Lead Solicitor

We are seeking enthusiastic and committed Children and Young People’s Lawyer to join our team and strengthen Clan’s work empowering children and young people in Scotland to use their rights to improve their lives. If you are looking for an opportunity to work differently as a lawyer, using your legal knowledge, problem solving and communication skills to represent the interests and rights of children and young people, then we want to hear from you.

You will provide professional legal advice and representation that makes a direct difference to the lives of individual children and young people in a range of areas including children’s hearings, child law, public family law, and youth homelessness. You will play a vital role in delivering our Children’s Rights Helpline giving practical information about children and young people’s rights to children and young people and those that support them.

You will provide training to partner agencies and external stakeholders on children’s rights. You will have opportunities to be involved in innovative casework that contributes to systemic change, and make contributions from practice to influence the law, policy and practice. Comprehensive training will be provided to support you in developing your knowledge and practice in our key areas, and you will be expected to obtain certification as a lawyer for children.

You will be responsible for maintaining a varied caseload, reporting and consulting as appropriate. You will have the experience to give you confidence providing legal advice and representation to children and young people in at least one of our key areas of children’s hearings, child law and public family law or youth homelessness. Comprehensive training will be provided to support you in developing your knowledge and practice in our key areas, and you will be expected to obtain certification as a lawyer for children.

You will be responsible for delivery of high-quality child-centred legal services (see below for details), including child centred legal outreach services, provision of high-quality information, second-tier advice and training on children and young people’s rights in Scotland. You will be highly effective in managing your time and workload, working independently with minimal supervision and managing competing priorities at a fast-pace.

You will play an active role as a member of the legal team to ensure that our child centred legal services are delivered efficiently and effectively.

The Lead solicitor will work closely with the Director of Legal and Policy, Head of Legal Services, and Head of Legal Policy to ensure high-quality legal content and contribution from practice in all our services and projects, comply with relevant external quality standards and regulatory frameworks and achieve Clan’s policy aims.

We operate hybrid working with the option to work from home for part of the working week. Regular attendance in offices to work collaboratively with colleagues is required. TOIL and flexibility around your working day is offered to allow travel to client visits, court and children’s hearings in different areas of Scotland as necessary.

Working Hours:

Full time (35 hours a week), Monday to Friday, however, we will accept applications from candidates seeking to work upwards of 28 hours. Clan solicitors maintain a sustainable workload that supports them to work with clients in a child centered way.

This roles will suit an effective, adaptable and resilient solicitor with excellent communication and relationship-building skills. You will be motivated by the opportunity to do things differently as a lawyer and committed to doing impactful, values-driven legal work that makes real change in the lives of children and young people. You will be comfortable undertaking challenging and varied work and managing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment, while maintaining high professional standards and a client-centred approach.

You will work well with a minimum of supervision within a supportive and collaborative team culture.

An enrolled solicitor with a full, post-qualified and…