Costs Lawyer/Draftsperson

Costs Lawyer/Draftsperson

London, Leeds, Manchester or Bristol

£61,200 London

£59,200 National

Much more than law.

The Government Legal Department (GLD) is the largest provider of legal services across government, working with all the main Whitehall departments. From energy to security, from roads to rivers, health to human rights, our work touches on most aspects of public life. From developing and drafting legislation to helping to secure economic and trade relationships, providing legal advice on polices to ensuring value from contracts, our work is stimulating and varied.

This is an opportunity to use your expertise to improve and drive delivery within the specialist and ever-developing area of costs litigation. Our Costs Litigation team undertakes legal costs litigation and also provides advice across a wide range of government departments and executive agencies. Costs budgeting created a demand for our input at a much earlier stage of the wider litigation process and our specialists are playing an increasingly proactive role.

Your role

You’ll join a team delivering high-quality, competitive legal costs services on a wide range of legal areas including judicial review, personal injury, clinical negligence, inquests and inquiries, human rights, employment and land tribunal, commercial and charities matters. The work includes adverse, recovery and budgeting work and is often complex, high profile and, at times, unique.

You’ll provide day to day line management and development support to a small mini team comprising junior Costs Lawyers, Costs Draftspersons and trainees and have the ability to create a nurturing environment whilst also maintaining focus on issues of quality and performance.

Whilst maintaining your own small caseload of complex, high value or high profile cost cases, including group litigation actions, you’ll also provide strategic input and direction on cases run by junior staff. We’ll look to you to create a nurturing learning environment while also maintaining focus on quality and performance. Fostering the team’s relationship with external costs suppliers will be a key part of the role as will be ensuring quality service delivery in line with Lexcel and GLD service standards.

About you

A highly experienced Costs Lawyer / Draftsperson, you’ll demonstrate leadership, technical and management skills. You’ll have a track-record of personally handling high value and complex costs casework requiring strategic direction in adverse, recovery and budgeting work. Experience of line management in a costs setting is essential. We’ll also look for the ability to:

• drive high performance behaviours within a team.
• foster good working relationships with key clients and internal teams.
• communicate effectively and convey complex issues to diverse audiences.
• demonstrate precise attention to detail while seeing the bigger picture.

Benefits

GLD encourages its people to develop their skills in a nurturing environment. Other benefits include access to a valuable civil service pension and flexible working arrangements.

Our vision is to be an outstanding legal organisation and a brilliant place to work where everyone can thrive and fulfil their potential. This is an exciting time for GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.

Closing date for applications: Midday on Monday 9^th September 2024.