Family Solicitor | NQ

Job description
Duncan Lewis Solicitors (Ltd)

Regulated by the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority, Duncan Lewis Solicitors was founded in 1++8 and is headquartered in the City of London (Fenchurch Street EC3M), with offices nationwide. We are recognised by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners UK independent legal directories as a top-tier law firm in all of our key practice areas - "a diligent and professional team that is prepared to go the extra mile for its clients". A paperless law firm with over 500 personnel that embraces hybrid-working, we service both corporate entities and private individuals in over 25 areas of law across 60 languages. We give people a voice - that is our ethos.

Choosing a career with Duncan Lewis is choosing a law firm that is the largest provider of publicly funded (legal aid) legal services in the country and has a growing private client practice. We have been Investors in People Gold Standard accredited for over 15 years and are continuously applauded nationally for the work that we do.

Having demonstrated unparalleled legal expertise and a commitment to justice, we were awarded Law Firm of the Year at both the 2024 Lexis Nexis Awards and 2023 Modern Law Awards. We are named as one of the Times 200 Best Law Firms. Duncan Lewis is Law Society Lexcel, Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001 Information Management accredited.

We look to recruit dedicated and talented employees in both legal and non-legal capacities, and we are always interested to receive applications from quality candidates. Training and diversity are at the heart of Duncan Lewis, and we remain proud of our diverse and inclusive workforce.

Family Department Background

The Legal 500 independent legal directory applauds our Family legal team has "superbly reliable", "professional, personable, and very efficient". The department is ranked and recommended by The Legal 500 UK and Chambers & Partners UK for family and matrimonial work, providing confidential advice with effective representation. Our family team includes solicitors who have achieved the Law Society’s Children Law and Family Law Advanced accreditations providing advocacy in all court proceedings, ensuring our clients receive a consistent and professional service as well as a high degree of continuity.

The Family department is experienced in assisting high net worth individuals in divorce matters with specialist divorce solicitors with expertise in domestic abuse, adoption, child abduction, prohibitive steps orders, specific issues orders, injunctions, spousal and child maintenance, properties, pensions and freezing injunctions.

Main Responsibilities Of The Role
• Responsible for all aspects of Family Law work including providing technical expertise and guidance to other team members
• Ability to manage and supervise Solicitors, Trainee Solicitors and Caseworkers to manage appropriate caseload types and complexities
• Assisting with delivery of appropriate training and development in the department
• Variety of duties including dealing with a range of Family work including divorce; financial disputes and remedies; international elements of child abduction/ adoption; injunctions/non molestation orders and providing technical expertise and guidance to other team members
• You will have a professional pro-active approach, strong client care skills and be interested in Business Development and Marketing to supplement the substantial work volumes brought in by the company

Key Skills Required
• Committed and highly driven
• Must have a clean, valid Practising Certificate at the time of applying
• Strong management skills
• Committed team player with ability to approach team concerns fairly, foster culture of positive change and encourage cross referrals
• Previous proven supervisory experience and working to key performance indicators
• Professional with a pro-active approach; excellent client care skills and ability to deal with vulnerable client matters in a sensitive manner and resolve complicated practicalities involved in family law issues
• Excellent networking and communication skills with the ability to successfully market the Company and generate new business
• Working knowledge of the publicly funded Family Law work and have the ability to service privately funded cases
• Have extensive experience in dealing with all Family Law related work and some expertise on adoption matters
• Experience in own advocacy is an advantage
• Excellent IT Skills -familiar with Microsoft Office applications and document management skills

What We Offer

Law Society Children/Family Accreditation/Resolution: The Company will support your career progression if you decide to pursue Children, Family or Family Advanced Panel accreditation with the Law Society or Resolution. We will cover the cost of:
• Attending the mandatory training course £1100 (Children Law Accreditation)
• Application fees (approx. £2+4)
• Annual membership fee (approx. £324)
• Children Law Reaccreditation every 3 years (approx. £618)
• Family Law Reaccreditation every 5 years (approx. £556)

The total cost of progressing onto the Children panel is approximately £1700.

Children/Family Law Accreditation Salary:-Moving forward we are looking to offer all new Children, Family, Family Advanced and Resolution Panel members a base salary of:
• £48,000 in London and within the M25.
• £46,000 outside London.

The recruitment process will fully comply with GDPR and other applicable laws. Background checks including CRB / DBS checks will establish your eligibility to work in the UK and suitability to the role.

Equal Opportunities

Duncan Lewis is committed to Equal Opportunities and embraces diversity of its staff. The Company strives to ensure that our staff reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, which is reflective at all levels within our workforce. We guarantee an interview for candidates that disclose a disability and meet the essential requirements for the post. Please provide additional details in your covering letter if this applies.