Principal Lawyer in Pre-Proceedings Team

We are looking for enthusiastic and committed Principal Lawyer to lead our Pre-Proceedings Team. You'll be working with colleagues to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable adults, children and young people in Berkshire. We are committed to reclaiming PLO as a last point of hope for families to avoid care proceedings and adopting Best Practice.

You'll be part of the Joint Legal Team, a forward thinking shared legal service and recognised centre of excellence for adults, education and child care law for Berkshire councils. We are hosted by Reading Borough Council, working from our modern offices in Reading town centre close to the train station and courts.

We aim to be the best place to practice Children's Social Care law in local government; being close to our clients, recruiting the best talent, successfully deploying legal technology and ensuring the continued growth of the business to new customers. We provide the Council and its partners with the highest quality professional legal advice and representation which allows them to run their organisations well, and to serve our community.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity and inclusion is the key to our success. Reading Borough Council is a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to the recruitment and continued employment of people with disabilities.

We offer flexible working patterns and provide a hybrid working environment with the best of both worlds with a mix of office working in central Reading and home-working according to the needs of the Service.

About the role

You'll be leading in a team of lawyers, paralegals and legal assistants dealing with pre-proceedings/ PLO cases across Berkshire. You will have day to day supervision of staff reporting directly to you.

Our Professional Support Lawyer will support you to develop your legal skills and to move to the next level in your career.

You'll work closely with our Child Care Court Teams. You'll have opportunities to work on a wide range of interesting and complex cases to grow your experience. We work closely with Children's Services to divert families away from care proceedings by taking an holistic approach to problem solving but also recognising risk so that proceedings are issued promptly when necessary.

Our Legal Operations Team will assist you in delivering your work as we invest further in our systems and work towards Lexcel accreditation.

Whatever your specialism or previous experience, you will thrive on the challenge of working in a client focussed environment and in a team which has an ambitious agenda for the future. You will have opportunities to join in the wider work of the team outside your specialist field in helping us to reach our team objectives.

All of our lawyer roles are open to qualified solicitors, barristers and chartered legal executives.

You will be part of a dynamic team with each individual playing their part to the best of their ability. As part of Team Reading you will play your personal part in making Reading a successful and vibrant place.

A current practising certificate and be entitled to practice in England as a Solicitor, Barrister, or Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executive
Significant post qualification experience
An ability to work to tight deadlines and remain calm whilst under pressure
Attention to detail and the confidence to work independently as well as in a team
Excellent communication, team-work and relationship building skills.
A flexible approach to work and ability to use initiative
Ability to maintain confidentiality
A willingness to improve your leadership skills and contribute to an ambition for the Joint Legal Team and Reading Legal Services, Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

We offer a supportive environment to grow and develop your career with the opportunity to put your ideas across. Innovation and ambition are strongly encouraged, and you'll get a great feel for that working in our friendly and collaborative environment.

A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including:

Generous holiday entitlement - 25 days holiday each year plus bank holidays - rising to 33 days after 10 years' service, with the option to buy additional leave
A wide range of flexible working opportunities
Modern working environment at the Civic Offices in the heart of Reading
Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
On-site day nursery (Kennet Day nursery) rated outstanding by Ofsted
Season Ticket Loan - to help with the cost of your rail/ bus journey, to & from work
Lease car salary sacrifice scheme allowing you to lease a brand new, greener car for three years. The monthly fee includes insurance, servicing and road tax