Mid-Sussex District Council's legal team is expanding and looking to add a Principal Litigation Solicitor to the team. Mid Sussex is a rural district in the southeast of England, situated within the county of West Sussex. The district contains three towns – Burgess Hill, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath. The latter of which is where the Council’s offices are located.
Our legal service supports the Monitoring Officer function and the Council as a whole, ensuring decisions made by all parts of the Council are legally robust and bearing statutory responsibility for the legal governance of the Council. This includes providing legal advice across all of the Council’s functions and, where advice cannot be sourced in-house, working with external solicitors and/or specialist counsel. We provide support for the delivery of the Council’s statutory and non-statutory functions including taking legal action where required.
The contentious Principal Solicitor will:
* Provide legal advice, representation, and assistance across the Council to Members and staff colleagues on all necessary aspects of licensing, environmental health, housing, debt recovery, judicial review, and general litigation matters including at court, committees and public meetings where required.
* Understand the role of Legal Services and contribute to the delivery of the Legal team’s Service Plan and the Council’s Corporate Plan.
* Contribute to, and assist in, the effective operational management of the Legal Services team to deliver a high quality and cost-effective legal service.
Main Duties & Responsibilities
* Be a trusted adviser to Members and colleagues in specialist knowledge areas, and at all levels of the organisation
* Take day to day management responsibility for supporting, developing, coaching and mentoring staff
* Manage an ongoing legal caseload with minimal supervision
* Represent or support the Council at legal proceedings and Inquiries (either with or without Counsel)
* Undertake continuing professional development as required and maintain an up-to-date knowledge of all relevant legislation and case law
* Exhibit and promote the highest professional work standards throughout the team
* Contribute to required policy development across the Council
* Attend statutory and Committee meetings as required as legal adviser and on behalf of the Monitoring Officer
Professional and Personal Attributes
* Fully qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive / Relevant professional qualification (Essential)
* Membership of other relevant professional bodies (Desirable)
* Working knowledge of managing complex matters in the various areas of specialism in a local government context, in particular environmental health, licensing, housing, judicial review, and both civil and criminal Litigation (Essential)
* Proven knowledge of the local government statutory framework and relevant current and emerging legislation, case law, guidance and best practice (Desirable)
* Scrutiny and implementation of new Legislation (Essential)
* Working within a local government legal team (Desirable)
* Attending and addressing Committees, Courts and/or Tribunals in area of specialism (Essential)
* Relevant Court, Committee and Inquiry procedures (Essential)
* Advising on general public law and Constitutional matters (Desirable)
* Management and Development of staff (Desirable)
* Attending and assisting in Inquiries/Inquests (Desirable)
* Best practice, innovation and continuous improvement in the delivery of Legal services (Desirable)
* Experience as a Deputy Monitoring Officer (Desirable)
The above profile is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees in this role. It is not meant to be a detailed list of all duties and responsibilities which may be required. It will be supplemented and further defined by objectives set at appropriate times, which will be developed in conjunction with the post holder. It will be subject to regular review and the Council reserves the right to amend or add to the accountabilities listed.
The grade for this post is determined by Job Evaluation.
Please see the website where you can find all the details on the council, roles, and legal team.
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