Solicitor Director

Title:
Housing Solicitor Director | 3+ PQE | Nationwide Opportunities | Salary:
Upto £75k p.a DOE*

Leading law firm looking to recruit dedicated and experienced Housing Solicitor Director for highly sought permanent position.

Gemini Recruitment are currently partnering with a large and established law firm. Our client serves corporate entities and private individuals in over 25 practice areas from offices throughout London and across England and Wales. Our client’s accomplishments are acknowledged and recommended in The Legal
500 and Chambers and Partners, as a top tier firm.

Our client holds the Investors in People Gold Accreditation Quality Standard Mark and is LEXCEL, Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO accredited and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Our client’s Housing team, ranked by The Legal
500 directory for its services across England and Wales, provides assistance to both landlords and tenants on all housing issues. Their practitioners are highly experienced in finding solutions to housing disputes and aim to address the issues quickly and effectively. Our client offers lawyer‑supported dispute resolution or alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as a means to resolve housing disrepair matters. Their department also regularly represents clients in the courts for unlawful eviction, possession proceedings and prepare applications for judicial review in cases of homelessness.

• Report directly to and collaborate with the Board to ensure performance targets are met
• Responsible for all aspects of Housing work including providing technical expertise and guidance to other team members
• Significant experience in representing clients as Housing Court Duty Scheme over the last 2 years
• Ability to manage and supervise Solicitors, Trainee Solicitors and Case Workers to manage appropriate caseload types and complexities
• Assisting with delivery of appropriate training and development in the department
• Variety of duties including dealing with a range of Housing cases including Homelessness;
  Disrepair;
  Eviction;
  Possession;
  Property Ownership Disputes;
  Succession for Tenants;
  Housing adaptations;
  Social Housing;
  Neighbourhood Problems matters as well as undertaking your own advocacy
• Dealing with emergency cases and identifying and carrying out strategic litigation
• Preparing and managing funding applications to the Legal Aid Agency
• Preparing draft documents including witness statements and processing evidence
• You will have a professional pro‑active approach, strong client care skills and be interested in Business Development and Marketing to supplement the substantial work volumes brought in by the company

• 3 Years+ PQE with proven experience of Housing and Litigation, including court representation essential
• Must have experience as Duty Advisor under Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme over the last 2 years
• Must meet the 2013 SQM Supervisor standard in Housing, or willing to work toward this
• Experience in welfare rights and community care issues – must have a clean, valid Practicing Certificate at the time of applying
• Strong management skills
• Committed team player with ability to approach team concerns fairly, foster culture of positive change and encourage cross‑referrals
• Previous proven supervisory experience and working to key performance indicators
• Professional with a pro‑active approach; excellent client care skills and ability to deal with vulnerable client matters in a sensitive manner and resolve complicated practicalities involved in Housing issues
• Excellent networking and communication skills with the ability to successfully market the Company and generate new business
• Working knowledge of the publicly funded Housing work including legal representation and legal help and have the ability to service privately funded cases
• Have extensive experience in dealing with all Housing related work
• Experience in own advocacy an advantage
• Excellent IT skills – familiar with Microsoft Office applications and document management skills / HR systems
• Experience with in the legal sector is preferable
• Ability to manage social media activity to…