Senior Planning Lawyer

Description

BASIC OBJECTIVES OF THE POST

• To provide specialist legal advice, and put into legal effect the instructions of the Council in such a way as to provide the Council with an excellent and continuously improving legal service to enable it to fulfil its overarching vision in accordance with the Council’s priorities.
• To contribute to the work of Corporate Legal Services by providing legal advice and assistance as required.

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage a full and varied caseload of legal matters with an emphasis on Planning and Regeneration issues, including giving legal advice to colleagues within the Council and its partners on the law and practice to enable the Council to discharge its functions legally and effectively.
• To deliver complex specialist advice on legal matters with minimum supervision.
• To evaluate and advise on all aspects of legal matters in a variety of forums.
• To represent the Council in applications before an Inquiry the Magistrates Court, County Court and High Court and instructing Counsel as required.
• To advise elected Members where appropriate, and attending the Executive, Committees and Sub-Committees and providing reports as required.
• To provide advice and support to the Council’s partners and stakeholders.
• To conduct all work in accordance with practice management standards laid down by the Law Society (Lexcel) and all other departmental and corporate performance standards in order to maintain standards of excellence.
• To contribute to the development of the Legal Service through identifying opportunities for improvement, and supporting, motivating and coaching colleagues within the team / Legal Service.
• To contribute to the Legal Service Business Planning process.
• To contribute to the work of Legal Services by providing legal advice and assistance as required.
• To build and maintain credible professional relationships with Council colleagues and external partners and stakeholders.
• To cover the workload of colleagues as required and contribute to the recruitment and training of new members of staff to ensure a seamless service provision to the Council.
• To make use of the updating materials provided by the Service, eg electronic products, journals etc. to ensure that they are conversant with the most current law in their area of work to enable them to give effective and efficient legal advice.
• To provide training in conjunction with other team members, to other members of the Service and the Council and its partners, to ensure that they are kept up to date, and are acting in accordance with the law.
• To assist in the supervision of lawyers in the team.
• To assist the Legal Service to achieve goals set out in its business planning process, including participating in projects to ensure the continuous improvement of the Service. 

• To report to the Assistant Director of Corporate Governance/Monitoring Officer   and the Assistant Head of Legal Services/Deputy Monitoring Officer any evidence of illegality or procedural default within the Council to enable the matter to be investigated by the Monitoring Officer.
• To have the understanding, knowledge and ability to follow guidelines that ensure compliance with Health and Safety, Data Protection, client confidentiality and other statutory requirements.
• Knowledge and experience of using IT.
• To undertake any other temporary duties consistent with the basic duties and/or objectives of the post.
• Understanding and commitment to promoting and implementing the Council’s Equal Opportunities policies.

CRITERIA FOR PROGRESSION

• Progression to grade PO7 will require the post holder to fulfil all the duties listed above and in addition, be self motivated, work with minimal supervision, and work to the following higher standards:
• Evidence of a range of specialisms or technical knowledge in more than one area or in an area of particular significance to the Council with experience over a significant period of time or through involvement in a wide range of projects/matters.
• Evidence of high client satisfaction for their own work and that which they are co-ordinating, together with examples of how this has been achieved
• Evidence of supporting the development of others through a coaching or mentoring approach, to deliver increased capacity
• Examples of teamwork and collaboration across partnerships to achieve successful outcomes
• Evidence of contribution to the strategic development of the Service
• Evidence of carrying out regular and successful supervision and contributing to the appraisal process
• Evidence of flexibility and ability to manage workload effectively in response to changing priorities
• Examples of SRA Continuing competency requirements and activities to keep abreast of relevant legislation, case law and trends

The Person

• An experienced planning lawyer with a successful track record of providing specialist legal advice and support on planning, highways and regeneration matters in legal practice.
• These are the qualities we believe to be necessary to do this job.  You should clearly show in your application how your skill/experience potential meet some or all of them, as the shortlisting decision will be based on our assessment of you against these criteria.
• The final assessment process will also seek to assess these characteristics.

Abilities/Experiences

• At least 2-4 years recent post qualification experience of working in legal practice conducting a caseload consisting of planning, highways and regeneration matters (Essential) 

• Post qualification experience of conducting the above mentioned caseload within a public sector setting (Desirable)
• Experience of advocacy in an Inquiry, the Magistrates or County Courts or other relevant courts and Tribunals, to include planning appeals at both hearing and public inquiry stage. Experience of advising on regeneration schemes and more complex public inquiries, High Court appeals and judicial reviews in the context of planning would also be useful. (Desirable)
• Experience of attendance at, and advising, committees (Desirable)
• Experience of supervision of staff (Desirable)
• Experience of delivering legal advice in a partnering environment (Desirable)
• Experience of contributing to the design and implementation of business planning and strategy development in a legal environment (Desirable)

Qualifications (only if applicable)

• A Solicitor, Barrister, Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives (Essential)

Knowledge/Skills

The ability to communicate orally and in writing clearly and precisely (Essential)

• The ability to work on own initiative and with minimum supervision (Essential)
• The ability to work objectively, calmly and efficiently under pressure (Essential)
• The ability to contribute to the work of a team, and to work well with both legal and support staff, clients and consultants (Essential)
• The ability to deliver excellent specialist advice in planning, highways and regeneration matters in an accessible way to a variety of clients, partners and stakeholders (Essential)
• Proven skill in working successfully in a political environment,  and an understanding of its implications for the provision of Legal Services (Essential)
• Organisational ability in dealing with priorities and managing time (Essential)
• Understanding of, and ability to manage, risk in the public sector (Essential)
• The ability to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with a wide range of stakeholders (Essential)
• The ability to support, motivate and develop colleagues (Essential)
• Good research skills (Essential)
• Commitment to the role (Essential)
• A willingness to work flexibly, and to adapt to a changing environment (Essential)
• Able to use Microsoft Word packages and a computerised case management system – Visualfiles or other equivalent and online law library (Essential)
• An appreciation of the needs of the communities of a deprived inner city urban area (Essential)

Special Requirements

• Attendance at some evening meetings