Children Law Paralegal - Manchester

Role: Children Paralegal

Duncan Lewis Solicitors is seeking a motivated and talented Child Care Paralegal to join our highly regarded Child Care Department. This is an excellent opportunity to develop your career with one of the UK's leading law firms, recognised by The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners as a top-tier practice and awarded Law Firm of the Year at both the 2024 LexisNexis Awards and the 2023 Modern Law Awards.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in the City of London, Duncan Lewis Solicitors is a national, award-winning, paperless law firm with over 500 professionals nationwide. Our ethos is simple: "We give people a voice."

Our highly specialised Child Care Department is recognised by The Legal 500 as "an extremely knowledgeable and hugely capable child care team" and is ranked for its expertise across all aspects of child care law. The team represents children, parents, guardians and family members in a broad range of matters, including care proceedings, adoption, surrogacy, co-parenting arrangements and international child issues. The department is distinguished by its exceptional accreditations, with many team members holding Law Society Children Panel membership and membership of the Association of Lawyers for Children, and Duncan Lewis being one of the few firms in the UK on the Lord Chancellor's International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU) referral list.

Joining Duncan Lewis means becoming part of a diverse, supportive and forward-thinking organisation where you will have the opportunity to work alongside highly regarded specialists on complex and often high-profile cases that make a real difference to children and families.

Duties and responsibilities

As a Children Law Paralegal, you will play a key role in supporting clients across a broad range of child care matters, assisting children, parents, guardians and family members through complex and often sensitive proceedings while helping to achieve the best possible outcomes for those involved.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Report directly to Department Director
• Professional pro-active approach, strong client care skills and a sensitive and sympathetic understanding of clients’ needs
• Assisting with casework 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
• Attending clients, taking instructions and preparing cases
• Dealing with correspondence
• Maintaining accurate time costing procedures
• Implementing any recommendations made by your supervisor following monthly file reviews ensuring that these are dealt with promptly
• Ensuring compliance with file management

Experience and qualifications

The successful candidate will demonstrate a genuine interest in Children Law and a commitment to delivering exceptional client service.

Essential requirements include:

• A strong academic background with a Law degree
• Demonstrate passion and experience in a broad range of publicly funded Child Care Law
• Legal experience as a Child Care Paralegal/Advisor
• Clear understanding and application of Children Laws
• Excellent legal research, drafting and analytical skills.
• Strong organisational and time management abilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Professional, motivated and client-focused approach.
• Business acumen and the ability to market the Company
• Excellent communications skills to work effectively with all types of people
• Excellent analytical and organisational skills and ability to use own initiative but know when to seek guidance
• Strong IT skills, including Microsoft Office and document management systems.

Benefits

We offer a competitive salary and a comprehensive range of benefits designed to support your professional development, wellbeing, and work-life balance, including:

• Competitive salary with structured pay review process
• Company pension scheme
• 22 days annual leave, increasing with length of service
• Additional birthday leave*
• Occupational sick pay*
• Payment of practising certificate and relevant professional membership fees*
• Access to extensive e-library resources and training webinars
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and wellbeing support
• Employee referral scheme
• Eye care vouchers
• Enhanced family-friendly benefits*
• DBS checks paid by the Company
• Flexible and hybrid working options, including part-time arrangements where appropriate
• Support for solicitor qualification and SQE1 examinations*
• Clear career progression opportunities
• Support for industry recognition, awards, and professional profile development
• Company Medical Cash Plan*

*Subject to eligibility and Company policy.

Company culture

At Duncan Lewis Solicitors, we are passionate about creating an environment where talented professionals can thrive. We are proud of our diverse and inclusive workforce and are committed to providing equal opportunities for all employees.

Our long-standing Investors in People Gold Standard accreditation reflects our commitment to employee development, while our Lexcel, Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001 certifications demonstrate our dedication to excellence, innovation and security.

We invest heavily in the growth of our people through ongoing training, mentoring, clear progression pathways and opportunities to gain industry recognition. Whether you are looking to deepen your expertise, develop leadership skills or advance your career within a nationally recognised law firm, Duncan Lewis provides the platform to help you succeed.

Join a firm where your expertise is valued, your development is supported, and your work makes a genuine difference to the lives of clients across the UK.