Paralegal

We have an exciting opportunity for you to join Dorset Council's legal team as a Paralegal in the Adult Social Care team. The work within this team is interesting and varied and contributes to Dorset Council complying with its Adult Social Care statutory duties for residents in the Dorset area. As part of the role you will provide support to the five solicitors in the team who have an excellent working relationship with the Adult Social care department. You will have the opportunity to attend the Court of Protection and the Civil Courts, where you will take detailed notes of the hearings. You will undertake research on matters which will require reference to the Mental Health Act 1983, the Care Act 2014 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and draft documents and correspondence., This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn.

The team is forward thinking and provide legal training which helps to develop working relationships and the legal knowledge of the client department. The training covers the Court of Protection, Ordinary Residence, Inquests and Community Deprivation of Liberty. As a paralegal you will collaborate with the team to help arrange and provide this training. There are weekly team meetings where work is allocated and discussions take place about case law and relevant legislation. There are also supportive monthly 1:1 meetings with your manager to discuss workload and any training needs. The ability to communicate effectively with the team and clients, excellent organisational skills and the ability to work as part of team or on your own is essential for this interesting and exciting role.

Dorset Council: A great place to work

We're passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents


• have ambitious aspirations


• are excited about our future


• care about Dorset and all the people who live here


• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success


You will:

• have access to a range of employee benefits


• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed


• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression


We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.