Location
London Borough of Croydon

Hours
36 hours per week

Salary
Grade 17 £68,571 - £71,055 per annum plus fantastic benefits

About the Role
We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Principal Childcare Lawyer to join our Social Care & Education Legal Team at Croydon Council. This senior role involves conducting complex and high-profile public law children matters alongside supervising and supporting lawyers, advocates and paralegals. You will work closely with the Head of Social Care & Education Law, deputising when required and contributing to the ongoing development of the team and the wider Legal Services Division.

As Principal Childcare Lawyer, you will provide high-quality legal advice and representation to Children’s Services across a broad range of child protection and public law children matters. You will manage a caseload of complex and sensitive public law children cases, including care proceedings and other applications under the Children Act 1989.

Your responsibilities will include advising on all aspects of child protection, adoption and related children’s social care matters; providing advice and representation in pre-proceedings and Public Law Outline; attending Legal Planning Meetings, strategy meetings, case conferences and multi-agency meetings; conducting advocacy in Family Court proceedings and instructing Counsel in complex cases; ensuring cases comply with legislation, case law, court rules and Practice Directions; and proactively identifying legal and organisational risks with effective strategies.

You will provide clear, confident and persuasive advice to social workers, managers and senior officers, develop innovative and legally sound solutions to complex problems, and provide day-to-day supervision and professional support to lawyers, in-house advocates and paralegals. This includes conducting regular one-to-one meetings, supporting appraisal and development of staff, managing work allocation and progression, deputising for the Head of Social Care & Education Law, leading or contributing to projects and service improvement initiatives, and preparing and delivering legal briefings and training.

Developing and maintaining effective professional relationships with Children’s Services, colleagues and partner organisations is essential, as is contributing to effective risk management and ensuring significant legal or service risks are appropriately escalated.

Experience
- Current practising certificate entitling you to practise in England and Wales
- At least three years’ post-qualification experience with substantial relevant experience in childcare/public law children work
- Strong knowledge of child protection law, children’s social care law and Family Court procedure
- Experience managing complex and sensitive childcare proceedings
- Strong advocacy, legal drafting, negotiation and analytical skills
- Experience supervising and supporting lawyers or other legal professionals
- Experience working within a local authority legal service and familiarity with legal case management systems is advantageous

About you
- Ability to identify legal risks and provide clear, practical and proportionate solutions
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with confidence and persuasiveness in advising
- Ability to organise and prioritise your own workload and that of others
- Ability to work effectively under pressure and respond to urgent and unforeseen demands
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build constructive relationships with client departments and colleagues
- Flexible and collaborative approach with a commitment to maintaining high professional standards

Qualifications
- Qualified Solicitor or Barrister with a current practising certificate