Paralegal

A leading UK law firm with a network of offices from the South Coast to Scotland, working together as one national team. An innovative practice and the first top 100 law firm to achieve “Gold Standard” Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm. The lack of barriers between departments, a real lack of hierarchy, zero tolerance for arrogance and pomposity makes Shoosmiths a fantastic place to work.

Our national Employment team is widely respected for providing an excellent service, providing pragmatic and timely legal advice to its highly regarded client base. The team primarily works with employer clients along with some individual advisory work and a mix of both contentious and non-contentious matters. We also have specialists in advocacy, corporate work and business immigration.

Shoosmiths has recently moved to new office premises in Solent and this is an exciting opportunity to be part of an established and growing team.  The role is to assist a busy and agile team in providing a comprehensive and quality service for our clients. 

• Responsible for assisting with the management of employment cases.
• Drafting, reviewing and analysing documents, including ET1s and ET3s, disclosure and bundle documents and statements
• Assist with the drafting of general documents and letters, contracts of employment and associated documents, and solid drafting skills are essential
• As an Employment Paralegal you will be assisting in all aspects employment law work on behalf of employer clients
• Reviewing and drafting Policies, Handbooks and Contracts
• Manage their own workload, which will include contentious and non-contentious work
• Assisting clients in negotiations with regard to termination and addressing issues such as: Settlement Agreements, disciplinary and grievance issues and procedures and discrimination claims and to prepare cases for Tribunal hearings, principally on behalf of Claimants
• Preparation of bundles, and the management of client reporting systems
• In addition to building on your fee earning experience the team do a lot of networking including seminars, conferences and social events
• Ideally you will be a law graduate or studying towards your CILEx qualification
• Must be able to demonstrate a genuine interest in employment law and want to progress
• Dealing with and managing data subject access requests

• Ideally have gained at least 12 months experience within Employment law and experience of handling your own case load of Employment matters.
• An understanding of GDPR would be advantageous
• Good organisational skills to ensure that the tasks are effectively scheduled within working time available, and that urgent work is completed and returned with the specified timescales
• A methodical and organised approach with keen attention paid to every detail
• Be commercially aware and highly client focussed
• Excellent communication skills
• Self-confident and ability to demonstrate initiative
• Ability to grasp things quickly and easily
• Enthusiastic, energetic with a positive, can do attitude
• Good working knowledge of various applications – word, excel, outlook, digital dictation
• Ability to adapt to change, new practices and remain calm under pressure and find solutions
• Dealing with and managing data subject access requests

Shoosmiths is a committed Equal Opportunities employer promoting equality of opportunity. 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.