Case Handler/Paralegal

Shoosmiths - UK Law Firm of the Year Winner at the Legal Week British Legal Awards 2015.

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 Recoveries Services Group provides a complete range of debt recovery services utilising cutting edge technology and with specialists dealing with different debt types, all operating under a centralised management structure allowing us to deliver consistently excellent service.

Our national Asset Finance team is based at the Lakes and Birmingham offices.

We act for a wide variety of captive and non-captive lenders. This breadth of experience enhances our knowledge of the industry and allows us to share that industry insight.

Our specialist team of asset finance litigators is trained to deal with asset finance recoveries using commercial strategies and to engage with the customer at an early stage of proceedings. We deal with all cases, from routine undefended matters to large complex cases.

Within the asset finance recoveries team we have our own negotiations team, comprising experienced collections staff who engage with customers by telephone and seek to agree sensible repayment terms before legal proceedings are issued.

We also have a complaints team made up of experienced collections staff. This team deals with our clients' complaints and for a fixed fee will seek to engage with the customer to resolve the dispute, whether it concerns the satisfactory quality of the asset, title or a lien. We are able to bring objectivity to complaints resolution and reduce the number of complaints being referred to FOS.

Required to work as part of a team dealing with non-standard and defended litigation for the return of motor vehicles and other assets, as well as banking debt recovery litigation.

You will be acting exclusively for financial institutions in the retail banking and motor and asset finance sectors, and will be expected to deal with your own caseload covering a range of issues and including:

• pre-legal investigation and correspondence
• drafting particulars of claim, defences and witness statements
• managing 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
• researching legal issues

You will work as part of a team and be able to work on your own initiative, whilst also supporting your team colleagues.  The ability to organise your day and to prioritise work is essential whilst remaining calm and professional in your approach.

You will be expected to attend and complete mandatory training and you may be required to attend client meetings. You will also be expected to assist the team in reaching financial targets and to support marketing initiatives where required.

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE:

• Legal background with either ILEX, LLB or LPC qualification
• previous experience acting for financial institutions
• previous experience dealing with Consumer Credit Act disputes
• knowledge of the FCA Consumer Credit Act regime

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE:

• asset finance experience
• enforcing guarantees and other securities
• dealing with satisfactory quality disputes
• handling claims for conversion and/or wrongful interference with goods

SKILLS:

• IT literate with experience of using Word, Excel and the internet
• Ability to deal with difficult telephone conversations with any of the key stakeholders in the recoveries process confidently and calmly and refer if appropriate
• Good written, numeracy and oral communication skills
• 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.