What's involved with this role: Interim Lawyer - Education Reference no: Merton 5246171 Pay rate: Up to £40.16 per hour PAYE depending on experience Hours per week: 35 Monday to Friday, normal working hours This opening assignment is for 6-7 months City: MORDEN, London An Education Lawyer, experienced in education law including conduct of SEN Tribunals and advising on issues such as governance, admissions, exclusions and school transport is required to join the team. To provide customer focused, high quality and responsive specialist legal advice, and be responsible for providing creative legal solutions on a seamless basis to support service transformation and change meeting client needs. To carry an extensive case load of complex and sensitive matters. Local Authority experience is required for this role. Key responsibilities: Provide timely and effective specialist legal advice to elected members, including committees and to Directors senior managers and officers across both authorities as part of a team of lawyers, and to any other clients of the Shared Legal Service. Responsible for providing innovative solutions to deal with complex issues arising in connection with the work within the team and the legal issues presented by clients. Manage a large caseload of wide-ranging work including but not limited to; drafting legal letters, legal agreements, deeds, notices, orders, consents byelaws as well as negotiating agreements, settlements and such matters, managing competing demands and meeting deadlines and the requirements of the Shared Legal Service. Where relevant, to prepare and process all matters relevant to any proceedings before a court, arbitration, mediation or public inquiry and to attend such as the client’s advocate or, if appropriate, select and instruct appropriate external legal representation. Work proactively to maintain and improve the relationship with the clients of the Shared Legal Service. Supervise, and be responsible for the work of, junior staff as required and to provide management and leadership to the staff working on their cases. Undertake duties on behalf of the Monitoring Officer for all five authorities. Keep clients informed of new legislation and case law relevant to their operations, including training seminars where appropriate and to ensure that they maintain a sound application of legal requirements. Advise upon, draft and approve committee reports in respect of cases and legal issues. Attend as the sole representative in order to advise and provide legal services to elected members at council Cabinets, Committees and Panels as are required. NB: Please feel free to apply to us direct via jobstclrec.com by quoting the job reference and job title exactly. To help speed up the process of uploading your CV to the client we would suggest that you send us your CV in Word format (or equivalent) if possible, rather than as a PDF If you are successful in securing this role, please note that for the entire duration of this contract, regardless of extension you will be working this role at the PAYE rate that has been advertised. For absolute clarity, we only work on a PAYE basis, rather than entertaining umbrella pay terms, we do not offer Ltd/umbrella or outside IR35 rates. If you wish to understand PAYE vs Umbrella more, please let us know and we can send you some additional information for clarity. Please quote the Job Title & Vacancy Reference No. in your application, or we will be unable to match your CV to the role being applied for. Other “Essential Requirements” – Please check to ensure that your CV addresses the following items: Qualifications: Qualified solicitor or barrister or chartered legal executive or equivalent legal experience with a background in local government. Experience: Local Authority experience is required for this role. Experience in education law including conduct of SEN Tribunals and advising on issues such as governance, admissions, exclusions and school transport. Knowledge: Good knowledge of relevant legislation to the service area and the decision-making processes and procedures. Good understanding of current issues and best practice on service delivery relevant to the service areas. Skills & Abilities: An effective communicator. Good and demonstrable analytical legal skills. Ability to work under pressure and respond efficiently to the changing needs of the clients. Ability to be able to travel to attend client officers or courts wherever the client’s case is being considered. Commitment to the principles of and development of the Shared Legal Service. Ability to contribute to the ongoing development of the Shared Legal Service. Ability to be available to attend premises out of hours to attend evening meetings and in the event of emergencies or urgent management issues in relation to all 5 authorities. Performance orientated, able to manage and monitor performance effectively set clear objectives for the review of individual and service level performance. Strong IT skills including Microsoft packages or equivalent (e.g. G Suite). Qualification details and any other experience/skills relevant to the job role to help support your application (and help us to help you) – please give full details within your CV document. SC Please note that clients invariably ask us to strip out contact details from CVs before we submit them for consideration. This is always quicker and easier to do if you send your CV to us in Word format, rather than as a PDF please