Public Law Solicitor - City of London

Duncan Lewis Solicitors (Ltd):

Regulated by the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority, Duncan Lewis Solicitors was founded in 1998 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.

Recognised among The Times 200 Best Law Firms, we have been awarded Law Firm of the Year at the 2024 Lexis Nexis Awards and 2023 Modern Law Awards, reflecting our dedication to legal expertise and client service. We hold Investors in People Gold Standard accreditation for over 15 years, showcasing our commitment to professional development. Duncan Lewis is also Law Society Lexcel, Cyber Essentials Plus, and ISO 27001 certified, ensuring excellence in practice management and data security.

We are committed to recruiting dedicated and talented professionals and welcome applications from exceptional candidates. At Duncan Lewis, we value training and diversity, and we take pride in our inclusive workforce.

Public Law Department Background:

Our Public Law team is applauded by the Legal 500 UK directory has a “dynamic team”, who are “exceptional in ability and reach”. Ranked and recommended for its excellence in Public Law UK-wide, the department undertakes both publicly (legal aid) and privately funded work and has experience in all aspects of civil liberties and judicial review claimant matters against the Home Office, HMRC, local authority, NHS including obtaining emergency orders and other interim relief to prevent human rights violations. The department regularly follow up judicial reviews with actions for damages in both the County and High Courts and successfully pursue matters to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The firm’s flagship judicial review claimant practice sees it represent clients including the vulnerable and marginalized, and its immigration offering is strengthened by collaboration with its expanding international presence challenging UK government practices abroad.

As a large and well-established firm, we are well known to the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), the Courts, and the Government Legal Department (GLD). The quality of our work is repeatedly demonstrated by our high success rates. Our lawyers are award winning and many of our cases, which are recorded in the reported case journals, raise new and important issues, and create legal precedents for the future. We also collaborate with other firms on funding and case management issues, and have a close working relationship with a number of barristers’ chambers with relevant expertise in public law.

Main Responsibilities of the Role:

• Report directly to Department Director
• Responsible for all aspects of Public 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 Public Law work including: Unlawful detention; False imprisonment; Abuse by detention staff and removal escorts; Conditions in detention; Age assessments; Asylum support; Challenging non-appealable decisions; Challenging removal notices; NHS & Local Authority challenges; Policies, practices and decisions made by the Immigration and Asylum Tribunals (First-tier Tribunal / Upper Tribunal) ; Bail decisions
• Preparing and managing funding applications to the Legal Aid Agency
• Preparing draft documents including witness statements and processing evidence
• Preparing applications (incl drafting application forms, index of documents and letters of representations)
• Attending conferences and court
• 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:

• Qualified Solicitor with a minimum of 1 year's post-qualification experience (PQE) in public law.
• Must have a clean, valid Practising Certificate at the time of application
• Be committed and highly driven to provide an excellent standard of service to our clients
• Experience in unlawful detention, Judicial Review proceedings (including immigration and public law matters), and/or false imprisonment claims is highly desirable.
• 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 client matters in a sensitive manner to deal with vulnerable clients and resolve complicated practicalities involved in Public Law issues
• Excellent networking and communication skills with the ability to successfully market the Company and generate new business
• Working knowledge of the Legal Aid Guidance for Public Law matters and have the ability to service privately funded cases
• Have extensive experience in dealing with all Public Law related work
• Experience in own advocacy is an advantage
• Excellent IT Skills -familiar with Microsoft Office applications and document management skills

What we offer

• Competitive salary
• A fantastic supportive team
• Excellent progression opportunities
• Support for appropriate legal awards/recognition

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.

APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED BY AGENCIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR THE ABOVE VACANCY