Children Law Solicitor Director – City of London

Job Description: Duncan Lewis Solicitors (Ltd):

Regulated by the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority, Duncan Lewis Solicitors was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in the City of London (Fenchurch Street EC3M), with offices nationwide. We are recognised by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners UK independent legal directories as a top-tier law firm in all of our key practice areas – “a diligent and professional team that is prepared to go the extra mile for its clients”. A paperless law firm with over 500 personnel that embraces hybrid-working, we service both corporate entities and private individuals in over 25 areas of law across 60 languages. We give people a voice - that is our ethos

Recognised among The Times 200 Best Law Firms, we have been awarded Law Firm of the Year at the 2024 Lexis Nexis Awards and 2023 Modern Law Awards, reflecting our dedication to legal expertise and client service. We hold Investors in People Gold Standard accreditation for over 15 years, showcasing our commitment to professional development. Duncan Lewis is also Law Society Lexcel, Cyber Essentials Plus, and ISO 27001 certified, ensuring excellence in practice management and data security.

We are committed to recruiting dedicated and talented professionals and welcome applications from exceptional candidates. At Duncan Lewis, we value training and diversity, and we take pride in our inclusive workforce.

Child Care Department:

Applauded by The Legal 500 has ‘an extremely knowledgeable and hugely capable child care team, our highly specialised Child Care Department is ranked and recommended by The Legal 500 UK and Chambers & Partners UK independent legal directories for its expertise in all aspects of child care law.

Our Child Care Law department approaches each case with a level of understanding only achievable through specializing in Child Care law. The key aspect of our work is assisting guardians to represent a child and representing parents. We act for children, parents and family members to provide expert advice to adopted parents and the birth parents who are considering adoption. The department also advises same-sex couples on child care matters, including child care arrangements following divorce, separation or dissolution of a civil partnership, adoption, co-parenting and surrogacy.

Setting us apart from other firms, the Child Care Law department consists of members of the Law Society Children and Family Panel Members. The majority are also members of the Association for the Lawyers for Children, and of Resolution (formerly known as the Solicitors Family Law Association). Duncan Lewis is one of few firms in the UK that are on the Lord Chancellor’s International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU) referral list. We have acquired a number of kite-marks and accreditations which are testament to the quality of the specialised work our staff undertake. We have had several high profile cases, which have been reported, which include caste, underage marriages and international elements.

Main Responsibilities of the Role

• Report directly to and collaborating with the Board to ensure performance targets are met
• Responsible for all aspects of Child Care work including providing technical expertise and guidance to other team members
• Ability to manage and supervise Solicitors, Trainee Solicitors and Caseworkers to manage appropriate caseload types and complexities
• Assisting with delivery of appropriate training and development in the department
• Variety of duties including dealing with a range of public and private children cases including child abduction, child protection issues, special guardianship and adoption matters as well as undertaking your own advocacy
• You will have a professional pro-active approach, strong client care skills and be interested in Business Development and Marketing to supplement the substantial work volumes brought in by the company

Key Skills Required:

• 3 Years+ PQE
• Registered with the Law Society and Children Panel Membership is desirable. The ideal candidate will be committed and highly driven.
• Must have a clean, valid Practicing Certificate at the time of applying
• Strong management skills
• Committed team player with ability to approach team concerns fairly, foster culture of positive change and encourage cross referrals
• Previous proven supervisory experience and working to key performance indicators
• Professional with a pro-active approach; excellent client care skills and ability to deal with vulnerable clients and resolve complicated practicalities involved in Child Care issues
• Excellent networking and communication skills with the ability to successfully market the Company and generate new business
• Working knowledge of the publically funded Child Care work and have the ability to service privately funded cases
• Have extensive experience in dealing with all Child Care work related work and some expertise on adoption matters
• Experience in own advocacy is an advantage
• Excellent IT Skills -familiar with Microsoft Office applications and document management skills