Children and Young ’s Lawyers

Job Description

Position Title:

Children and Young People’s Lawyers

Reports To:

Head of Legal Services

Location:

Edinburgh or Glasgow

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.

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.

Lead solicitors 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.

Independently manage a complex and varied client caseload with the minimum of supervision

Provide a high standard of child centred legal advice and representation to children and young people, including representation at Children’s Hearings, Sheriff Court and the Court of Session.

Deliver Clan Childlaw’s child centred legal outreach services: travelling to meet the client where they are, building rapport and a trusted relationship of trust, taking a trauma informed and child led approach to advising and taking instructions, communicating complex legal issues in a straightforward, clear way.

Manage your own files and consult and collaborate with colleagues, instruct counsel, and other experts as required to ensure the most effective advice and representation and manage risk in casework.

Draft and lodge, or instruct and arrange lodging and service of legal documents as required.

• Perform all administrative tasks and functions in relation to your own client casework, including all administration, legal aid and feeing, file closing, monthly file reviews, and estimating value of Work In Progress.
• Use the online case management system with a high degree of accuracy, timeliness and quality control of content
• Ensure clients are given the opportunity to feedback on their experience of working with a lawyer and Clan Childlaw.
• Maintain awareness of developments in all relevant areas of law and undertake appropriate Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
• Conduct legal research to a high standard
• Maintain high level of professionalism and discretion with the ability to handle

sensitive and confidential information with integrity.

• Provide high-quality legal information and guidance on the law affecting children and young people and on children’s rights and…