Professional Support Lawyer - Charities Sector (Part-time)

The role

As part of our strategy for growth we need a qualified solicitor to provide professional legal support to lawyers working in our fast growing charities sector.  A key part of the role will be to help to demonstrate the firm’s national expertise in the charities sector through supporting the generation of content to be distributed through the press, blogs, newsletters and other digital channels as well as assisting in the preparation of materials to be presented at seminars and conferences.  The role also entails ensuring that our internal lawyers are up to date on changes.

The role is a national one, and although ideally based in any of our Cambridge, Birmingham or Leeds offices, we will consider applications for our other six offices.  This reflects the ideal need for the PSL to be closely located to one of our partners, Neil Burton, who leads on this sector.

This role would potentially suit an applicant looking to remain in a challenging and interesting role, where a difference can be made, but also has flexible working hours to suit other commitments.

What does the role involve

You will be responsible for:

• researching developments in law and policy relevant to the charities sector;
• briefing partners and other lawyers on such developments to assist with their business development and client care responsibilities;
• preparing notes and briefings on such developments,
• providing training on such developments;
• creating and maintaining key precedent documents and details of relevant precedent resources;
• supporting client-facing talks and articles, for example, at sector conferences and in sector journals;
• attend training sessions and producing such documents as are agreed from those sessions; and
• liaising with other members of the Knowledge, Learning & Development Team and the Research & Information Team as part of the overall professional support available to the firm’s lawyers in the commercial practice area.

The person

This is an interesting and challenging role and to be successful, your background will likely include:

• qualification and practice as a solicitor, with solid experience of the charities sector, either in a fee earning capacity or advisory;
• being able to understand and execute the needs of the client;
• knowledge, and a keen interest, in the charity sector and legal developments in the area together with the ability to draft engaging and interesting content.

The role requires someone who has:

• an enthusiastic, committed and professional approach to improving the legal knowledge and business understanding of lawyers within the charities sector;
• strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate at all levels;
• a desire to be involved in growing the charities practice; and
• excellent IT skills in terms of research and future best practice.

In addition, you may need to:

• be willing to travel to the firm’s other offices on occasion; and
• be flexible and able to work longer hours as the role demands.