Team Lawyer - People Adults

Wigan Town Hall/Hybrid Working
Library Street
Wigan
WN1 1YN

Salary: Grade 10, £42,403 - £46,464 per annum.

37 hours per week

Wigan is a great place to work and, as a local authority, we truly value and recognise our staff as our greatest asset. We actively encourage innovation and strive to deliver outstanding services and we celebrate our successes by our commitment to our ‘Be Wigan’ behaviours, Be Courageous, Be Accountable and Be Positive. Our Legal team is inventive in its approach, digitally enabled and encourages a blended working ethos with equipment provided.  This ensures that our staff have a happy and healthy work life balance. We are proud to have won the prestigious Lawyers in Local Government Innovation Award 2021 for our strategy on digital innovation and virtual court hearings.

Your role:

As a Team Lawyer in the People team (Adults) you will be part of a client focussed and outcomes driven legal and democratic function.

You will deal with all aspects of Adult Social Care law which includes Court of Protection Welfare Applications, Ordinary Residence Disputes and Section 21A Challenges. You will work closely with client officers, Elected Members, partner organisations and other key stakeholders to assist them in the delivery of their service objectives and priorities.

You will handle a legal caseload which may include complex and legally challenging matters, drafting complex and significant legal documents and engage in detailed negotiations with parties as appropriate  You will advise, prepare and conduct proceedings acting as an advocate for the Council at court, tribunals, inquiries and other statutory and legislative hearings.

About you:

You will be a Solicitor with a current practicing certificate or have an equivalent Barrister or Legal Executive qualification. You will ideally have three years post qualification experience in Adult Social Care Law.  You will be an enthusiastic, highly motivated and professional individual with experience of providing legal advice to assist and guide clients when making decisions.

You will have experience of handling a personal caseload of legal cases including complex and significant matters. You will be able to advise, prepare and conduct proceedings acting as an advocate for the Council at court, tribunals, inquiries and other statutory and legislative hearings.

You will have a proven track record in working in a pressured and deadline driven environment and be able to represent the service and the Council at a local and regional level as necessary.

About us:

Wigan Council has been voted ‘Overall Council of the Year’ at the APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) Awards and has recently published The Deal 2030, our ambitious plan for our borough. We are signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment ensuring that your service will be continuous or 'unbroken' between the supporting organisations.

Our dedicated in-house Legal team provides high quality legal advice to Senior Leaders, Elected Members, Council Officers, partner organisations and other key stakeholders across the public and private sector on a range of legal matters.

We aim to offer services which are good value for money, innovative in their approach and delivery, risk aware not risk averse and open to doing things differently. We adopt a collaborative approach with all our clients’ ensuring we are embedded in all their processes and decision making.

We are committed to the continuous professional development of our staff which includes the payment of professional fees, a wide range of training opportunities and potential for management development.

Here at Wigan, we are proud to support flexible working patterns, when the service can accommodate this. We also take a blended approach to where we work, depending on the work we do. This may include working from home (My Place), the office (Our Place) or the community (Your Place). We like to thank our employees for their hard work and commitment by giving them the opportunity to access a range of exclusive rewards and benefits click here to find out more about working for #TeamWigan.

Wigan Council prides itself on equality, inclusion and promoting diversity within the borough and aims to recruit a workforce that reflects our diverse communities. We invest in training and developing our staff, in a positive learning environment, and aim to be a consciously inclusive employer. We welcome applications from everybody in the community and would particularly encourage applicants from our underrepresented groups to apply. At Wigan, it is really important to us that applicants demonstrate our Team Wigan behaviours, and we do all we can to make sure that everyone feels like they belong. We have guidance in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process.

To be appointable in this role you must be able to prove you have the right to work in the UK. If you are unsure, please visit the below link to check you qualify to apply. Please note, at present we are not a licenced sponsor. Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

For an informal discussion please contact Rebecca Schofield, Group Lawyer via email Rebecca.Schofield@wigan.gov.uk

To view the details relating to this position, please click the links below:

Job Specification

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Interview date: Week Commencing Monday 13th May 2024

This is a politically restricted role