35877 - Legal Assistant, Central Legal Team
We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity
This is an excellent opportunity for a highly motivated individual to join the Central Legal Team. As a Legal Assistant within the team you will work closely with our lawyers in a fast-paced environment providing litigation and funding advice to the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) on cost assessment issues and family fee schemes, taking telephone enquiries from Judges, investigating high value compensation cases against the LAA, and ensuring that Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO) redetermination appeals are efficiently handled, working in partnership with other teams in the Ministry of Justice and LAA. Other work includes ensuring that letters before action are not missed or otherwise mishandled, which would open up the Agency to the risk of adverse costs orders and the additional costs of dealing with issued claims if letters before action are not responded to. You will work collaboratively with the whole team to meet our key performance targets.
Job Purpose:
As a Legal Assistant within the Central Legal Team you will work closely with our lawyers in providing litigation and funding advice to the LAA on cost assessment issues and family fee schemes, taking telephone enquiries from Judges, investigating high value compensation cases against the LAA and ensuring that SCCO redetermination appeals are efficiently handled, working in partnership with other teams in MOJ and LAA. Other work includes ensuring that letters before action are not missed or otherwise mishandled, which would open up the Agency to the risk of adverse costs orders and the additional costs of dealing with issued claims if letters before action are not responded to. You will work collaboratively with the whole team to meet our key performance targets.
Organisational Context:
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is responsible for legal aid in England and Wales. The LAA works in partnership with solicitors, barristers and the not-for-profit sector to ensure legal services are available to the general public. Our work to administer legal aid is essential to the fair, efficient and effective operation of the civil, family and criminal justice systems and we work closely with legal providers and the wider Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to achieve our purpose. This commitment is at the heart of our day-to-day decision making and our work to improve legal aid services. The engagement and commitment of our staff is crucial to achieving our purpose. Together we show openness, honesty and commitment, and, of course, to deliver results.
The Central Legal Team operates as the LAA’s in-house legal department partly staffed by lawyers who are employed by the Government Legal Department working directly to the LAA’s Principal Legal Advisor. The role of the team is to provide specialist legal advice on funding and litigation issues. In particular, it advises the Chief Executive on the LAA’s performance of duties under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and other public law duties.
Key Responsibilities
- Managing (with supervision) a varied caseload, writing reports, letters, updating systems as necessary.
- Providing guidance on cost assessment issues and family fee schemes, ensuring that all communication is clear, concise, appropriate and in keeping with all LAA guidance.
- Investigating high value compensation cases against the LAA, writing reports to the Principal Legal Advisor and chief executive of the LAA, making recommendations on how to resolve the claims and drafting decision letters.
- Taking telephone enquiries from Judges (through the assistance line),
- Ensuring that SCCO redetermination appeals are handled correctly (logging SCCO redetermination appeals, referring routine appeals to the High Cost Crime team, retaining appeals with wider significant effects; and drafting arguments in response for the qualified lawyer).
- Logging and drafting responses to letters before action allocated to you, allowing the lawyer to concentrate on the most complex cases.
- Undertaking general legal duties: logging letters and emails for the team as required, acknowledging correspondence from funded clients / litigants in person; drafting letters and providing feedback on the fee scheme and compensation issues to regional offices; and updating guidance manuals and training products.
- Liaising with internal and external stakeholders providing accurate and timely responses to written and verbal enquiries received, including escalated referrals from colleagues and stakeholders.
Knowledge, Skills, Experience
Essential Criteria
- Strong analytical and numerical skills
- Strong communication skills both written and verbal
- IT Literate – a good knowledge of Microsoft office, excel and digital technology
- Ability to understand and apply the regulatory and contractual framework and guidance
- Ability to build relationships with a wide range of stakeholders
- Excellent time management skills. Well-organised, managing a varied caseload (with supervision), able to prioritise own workload and make decisions within tight deadlines.
- Ability to solve problems and make decisions
Desirable Criteria
- Understanding the wider government context of the work
- Knowledge of key priorities for organisation and how these relate to and impact on specific business unit.
- Having a working knowledge of legal aid legislation.
- Experience of legal work in civil categories of law. A law qualification would be an advantage but is not essential.
Critical Behavioural Competencies
- Making effective decisions:
- Collaborating and Partnering
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
- Delivering Value for Money
If who are invited to attend an interview will be required to undertake a written exercise online to assess your analytical and communication skills. You will be given 30 minutes for this exercise and asked to email your response to the recruitment lead. Interviews will be conducted via Skype or Microsoft Teams in August 2020.
Working Arrangements & Further Information
Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.
Flexible working hours
The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices.
Benefits
The MoJ offers a range of benefits:
Annual Leave
Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.
There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.
Pension
The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.
Training
The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.
Support
- A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
- Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits,retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
- For any moves across the Civil Service may have implications on your ability to carry on claiming childcare vouchers
- Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
- Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.
Networks
The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order
1- To Shared Service Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com);
2- To Ministry of Justice Resourcing (resourcing-services@justice.gov.uk);
3- To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity.
There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
Grading Structure Review
The Ministry of Justice is currently undergoing a review of posts which are currently graded at Band A to realign our grading structure with the majority of the wider Civil Service.
Posts advertised at Band A may be graded at either Grade 6 or Grade 7 once the review has taken place.
05/08/2020, 23:55 hours.
To apply for roles in MOJ you will need to confirm your employment history for at least 3 years prior to the date of application so that pre-employment checks (BPSS) can be undertaken. If you have spent significant time abroad (a total of 6 months in the past 3 years) you would be required to give a reasonable account of the reasons why.
For some roles you will be required to successfully complete National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorism (CTC), Security Clearance (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) level as a condition of appointment. To meet CTC/SC/DV requirements you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 3/5/10 years prior to the date of application (The level of checks that are required are stated in the advert).
If you do not meet the above requirements, you may still be considered if, for example:
- You've been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
- You were studying abroad
- You were living overseas with parents
In such cases you will need to be able to provide referee cover for the period(s) of residence overseas. The duration of overseas residence and the country of abode will also be taken into account.
Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.
We have provided detail of the assessment stages and areas being assessed to help you prepare for completing your application form, and to advise of what will be assessed following this, if you successfully pass the application stage.
Application form stage assessments
Interview stage assessments
A Great Place to Work for Veterans
The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit : https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans
Redeployment Interview Scheme
Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ are committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.
MoJ are able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidate's will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
· UK nationals
· nationals of the Republic of Ireland
· nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families
· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
· individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
· Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules
This Vacancy is closed to applications.