Full Job Title: Temporary Legal Admin Assistant – Childcare Team

Job Reference: Southwark 5222776

Pay Rate: £16.00 per hour PAYE

Minute taking skills and experience are essential for this role

A legal assistant is required to join the busy child care team. Previous experience of working in a local authority child care team is essential.

You will be supporting a team of safeguarding lawyers; mostly supporting the child care team by undertaking the following:

• drafting applications under the children act and issuing proceedings using the FPL system (so need to be familiar with that);
• drafting requests for police records and following up and tracking progress on those;
• drafting letters of instruction to experts; identifying experts and counsel as required;
• opening files on the case management system; The successful candidate will also be expected to participate in the duty rota which means triage incoming email to duty in box, responding or referring cases on to lawyers.

You will hold a small caseload of matters covering section7 and section 37 requests and possibly some requests by police for access to social services files and following the established procedures for dealing with these.

“Specific Role Requirements” – to give yourself the maximum chance of success please try and ensure your CV addresses the following essential criteria:

1. Relevant experience as a Legal Secretary or Administrator within a fee earning environment. - Or -
2. Law degree, or equivalent
3. Administrative experience, ideally in a legal environment, will include:
   1. Interpreting policy/ procedural guidance, where courses of action are not clear, and advise others accordingly
   2. Compiling and maintaining records and administrative systems both manual and computerised
   3. Managing manual and IT records to achieve efficiency and confidentiality
   4. Using a wide range of office equipment and ICT software
   5. Organising and prioritising a workload, managing conflicting demands.
   6. Working in a customer focused environment
4. Knowledge of how equal opportunities principles apply in administrative and customer services.
5. Literacy skills in order to research and produce reports, management information, non-standard correspondence, minutes and accurate records of meetings.
6. Numeracy skills in order to compile statistical and financial information and undertake complex calculations.
7. Good interpersonal skills and the ability to encourage positive working relationships with staff and colleagues.
8. Experience of composing written materials that meet customers’ needs:
   1. original correspondence
   2. appropriate use of e-mail
   3. reports
   4. administration of meetings including note/minute taking
9. ICT Skills: Working knowledge of Microsoft Office at a level to compile; reports (including embedded tables / diagrams), correspondence, presentations, maintaining spreadsheets, meeting arrangements.

NB: Please feel free to apply to us direct via [email protected] by quoting the job reference and job title exactly. SEE DETAILS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS AD.

If you have previously applied to one of our vacancies and have already sent the required supporting documentation to us, please make this clear when you re-apply as this will help speed up your application.

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.