Solicitor - Education

You will need to login before you can apply for a job.

We're a national law firm with a local reach. Our legal experts are here for you. Whether it's personal or business, we understand that everyone's situation is different. But we're more than just a law firm - we're a team of people working together to help individuals and businesses navigate life's ups and downs. Working here you'll feel a part of our friendly and inclusive environment. We'll value you for who you are and what you bring. We support each other and push boundaries to achieve incredible things and make a real difference to our clients and communities. We're always looking to support our colleagues to work in a way that works best for them and everyone else, including our clients, the business and the regulators. Please speak to a member of our Recruitment and Onboarding team for more information.

Your Role and What Youll Be Doing

Education Solicitor in the Public Law and Human Rights team - you will run your own caseload and supervise junior colleagues. You may have experience in public law or community care law alongside your Education law experience. You will play an important role in further developing the teams established reputation and displaying education law expertise. You will be involved in an interesting and diverse caseload and will play a key part in securing justice for our clients and making a real difference in their lives. You will work independently on issued cases, and given the nature of the work youll work with vulnerable clients, requiring resilience and calm while putting your clientss needs first at all times.

You will be responsible for:

• Managing a caseload of complex education cases, comprising mainly of supporting families in SEND Tribunal appeals
• Advising on a wide range of education matters, including (where applicable) UTT appeals, school exclusions, admissions, Disability Discrimination Act cases, complaints against Local Authorities/LGO and school complaints, education-related Judicial Reviews, and providing advice to schools and colleges on education law and safeguarding matters
• Providing ad-hoc SEN strategy advice and conducting EHCP health checks
• Community Care law work related to education matters
• Working on privately and publicly funded work
• Supervising junior colleagues and conducting file reviews in due course
• Developing relationships with appropriate groups and organisations to provide an exceptional client experience and generate new cases
• Working with internal departments
• Writing and delivering seminars to charities and education-related organisations and attending networking events as part of business development
• Writing education law articles and case reviews

What We're Looking For

• A qualified Solicitor with between 2-8 years PQE
• Strong experience in education law, particularly SEND Tribunal appeals
• Confidence in handling a varied caseload with minimal supervision
• A collaborative approach to supervision and mentoring of junior colleagues
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to deliver training and write articles
• A proactive attitude towards business development and relationship building

Our Benefits - What We Can Offer You

• 25 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays - you can 'buy' up to 35hrs of extra holiday
• Generous and flexible pension schemes
• Volunteering days - Two days of volunteering every year for a cause of your choice (fully paid)
• Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside Aviva Digital GP services

We also offer a wide range of well-being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace, including our Flexible by Choice programme which gives colleagues more choice over a hybrid way of working subject to role, team and client requirements.

We have been ranked in the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing for Large Organisations for 2024!

Our responsible business programmes are fundamental to who we are and our purpose. Were committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where our colleagues can flourish, and we have established a number of inclusion network groups across our business to support this aim. Our commitment to Social Responsibility, community investment activity and tackling climate change is a fundamental part of who we are. Its made up of four strands: Our People, Our Community, Our Environment and Our Pro Bono.

Additional Information

As part of the Irwin Mitchell Group's onboarding process all successful applicants are required to complete the group's employment screening process. This process helps to ensure that all new employees meet our standards in relation to honesty and integrity, protecting the interests of the Group, colleagues, clients, partners and other stakeholders. We carry out pre-employment screening to establish your eligibility to work in the UK, criminal record and financial checks with our trusted third parties. The employment screening process will fully comply with Data Protection and other applicable laws. Irwin Mitchell LLP is an equal opportunity employer.

Visit this companys hub to learn about their values, culture, and latest jobs.

Create a job alert and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.