Legal Services

Occupations in Legal Services cover all areas of law relevant to our work.

Solicitor/Barrister/Legal Officer
Typical duties involve providing legal advice on a range of areas of law including: providing corporate legal advice to us, planning and highways work, commercial and contractual matters, and all litigation involving the Authority either criminal or civil. The Division also provides advice and representation on Employment Law, Education Law and Social Services Law, including Childcare matters. It deals with all debt collection on behalf of the Authority and advice on landlord and tenant matters and all sales and purchases of our property and land, together with leasehold interests. The Division also covers all the work in relation to Common Land, Traffic Regulation Orders and Rights of Way. Staff within the Division also advise external clients including, amongst others, the Probation Service and consortia of local authorities and the Police Authority. Responsibilities for providing such advice would depend on the abilities and experience of the individual Officer and on the complexities of the matter.

Skills and abilities needed include:

• The ability to act on one’s own initiative, to work to deadlines, to organise and manage time effectively and to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Confidentiality, reliability, self-confidence, the ability to work as a member of a team and a flexible approach to one’s work and colleagues.
• Some positions may require specific skills, such as: advocacy or the ability to supervise other employees.

Qualifications required:

For a Solicitor/Barrister:

• Degree and either completion of the Law Society Legal Practice Course and Training contract, if appropriate (for a Solicitor) or the Bar Finals course (for a Barrister

For a Legal Officer:

• No formal qualifications required, but for progression through to the more senior levels of the career grade a final qualification, such as a law degree, Membership of the Institute of Legal Executives (from the Institute of Legal Executives) or a qualification as a Licensed Conveyancer (from the Council for Licensed Conveyancers) would be required.

Possibilities of Career progression:

For Solicitor/Barrister post:

• Possible appointment to Team Leader (Solicitor) or Section Head, as vacancies occur in accordance with Recruitment and Selection policies.

For Legal Officer post:

• Possible progression through the Career Grade Structure from Assistant Legal Officer, Legal Officer, Senior Legal Officer to Senior Legal Officer (Team Leader), depending on various factors including the achievement of qualifications, complexity of work undertaken, management requirements and vacancies being available.

For more information on the above three occupations please contact our Resources Departmental Personnel on (0115) 977 3489 or (0115) 977 3850.