Vacancy: Senior Court Solicitor

We are looking for a Senior Court Solicitor to join the Civil Legal Assistance Office (CLAO) in Aberdeen. This is an exciting new role for an experienced litigator to help shape how we deliver holistic legal services to children and young people within CLAO and the wider Client Legal Services directorate.

Application deadline: Wednesday 23 August, midnight

As a senior solicitor, you will assist the Head of Office and be part of a team providing high quality advice and representation to legally aided clients. You will be expected to manage a complex caseload within our core areas of work (for example, children’s hearings and public family law, housing and homelessness, benefit appeals, and certain debt matters. A significant part of your role will be focused on child law related casework and in delivering tailored legal services to children and young people.

The Aberdeen CLAO office operates a Child Law Hub to improve access to justice for children and young people. You will have a key role in developing the Hub’s work and in delivering holistic, trauma-informed services to children and young people requiring civil and/or children’s legal aid assistance.

Working closely with colleagues within the Public Defence Solicitors’ Officer (PDSO) your work will also entail providing criminal legal defence services in courts and at police stations both as nominated and Duty solicitor for the children and young people you represent. PDSO solicitors already work alongside their CLAO colleagues in the Aberdeen office, and this role provides a unique opportunity to develop those links across the Client Legal Service directorate and provide child-centred services to clients with a range of needs in both the civil and criminal spheres.

You should have significant civil and/or criminal court experience and a keen interest in representing children and young people in the context of children’s hearings, CLAO’s other core areas of work as well as criminal court matters. Comprehensive training will be provided to support you with this important work.

About CLAO

CLAO, established in its current form in 2008, is a network of offices providing legal assistance and related services throughout Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Highland and the Islands and Moray, Edinburgh and the Lothians, and Argyll and Bute. Our work is focused on the rights of people who face the most significant barriers to accessing justice and on tackling inequalities.

We carry out rewarding work that can have a considerable impact on clients’ lives.

How to apply

Full details about the post and online application are available on our recruitment portal (external link).