Paralegal/Trainee Solicitor

Who we are:

We are a forward looking multi-disciplinary high street law firm with 6 offices located in the south of County Durham and Gateshead.

We have had a presence in the North East for over 100 years and have an excellent reputation as a provider of legal services, especially where Criminal Law is concerned.

Our Criminal Law department has grown significantly in the recent years, such that we are now one of the largest providers in the North-East of England.

We specialise in legally aided and privately funded Criminal Law proceedings, Road Traffic Law and Military Law police investigations and Courts Martial proceedings.

We attend police stations and Courts in the Durham, Tyneside and North Yorkshire justice areas. In addition to this, when representing service persons in military matters we also attend overseas interviews which have included Canada, Estonia, Kenya, Germany and Cyprus thus far.

We are a 'paper light' firm and all criminal matters are stored on our electronic case management system.

We have a high retention rate of staff and offer competitive salaries and incentives.

The Candidate:

In aiding the growth of the department, we are seeking to employ a paralegal with a view to them starting their training contract within 6 months of commencing this position if they are suitable in the role. If successful, the 6 months as a paralegal will then be deducted from their training contract, meaning they will be qualified as a solicitor within 2 years.

The candidate will primarily be based in our Gateshead office, however, they will need to be flexible to be able to travel to our other criminal office located in Darlington, if necessary. Whilst previous experience isn't essential, if a candidate were already to have their police station accreditation this would place them in a very strong position.

If not, we will train the successful candidate with a view to promptly obtaining their police station accreditation.

The candidate must have a law degree and have completed the LPC or be at the appropriate SQE stage. Any applications that do not hold these qualifications will not be considered.

The candidate must be able to drive and be willing to work on our out of hours rota.

The candidate must be IT proficient and have knowledge of Microsoft Office, including word, excel and outlook.

The candidate must be able to work under close supervision and, later, with lesser supervision. They need to be driven, forward thinking and have the ability to act robustly for their clients whilst maintaining a high degree of professionalism and with external agencies such as Police and Court staff.

The candidate will need to be able to work under pressure and be able to work in a busy and challenging environment.

The candidate will receive training and when ready undertake a variety of tasks including attending police stations to represent clients, take witness statements, legal research, reviewing evidence, attending conferences, shadowing solicitors in the Magistrates' Court, attending Courts Martial Hearings with counsel, attending Crown Court hearings with counsel, prison visits, legal aid and prior authority applications and undertaking other tasks as directed by those in management.

Salary & Annual Leave:

The starting salary as a paralegal is £22,500. The starting salary as a trainee solicitor is £24,500.

We pay extra generous rates for out of hours police station attendances.

We also pay extra generous rates for members of staff who attended overseas military interviews.

If the candidate is retained upon qualification salary is increased upon qualification and later increased when Duty Solicitor accreditation is obtained.

We offer 25 days of annual leave per year plus an extra day for an employee's birthday.

Additionally, we close over the christmas period and do not require staff to hold back days to cover this period, thus equating to 3-4 days extra annual leave. Bank holidays are on top of this leave.

Please send a CV with a covering letter to for those that wish to apply.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: £22,500.00-£24,500.00 per year

Benefits:

• Additional leave
• Employee discount

Work Location: In person