Law Commission

**Law Commission: Lawyer, Public Law Team - 66004**
**£55,720 - £64,135**
**Westminster**:
Salary

£55,720 - £64,135

Number of jobs available

1

Detail of reserve list

12 Months

Region

London

City/Town

Westminster

Building/Site

102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ

Grade

Grade 7

Organisation Grade for MoJ

Grade 7

Post Type

Fixed term

Working Pattern

Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working

Role Type

Legal Services

**Overview**:
The Law Commission for England and Wales is the statutory body set up under the Law Commissions Act 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reform where it is needed.

We are looking to recruit an exceptional lawyer to join the Law Commission’s public law team.

The vacancy arises in the context of an upcoming review of compulsory purchase legislation, the aim of which is to consolidate and modernise the legislation concerning the process for acquiring land and the principles governing compensation for compulsory purchase.

We are primarily looking for lawyers with strong research, analytical and writing skills, who would be able to pick up the legal and policy issues quickly. In particular:

- Knowledge of compulsory purchase law is an advantage, although we will also consider experience of related or adjacent areas of planning and infrastructure law;
- But we are keen to hear from public or government lawyers or academics with an interest in law reform who demonstrate a capacity to acquire knowledge of complex areas of law, particularly statute quickly.

This role is an excellent opportunity for lawyers to gain law reform, policy, drafting, bill development and stakeholder engagement experience. **It is offered on a fixed term contract for 18 months, dependent on project and start date**.

**Background**:
The Law Commission’s aims are:

- To ensure that the law is as fair, modern, simple and as cost-effective as possible
- To conduct research and consultations with a view to making recommendations for reform for consideration by Parliament
- To codify the law, eliminate anomalies, repeal obsolete and unnecessary enactments and reduce the number of separate statutes

A job description and outline of required skills are set out below.

The main duties of this post are:

- Working on one or more law reform projects with the Commissioner, the Team Manager, and (where relevant) other team lawyers and research assistants.
- Managing a project against an agreed timetable.
- Researching the law and how it works in practice (both in the UK and overseas), producing detailed research memos.
- Analysing problems with the law, identifying options for reform and testing potential solutions.
- Writing reports and other documents in conjunction with the Commissioner, the team manager and other team members; preparing these for publication.
- Analysing formal consultation responses.
- Working with the Head of Communications to organise publicity for our work.
- For some projects, instructing Parliamentary Counsel to draft legislation.
- Working with the Law Commission’s Economic Adviser to analyse the potential impact of reform options.
- Assisting with the promotion and implementation of recommendations from completed projects, contributing to the consideration of new project work and working on other legal issues as they arise.
- Engaging with stakeholders (both inside and outside Government).
- Effectively managing one or more Research Assistants.
- Assessing potential ideas for law reform and interacting with stakeholders and government officials to build the Law Commission’s programme of future work.
- Acting as an effective and cooperative member of your law reform team and the Commission.
- Acting as a leader and role model, supporting and encouraging the sharing of knowledge, skills and best practice.

**Essential qualifications**:

- **Professional**: You must be either a solicitor or barrister qualified to practise in England and Wales, or the holder of a law degree who can demonstrate a comparable level of legal ability (for example, as an overseas professionally qualified lawyer, a legal academic or a legal policy expert)

**Selection process**:
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience, Technical Skills and Strengths.

At the sift stage you will be assessed on your Experience, Behaviours and Technical Skills.

**Experience**:
Demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the specific job role.

**Behaviours**:

- **Delivering at Pace** - you must be able to take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive
- **Making effective decisions** - you must be able to use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice, carefully considering alternative options, and the implications and risks of decisions
- **Working together** - you must be able to form effective partnerships and relat