Paralegal

An excellent opportunity has arisen for an individual to join the Joint Legal Services Department of Staffordshire & West Midlands Police as a Paralegal.

The specific role purpose is to provide the Joint Legal Services Department with a confidential comprehensive and efficient paralegal service supporting lawyers in their work representing the Chief Constables of Staffordshire and West Midlands Police forces in the management of a complex and diverse caseload.

A successful candidate will be one who can provide the Joint Legal Services Department with the required comprehensive and efficient Paralegal Support Service. As the department consists of multiple teams performing a range of legal functions at times you will be required to prioritise your workload accordingly. The successful applicant will require high levels of computer literacy skills with a good working knowledge of Microsoft 365.

The following is an example of some duties that will be carried out across the department in this role;

• Produce Court / Hearing bundles
• Legal Research
• Administrative support to the Lawyers (including some diary management)
• Liaise with Court officials officers and external stakeholders
• Assist with obtaining instructions from officers and police staff to facilitate communication between the clients and the lawyers
• Monitor the advice requests received and support the Lawyer(s) with any subsequent tasks
• To provide note and minute taking as required
• Prepare Brief/Instructions to external Counsel & negotiate rates (within agreed limits)
• Draft Court Orders & Court application forms
• Build and administrate workflows for the various teams using the Iken case management system
• Assist with cost recovery where required
• Maintain a record of key data for their team to include monitoring completed actions outcomes and financial recording.
• Maintain a record of cases applied for and outcomes using Iken workflows
• Support with case reviews as directed by the Senior/Principal Lawyers
• Support with financial recording systems
• The post holder must also undertake other duties within their competence or otherwise appropriate to the grading of the post as and when required.
• The post holder will be expected to travel and work from various locations within the geographical area covered by the collaboration. (Principally working from the Headquarters of West Midlands Police in Birmingham and the Staffordshire Police Headquarters in Stafford)

Essential:

• Experience of working in a legal environment (to include bundle/document preparation and legal research)
• High level of computer literacy skills with a good working knowledge of Microsoft 365 (Primarily; Outlook Word Excel Teams & SharePoint)
• Proven ability to multi-task & prioritise within a demanding environment with demonstratable time management skills
• Proven experience of strong team working and working with stakeholders at varying levels
• High degree of accuracy and attention to detail with strong organisational skills
• High level communication skills both written and oral with effective interpersonal skills
• Demonstrable client care experience

Desirable:

• Previous experience with a case management system
• Successful completion of a Legal qualification
• Experience of Court practices and procedures
• Previous experience of undertaking research and producing updates / reports based upon this
• Previous experience of public sector
• Experience of minute/note taking

Hours:The post holder will be required to work core service hours..

Location: Lloyd House Birmingham.

Vetting: Successful applicants will be required to pass Recruitment Vetting and Security Clearancescrutiny prior to commencing their role this will include a full background & financial disclosure as part of the vetting process.

Medical: Appointment to this role will be dependent upon successfully medical checks which may include a drugs test and if required a fitness test.

Interviews: W/C 12th January

Contact: For further information regarding this role please contact

Prospective officers and staff must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances. This is to ensure that members of the police are fully aware and accountable for the unique powers entrusted to them and the standards of professional behaviour they swear to uphold.

West Midlands Police is a Disability Confident Leader - the highest level an organisation can achieve under the scheme run by the Department of Work and Pensions. As part of our commitment we operate a Disability Confident Interview Scheme - all candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview.

It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. For example: 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 these circumstances the employer could select the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job as they would do for non-disabled applicants.

Diversity and Inclusion Vision: Maximise the potential of people from all backgrounds through a culture of fairness and inclusion to deliver the best service for our communities

By choosing to join West Midlands Police you will receive an enhanced benefits package including:

- Fair remuneration with progression opportunities and access to a very competitive pension scheme

- Enhanced annual leave in additional to public holiday entitlements

- Discounts across travel parking daily costs of living and leisure activities

- A comprehensive wellbeing package including 24/7 support free eye tests and flu jabs