Assistant Lawyer

Lawyers In Local Government; Horsham; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job description

Reference number: SC07305

Location: London

Schedule: Full-time

Contract Type: Permanent

The role

Are you a skilled and confident General Litigation Lawyer looking to take your career to the next level? Southwark Council’s In-House Litigation Team is now hiring an Assistant Lawyer to be part of a legal service that makes a tangible impact on the borough.

Southwark is a borough that thrives on diversity, confidence, and ambition. With over 120 languages spoken and a young, multi-cultural population, we are committed to delivering a fairer future for all. If you want varied, challenging, and meaningful work in a fast-paced legal environment, this could be the role for you!

Why this role and Southwark?

• Work that matters: Handle diverse and high-profile Litigation cases that directly impact the local community.
• Career progression: Whether you are newly qualified or experienced, we offer development opportunities to enhance your legal career.
• Supportive environment: Join a collaborative team that values your legal expertise, innovation, and offers continuous learning.

As An Assistant Lawyer, You Will

• Manage a diverse caseload of general litigation matters, including commercial and residential property disputes, contract issues, injunctions, and enforcement cases.
• Provide strategic and tactical legal advice, ensuring Southwark Council remains a leader in public service law.
• Represent the Council in complex and sensitive cases, including advocacy in court.
• Stay up to date with court rules, demonstrating strong file management and efficiency.
• Collaborate with officers at all levels to shape legal strategies and influence key decision-making.
• You’ll be instrumental in guiding our approach to legal challenges and ensuring that Southwark remains a leader in public service law.

How will you make an impact as our Assistant Lawyer?

We’re looking for a practical, proactive, and results-driven lawyer who brings a blend of the following:

• Newly qualified or some post qualification experience as a Lawyer with relevant litigation experience, gained in legal practice.
• A current practising certificate as a Solicitor, Barrister, or CILEX Fellow (or eligibility to apply for one).
• Strong case management skills and the ability to handle a varied caseload effectively.
• Confident written and verbal communication, with a collaborative work ethic.
• Advocacy skills with a desire to represent the Council in court.
• The ability to quickly adapt to unfamiliar legal areas, becoming proficient with minimal supervision.
• A solid understanding of, or previous exposure to, public sector legal work.
• Commercial awareness and the ability to identify and successfully manage litigation risk.
• This role offers flexible home working blended with travel into our London Bridge HQ.

About Southwark Council

Southwark Council is the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues such as The Shard, The Tate Modern and Borough Market along with many social enterprises and we have a young, diverse, and growing population.

At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities. Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals, and attend our universities.

Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together, (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice, and inequality) underpins all that we do.

Benefits And More Information

• Working for Southwark Council – Southwark

Recruitment timetable

• Application Closing Date: 11.59pm on the 6 May 2025.
• Interview Date: The week of 16 June 2025.

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities.

This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative.

We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

Requirements

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans.
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care.
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role, in which case we will move the key dates for the process. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Attachments

• JD Assistant Lawyer Gen Lit.docx