Litigator

We are seeking an experienced Litigator to assist in a fast paced, thriving, resilient and varied practice dealing with civil litigation within our specialist Housing Disrepair Department.

The ideal Litigator candidates should have strong post qualification, or a wealth of vocational, experience in civil litigation and will be required to handle all aspects of their cases from the pre-action stage up to and including appeals, if required. Successful candidates will be proactive in developing and following appropriate dynamic litigation strategies both alone and as part of a team.

Responsibilities of a Litigator include:
Managing a civil litigation caseload from inception to conclusion.
Investment of time to become a subject matter expert in your litigation practice area.
Providing technical and litigation mentoring and guidance to fee earners and legal assistants within the team.
Creating initial case plans by assessing client instructions and analysing available documentation at the outset of a case to determine suitable litigation strategies.
Proactive consideration of cases at all stages to ensure litigation strategies are always current and appropriate, depending on the issues involved.
Liaising with clients to prepare statements and to obtain documentary evidence, to allow full and proper analysis of case prospects.
Providing clients with appropriate and practical advice at all stages of the litigation.
Preparation of documents to include correspondence, pleadings and witness statements.
Co-ordinating case strategy and settlement conferences with external counsel, where required.
Dealing with correspondence and telephone calls.
Ensuring clients are fully updated by email, letter or telephone providing up to date, adequate and clear information about the progress of a case.
Liaising with accounts to ensure funds are allocated to the appropriate accounts in line with the Solicitor Accounts Rules 2011.
Full compliance with the SRA Code of Conduct 2011.

Qualifications/Experience
Solicitor Qualification, CILEX or minimum 3 years litigation experience is a must.
Housing disrepair experience is preferred.
Effective use of case management and time recording systems
Strong customer services skills and client outcome focussed.
Adherence to SLAs, KPIs and Court litigation timetables
Proactive and efficient management of your own litigation caseload
Management of client expectations, including effective resolution of any complaints that arise, in line with Company policy.
Candidates must possess comprehensive litigation experience from pre-action protocol stage, to commencing proceedings and dealing with them all the way through to trial, including full participation in Court case management and making applications.
Multi track experience is preferable. Fast Track Litigation experience is a must.
Candidates must have experience in instructing counsel, attending conferences and general liaison with counsel.
Professional and effective communication with individual and business contacts, with opponents, experts and with the court
Any other duties as required.

Benefits
Competitive basic salary
Market Leading and uncapped bonus based on quarterly billing and cash collection.
25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
Birthday off
Additional day off over Christmas.
“Me time” – 8 hours for external appointments across the year.
Employee Assistance programme.
Salary sacrifice for car parking
Loyalty scheme
Staff referral Bonus