Employment Tribunal Advocate

We are looking for an experienced Employment Tribunal Advocate to represent Moorepay clients in Early Conciliation, Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal proceedings (including, occasionally, their Republic of Ireland equivalent) and provide case management advice & legal opinion to our clients. The role is intended to provide strong 121 litigation case management of employment cases, from preparation to full merits hearings of all types, including settlement advice and negotiation where indicated.

The role will also support occasional advice on complex or high-risk cases for front line Advice or HR consultants, requiring delivery of a clear brief to ensure thorough management.

Key Accountabilities

Support:

• Liaison with clients and ACAS to resolve EC requests or assist in decision-making on engagement in EC. The post holder will be required to manage such issues in the context of best outcomes for clients and insurers (where relevant) including assessment of costs, awards and exposure, plus negotiation and closure of settlements where indicated.
• Undertake all work associated with ET/EAT hearings as directed by the client and/or the business and supporting the internal insurance claims process by reviewing cases against advice and indemnity provisions.
• Provide advice & legal opinion on employment law issues and Tribunal proceedings to clients and colleagues from the Advice and Consultancy teams.
• Identify quality issues from EC/ET/EAT and support the HR Services team in implementing continuous improvement.
• First rate advocacy for remote and in-person hearings across the UK, both preliminary and full merits as well as appearance at EAT. To include accurate and timely drafting of comprehensive witness statements and skeleton arguments, compelling cross-examination and re-examination, and expert deployment of relevant case law and tribunal proceedings.

Provision of employment law advice to clients:

• Support the management of complex/high risk cases which have the potential to lead to litigation or lengthy processes for clients. The post holder will be required to ensure such cases are either managed within their team or assigned to front line Advisors / Consultants with a briefing on managing the case.
• Provide advice to all clients contemplating taking a commercial approach to employment issues including provision of guidance on costs, engagement in negotiations and drafting of standard and bespoke Settlement Agreements to achieve the desired client outcome.
• The role may include attendance at various Company / client sites where required, as well as travel to tribunal centres as required. The team has a regional structure but post holder will, exceptionally, be expected to travel outside of their region for hearings.
• Provide HR & Employment Law Advice to all clients within the remit of all Service Level Agreements that may exist.

General

• Undertake and maintain professional personal development in accordance with the role requirements.
• Liaise with account managers to ensure the clients' objectives are met.
• Maintain a high level of customer service both before, during and after the client's contractual relationship with Moorepay.
• Ensure that service provision promotes quality and value to customers.
• Maintain an ongoing awareness of the commercial aspects of Moorepay's commercial relationship with its customers.
• Ensure all appropriate record keeping is completed.

Commercial

• Identify additional opportunities for new business within the external market & existing customer base and liaise with the appropriate department to ensure this new business is resourced effectively.
• Work to ensure claims handling positively impacts the performance of our Legal Expenses Insurance product.

Required

• Demonstrable experience in representing respondents in employment tribunal hearings, including full merits hearings of all types.
• Experience of advising corporate clients on high-risk employment issues.
• Demonstrable communication/negotiation skills.
• High standards of written communication including top class drafting skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, including required admin/case management tasks.
• Strong Client facing skills, with a very credible presence.
• Highly self-motivated and driven.
• An excellent communicator/negotiator with demonstrable advocacy skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• Flexibility in use of time; ability to accept change and a willingness to adapt to new ways of working.
• Ability to advise clients in all aspects of employment law, including particularly complex cases.

Desirable

• Qualified, practicing Solicitor specialising in Employment Law Advice & Employment Tribunal Advocacy.
• Experience representing at EAT.
• Practical experience of advising clients in all aspects of HR & Employment Law especially on complex/high risk case files covering all work up to and including the EAT.

Part of the Zellis Group, Moorepay is a team of over 500 friendly professionals across four offices in Swinton (Manchester), Sheffield, Birmingham and Kochi (India). We're passionate about making Moorepay a fantastic place to work for every single one of our colleagues. The average length of service at Moorepay is 12 years, which speaks for itself

To help make Moorepay such a great place to work, we focus on three things in our company culture: mental health support, maintaining a healthy work/life balance, and equal opportunities and inclusion for all.

Here's what you'll gain if you join our team:

• A career packed with opportunity, in a stable and growing company.
• A comprehensive programme of learning and development.
• Competitive base salary.
• 25 days annual leave, with the opportunity to buy more. You'll even get your birthday off as well
• Private medical insurance.
• Life assurance 4x salary.
• Enhanced pension with up to 8.5% employer contributions.
• A huge range of additional flexible benefits across financial & personal wellbeing, lifestyle & leisure.