supported by a dedicated paralegal, with scope for advocacy where appropriate.

We value collaboration with Courts, CAFCASS and private practice, and offer strong supervision, mentoring, and flexible working options, including hybrid arrangements.

Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor/barrister/ILEx fellow with full advocacy rights.
• Knowledge of Children Act 1989, Adoption & Children Act 2002, Public Law Outline and Family Procedure Rules 2010.
• Effective communication with colleagues, clients and stakeholders.
• Ability to assimilate information quickly and provide timely advice.
• Excellent organisation, IT and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide efficient and effective legal advisory service to Children and Family Services.
• Supervise and mentor paralegals; train social workers.
• Undertake advocacy where appropriate (not an in-house advocacy team).
• Engage with Courts, CAFCASS and private practice to support case work.
• Contribute to training and development within the team.

Skills

Communication skills

Organisation & prioritisation

Written communication

Team player

Work under pressure

Advocacy rights

Education

Admitted Solicitor / Barrister / ILEx Fellow

Job description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8RA

Salary: £41,259 - £55,602 per annum (pro rata for part-time) plus a10% market supplement payment (terms and conditions apply)

Working Hours: 37 Hours Per Week

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 1st November 2026

Interview Date(s): TBC

We have a permanent full-time vacancy for an experienced child care lawyer with full advocacy and conduct of litigation practice rights.

Working for Leicestershire County Council as a child care lawyer –

• positive working relationships with client department, the local Courts, CAFCASS and private practice
• professional culture of proactive advice, planned applications and collaboration.
• each lawyer having a nominated paralegal to give lawyers time and space for quality advice/drafting and preparation for court
• high quality supervision and support from management team (two team leaders and an Assistant Head of Law all very experienced in this area of law)
• job satisfaction – mentoring paralegals and training social workers
• interesting range of legal work including the law relating to Deprivation of Liberty and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children

What’s not to like?! We look forward to receiving your application.

About the Role

As a Solicitor in the Child Care Team, you will provide an efficient and effective legal advisory service to the Children and Family Services Department and other departments when required. To support you to undertake your role, you will have:

• An effective IT system to enable flexible and efficient working away from the office.
• An experienced and highly motivated paralegal to provide dedicated case work support.
• The opportunity to focus on quality written and verbal advice work.
• Space and time to undertake advocacy where appropriate (we encourage advocacy but are not an in-house advocacy team).
• High quality supervision and support from an experienced management team (two Team Leaders and an Assistant Head of Law, all very experienced in this area of law).

In addition to the above, you will also have the opportunity to gain experience in niche areas, such as Deprivation of Liberty, the law relating to Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and Public Law and to contribute to the training of social workers and other professionals.

Team working is very important to us, and we encourage our solicitors to work with colleagues in a positive and supportive way that promotes learning and development. In addition to supervising paralegals and support staff, you will therefore be expected to provide mentoring, advice, and informal supervision to colleagues to enhance learning, where appropriate.

About You

To apply for this post, you must be able to evidence in your application how you meet the following criteria:

• Be qualified as an admitted Solicitor, Barrister or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives with full advocacy and conduct of litigation practice rights.
• Have knowledge of the Children Act 1989, Adoption & Children Act 2002, the Public Law Outline and the Family Procedure Rules 2010.
• Be able to communicate effectively with colleagues, customers, and internal and external stakeholders to persuade and influence appropriate outcomes.
• Be able to assimilate information rapidly and present effective solutions and appropriate advice and guidance in a timely manner.
• Have excellent organisation and prioritisation skills, IT skills, and written communication skills to enable the drafting of legal documents.
• Be able to work accurately under pressure with minimum supervision.
• Be a team player.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our valuesand to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability.We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Kathryn Reeves

Telephone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Clare Bianchina

Telephone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]