Employment Paralegal

The role

We are seeking a motivated and ambitious Paralegal to support our Employment team on a broad range of employment law matters. This role offers excellent development opportunities for an individual looking to build a long term career in employment law within a leading national practice.

The successful candidate will work closely with partners, legal directors, principal associates and associates, providing support on a varied caseload of both advisory and contentious matters.

The Team

Our national Employment team is widely respected for providing pragmatic, commercial and timely employment law advice to a broad range of clients. The team advises primarily employer clients across a variety of sectors, supporting them on both contentious and non-contentious employment matters, including Employment Tribunal litigation, workplace investigations, restructures, redundancies, TUPE transfers, executive departures, discrimination claims, industrial relations issues and day to day HR advisory work. The team also works closely with specialists across advocacy, corporate, immigration and litigation practices to deliver seamless support to clients.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a collaborative and high performing team, gaining exposure to complex employment law matters while working alongside experienced lawyers recognised in the market for their expertise and client service.

Essential

Skills & Experience

• A law degree, GDL, SQE qualification or equivalent legal qualification.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• A high level of attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong legal research and drafting skills.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team and independently when required.
• Commercial awareness and an interest in employment law developments.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and legal case management systems.

Desirable

• Previous paralegal experience
• Previous employment law experience
• Experience within a national or commercial law firm environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Assisting with Employment Tribunal claims, including preparing bundles, drafting correspondence and conducting legal research.
• Supporting lawyers with day-to-day employment advisory matters, including disciplinary and grievance procedures, performance management issues and absence management.
• Drafting and reviewing employment documentation, including contracts of employment, settlement agreements, policies and procedures.
• Assisting on corporate transactions and TUPE-related matters.
• Conducting legal research and preparing briefing notes for clients and team members.
• Managing document reviews and disclosure exercises.
• Preparing hearing bundles and liaising with counsel, clients and Tribunal offices.
• Maintaining case management systems and ensuring files are managed in accordance with firm procedures.
• Supporting business development initiatives, client seminars, webinars and marketing activities.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with clients and internal stakeholders.

The firm

Shoosmiths is the law firm clients choose for excellent service, incisive thinking and above all for our ability to focus on what matters. From offices across the UK and Brussels, we support some of the world’s most exciting and ambitious businesses; amazing clients making an impact. We empower our people to be their authentic selves and deliver together in supportive teams committed to excellence and innovation. The first top 50 law firm to achieve ‘Platinum Standard’ Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm.

We have an outstanding benefits package to complement our competitive remuneration system. In addition to the competitive salaries, great working environment and high-quality work, we believe that all staff should be rewarded for their commitment to the continued success of the firm through a comprehensive and flexible range of benefits.

To discover more about our benefits, please visit: Benefits Package

Shoosmiths is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. Disability Confident is a government scheme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term conditions.

As part of our accreditation, we commit to interviewing any applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria for each vacancy. In some circumstances we may only be able to interview those that best meet the essential criteria due to the volume of applications received.

Further information on the Disability Confident scheme is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/disability-confident-campaign

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to and usable by everyone. If you have a disability or long-term condition and would like to receive information in a different way, or need us to make any adjustments, changes or do anything differently during the recruitment process, please get in touch with the Talent Acquisition team on Experienced.Hire@shoosmiths.com. We can consider your needs and requirements, and how we can assist you to apply for our roles. For example we can provide a copy of our application via email so that you can complete it using your own accessibility software.

Equal opportunities

Our approach to our people is underpinned by our approach to diversity, inclusion and well-being. Our ambition is to build a diverse and ambitious workforce that reflects all backgrounds and talents, and a workplace that is supportive and inclusive, recognises and nurtures talent, and has a strong sense of community between colleagues.

This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.

#