Pro Bono Administrator and Paralegal Apprentice - College of Arts and Law - AP105424 - Apprenti[...]

Position Details

Birmingham Law School, College of Arts and Law

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is £20,693 per annum rising to £25,866 per annum after 12 months service.

Apprentice Grade 4

Full Time, Fixed Term contract for 2 years

Apprenticeship Standard: Paralegal - level 3

Training Provider: BPP

Closing date: 30th March 2025 - please upload a CV with your application

Potential interview dates: 29th, 30th April and 6th May

Eligibility: The training delivered in apprenticeships is funded through the apprenticeship levy which is subject to Department for Education funding rules for apprenticeships. When reviewing applications the University and the training provider will be checking candidates meet this eligibility criteria. Further information is available on our webpage. Due to the funding rules, applicants with a law degree will not be eligible to apply.

Our offer to you

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high-quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus, we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with a pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum, and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham.

Apprenticeship context

This is an exciting opportunity to join Birmingham Law School in the role of Pro Bono Administrator and Paralegal Apprentice. This role supports the administration of our pro bono activity, working closely with academic staff and participating students.

Birmingham Law School is a diverse, civic and global law school within the College of Arts and Law with over 70 academic staff and 1,700 students. BLS is one of the world’s Top 100 Law Schools and consistently named as one of the UK’s best law schools. The School’s Centre for Employability, Professional Legal Education and Research (CEPLER) extends opportunities for law students to experience law in practice during their studies. CEPLER’s Pro Bono Group engages students in the provision of high-quality legal advice, assistance and public legal education to the community.

Apprenticeship summary

To learn to provide proactive administrative and legal case management for Birmingham Law School’s free legal advice clinics, as part of the Pro Bono Group, which is part of its Centre for Employability, Professional Legal Education and Research (CEPLER), working as part of a team or on own initiative.

You will learn to be responsible for the oversight, organisation and administration of two Pro Bono clinics, which deliver useful free legal advice to vulnerable members of our local community on property law, employment law, family law, fraud law, wills and probate and civil litigation.

You will be able to develop a wide range of skills, both technical, legal and administrative, and may also have the opportunity to lead on specific tasks within a team. This can include advising clients yourself, through the Pro Bono clinic.

You will be line managed by the CEPLER Senior Administrator, with day-to-day supervision by the head of the Pro Bono Group, and other CEPLER supervising solicitors.

Main duties you will learn

1. Administering the operation of the advice clinics;
2. Overseeing the continual progression of client cases;
3. Ensuring that parties are communicated with and updated at every stage of their enquiry;
4. Appropriately allocating client cases to students;
5. Ensuring that all enquiries are responded to, referring any to the supervising solicitor as appropriate, and that deadlines are being met;
6. Managing a calendar of client appointments, ensuring the calendar is kept up to date, that all parties are informed of client appointments and arranging for appointments to be held virtually where necessary;
7. Attending the clinic, as required, to ensure its smooth running;
8. Once sufficiently trained and experienced, acting under supervision on client cases by preparing for and interviewing clients, researching legal queries and drafting letters of advice;
9. Assisting with training the students on topics such as client handling skills, drafting and interviewing;
10. Preparing and organising the CEPLER office so that clinical work can be carried out effectively and efficiently;
11. Assisting with the preparation and compilation of student handbooks and other training materials.

Public Legal Education (“PLE”)

1. Assisting with and contributing to the design, research and delivery of PLE sessions.
2. Supporting with the arranging of sessions with external parties.
3. Supporting with the delivery of the student training and briefing sessions for the respective PLE project, and when sufficiently experienced and trained, to deliver the same.

Policy Projects:

1. Coordination of and participation in research on topical legal issues and preparation of policy statements, position papers, reports and recommendations.

In General

1. Contribute to planning the most efficient/effective means to administer and deliver pro bono projects and maximise student learning and development opportunities.
2. Supporting the College of Arts and Law in the collation of documents and information relating to freedom of information or Subject Access Requests.

Health and Safety

1. You will be expected to uphold compliance with all University and local Health & Safety policies, including risk assessments and manual handling, reporting any breaches or non-compliance to the relevant manager.
2. If required, assist or prepare risk assessments and keep these up to date.

Administrative duties

1. You will be required to assist with administrative support for all aspects of the PBG, including room bookings, printing materials, Canvas announcements, Canvas pages updates, collecting and collating feedback, supporting the application process to the PBG etc.
2. Collating and presenting clinic data for multiple purposes, including, but not limited to, Law School updates, the CEPLER annual report, PBG events and the Law Works annual clinic survey.
3. Reporting any problems with equipment or services relating to the work of the PBG which cannot be resolved to the line manager as appropriate.
4. Adopt a proactive attitude to assisting with and implementing carbon reduction and energy saving measures where practicable.
5. Supports equality and values diversity, moderates own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.
6. Any other duties commensurate with the grade and skill base of the post holder.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Currently undertaking A levels with predicted grades of ABB or above, or Educated to A Level standard with achieved grades of ABB or above, or equivalent level 3 qualification such as a Level 3 NVQ, or level 3 national diploma or relevant work experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role.
• GCSE level 2 (A*- C/4-9) or equivalent level 2 qualification in Mathematics and English.
• Good IT skills with working knowledge of standard Microsoft Office software.
• Strong interest in working in a legal environment and handling client caseloads, meeting deadlines and working independently as well as in a team.
• Appreciation of the importance of confidentiality and the ability to maintain confidential information.
• Capable of working with students and providing support, direction and guidance as appropriate.
• Ability to take responsibility for specific tasks, carrying out duties without needing to refer to others, with scope for some choice and using your own judgment.
• Ability to work on your own initiative.
• Ability to proactively contribute to improving processes and for proposing new ways of working.
• Ability to organise and manage own workload after consultation with manager.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and effectively with others.
• Ability to handle difficult conversations with empathy, in a clear and professional manner.
• Well organised with the ability to prioritise work proactively, independently and as part of a team.
• A good understanding of how to deliver excellent customer service.
• An aptitude for learning new IT packages and systems.
• The ability to cope with change in a fast moving, dynamic environment where change is often required immediately.
• An understanding of the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• The ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures and how to respond to issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.

For enquiries please email: apprenticeships@contacts.bham.ac.uk

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.