Qualified Lawyers

The Government Legal Department touches almost every aspect of public life. We provide legal services and advice to Government Departments on matters that are frequently scrutinised in Parliament and the media.

Our respected professionals are involved in everything from regulation and litigation to advice on drafting legislation. Our advisory clients range from Departments such as the Home Office, the Department for Business and Trade to the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Defence, to name just a few. Join us and you can look forward to unique high-profile work, outstanding career development, and the satisfaction that comes from a far-reaching role in the life of a nation. This is much more than law.

The Role

You'll work with other legal professionals across Government, including Ministers, and Departmental officials, advising on legal matters, providing guidance, and handling a caseload. No matter the department you join, you'll make a significant contribution to UK society.

With an exceptionally dynamic scope of work, our areas of law are varied and vast. From Litigation to Advisory, Commercial to Employment and EU legislation, there's no limit to the opportunities available to Qualified Lawyers.

A qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive, you can think both strategically and creatively about a range of legal issues. While previous experience or knowledge may be relevant to some vacancies, there will be opportunities to acquire legal skills and knowledge not required in private practice. And that's what makes us different. You'll be encouraged to develop your skills and will be provided opportunities to move between advisory, litigation, employment and commercial law services during your career with us.

Your reliable judgement and analysis will be matched with confidence to give persuasive, balanced and risk-based advice. Open-minded and impartial you welcome diverse opinions while, where needed, standing by your actions and those of your colleagues. You thrive on working collaboratively and at pace to deliver a high-quality customer-focused service being able to explain complex issues clearly, communicating openly with others to build trust.

GLD is much more than law.

Our vision is to be an outstanding legal organisation and a brilliant place to work where everyone can thrive and fulfil their potential. This is an exciting time for GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service., The Government Legal Department (GLD) is the largest provider of legal services across government, working with all the main Whitehall Departments. From roads to rivers, and health to human rights, our work touches on most aspects of public life.

The department has more than 14 client-facing advisory teams who provide legal advice on the development, design and implementation of government policies and decisions, draft secondary legislation and work with Parliamentary Counsel on primary legislation. Our cross-cutting expert service groups for Litigation, Employment and Commercial Law provide specialist legal services to a wide range of government departments and public bodies.

We are a non-ministerial government department with more than 2,300 employees, around 1,800 of whom are solicitors or barristers. The department is based primarily in London but has teams in Bristol, Manchester, and Leeds.
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Working at GLD is going to be a rapid but exciting learning curve. We offer a supportive and thorough career progression and development programme with opportunities to work in a number of legal areas. You can also expect a competitive pay package, an excellent Civil Service Pension and flexible working arrangements.

We are holding a candidate information session on Teams for this role on Tuesday 2^nd June, 5pm-6pm.

Candidates will have the opportunity to hear from lawyers working within the business, about what they do and their experiences working for the Government Legal Department.

There will also be an opportunity to ask questions about the role.