Paralegal - Financial Services Disputes and Investigations

We are a top 50 law firm with over 200 partners and around 1,600 staff in total.  We have 13 locations in the UK and a significant international network.  Our clients include some of the largest financial, automotive, and technology businesses in the UK.

We champion diversity and inclusion, and do everything we can to attract and nurture a diverse group of people and to create an environment and culture that is genuinely inclusive, in which every member of staff feels valued for their contribution.  We have been awarded Gold status in the Law Society Diversity and Inclusion Charter in recognition of our commitment to this.  We were the first major law firm to achieve “Gold Standard” Investors in People. 

Perhaps most recently we are celebrating a win as Law Firm of the Year (Large Firms) category at the first ever Women in Law Awards.

The Financial Services Disputes and Investigations team is part of the Business Advisory Division of Shoosmiths, one of the UK’s largest national law firms.  We specialise in investigating and resolving disputes for a wide range of lenders (either as Claimant or Defendant), predominantly in the Asset, Motor and Consumer Finance sectors, but also in general banking disputes.  We also specialise in the recovery of financed assets and/or potential losses for our clients, whether from borrowers, guarantors or other third parties.

We are looking for a Paralegal to join the team’s Birmingham office. We know that the Covid 19 pandemic has changed expectations around where and how we work. We pride ourselves on having a culture and technology which lends itself well to flexible working. In this role, you would be required to spend time in the office on an ad hoc basis and for an initial period of training but in general, we expect to offer a mix of office and home working.

This Paralegal will work as part of a busy team dealing with litigation and dispute resolution on behalf of banks and finance houses, in the fields of Asset, Motor and Consumer Finance, as well as general banking.  You will need to deal with your own caseload, assist specialist lawyers in the team, as well as supporting colleagues in other teams as required.

You can expect the work to include:

• pre-legal investigation and correspondence
• negotiations
• drafting statements of case, applications and witness statements
• legal research
• managing lower value and less complex disputes effectively and efficiently through all stages of the litigation process, in accordance with current legislative and regulatory requirements
• communicating with clients, opponents, courts and other third parties in a courteous and professional manner
• business development

We can support your development as you will be expected to attend and complete mandatory training. You may also have the opportunity to attend client meetings – building on your relationship skills and growing your confidence.

You will experience a strong team ethos as you collaborate with your colleagues to reach financial targets and support marketing initiatives, as required.

If you are well-organised, keen to develop your skills and enjoy working hard and getting results, then this is the job for you!

We hold a strong belief in culture and community, and genuinely believe we have something different to offer you at Shoosmiths.  This is reflected in everything we say and do from our use of technology to enable agile working, to the team spirit and culture and our collaborative way of working across offices.

We are a values-driven business – our values are at the core of the firm and we evaluate how we behave in accordance with these values through a competency framework. This role is considered to be at competency Level 1 in our internal framework.

We are looking for candidates with the following:

Essential

• Legal background - a degree and be working towards the LPC or CILEx qualification;
• prior recent experience as a paralegal in finance litigation or equivalent and a genuine interest in working in a contentious area of law;
• previous experience acting for financial institutions or strong awareness and interest in this sector;

Desirable knowledge and experience:

• previous experience dealing with Consumer Credit Act disputes;
• knowledge of the FCA Consumer Credit Act regime
• working at or acting for a bank or finance house
• knowledge of asset, motor and consumer finance products
• enforcing guarantees and other securities
• payment services
• satisfactory quality disputes
• wrongful interference with goods
• fraud investigation and recovery

General

• IT literate with experience of using Word, Excel and the internet
• Good written, numeracy and oral communication skills
• Ability to deal with difficult telephone conversations with any of the key stakeholders in the recoveries process confidently and calmly and refer if appropriate
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• Ability to prioritise, be organised and efficient
• Flexibility with the capability to adapt to change, new practices and cope under pressure but with the ability to recognise when to seek assistance
• Able to integrate within a team and able to work on your own initiative
• Friendly and helpful approach

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted.  These checks will include references, proof of ID and current address, Personnel Vetting credit search (which will only highlight insolvency or County Court Judgements); Terrorism Check (against data supplied by the Bank of England) and a Criminal Records check.

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.