Bevan Brittan is a UK-Top 100
commercial law firm providing a comprehensive range of legal
services from offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and London.
The firm advises businesses across
construction, energy & resource management, higher education and
financial services, complementing the firm's market leadership
within housing, local government and health & social care.
We currently employ over 600
people, including over 90 Partners, and our award-winning teams
provide construction, commercial, corporate, property, regulatory,
employment and litigation (commercial and clinical negligence) legal advice.
Bevan Brittan is named among 'The
Times Best Law Firms 2023' and has recently either won or been
shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards.
We are driven by our 4 values:
Relationships, Results, Reputation and Responsible. These give us a
sense of purpose and ensure we always work collaboratively with
clients and colleagues, continually improve, make the right choices
and act with integrity.
Bevan Brittan is an equal
opportunities employer and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds.
The team
Housing is one of our core markets and focus areas for growth. The
Bevan Brittan Housing Management team has experienced significant
growth over the last couple of years and is now one of the largest
housing management practices in the country. Our track record of
delivering high quality advice means that growth is set to continue,
with a number of major tender wins adding to an already impressive
list of clients based across the country and nationally.
We advise a considerable number of registered providers, ranging from
many of the top ten largest providers in the country at one end of the
spectrum to smaller, specialist providers at the other and everything
in between. We assist our clients to tackle anti-social behaviour,
tenancy fraud, unlawful occupation, disrepair claims, access issues
and rent arrears as well as assisting them to manage changes to
legislation and the consequential effects that changes in government
policy have on their organisations.
Whilst the majority of our work is for housing associations, we also
increasingly provide housing management services to a range of other
types of organisation including local authorities, care providers, the
NHS, universities, charities, and private landlords.
The role
We have an excellent opportunity for a full time or part time
Paralegal, ideally with some litigation legal experience, to join our team.
The role will involve supporting the Solicitors within the team with
their caseload, but will also offer the opportunity to build a
personal caseload of appropriate cases. The clients you will be
advising will mostly be housing associations, local authorities and
specialist supported accommodation providers. Full support and
supervision will be provided.
The successful candidate will work very closely with our dynamic and
passionate team of Housing Management lawyers to advance cases to
court or to settlement. The work will be varied, challenging,
interesting and often urgent. Examples of the types of work that the
Paralegal will need to undertake are as follows:
Ensuring compliance with litigation deadlines
Drafting County Court claims
Preparing witness evidence
Preparing disclosure lists and documents
Liaising with Counsel, opponents and the Courts
Preparing trial bundle indexes and bundles
Drafting costs schedules for hearings
Arranging case conferences, witness meetings and conferences with Counsel
The role will also include contact with clients to take instructions
and progress cases.
What we are looking for from you
The successful candidate will have the following experience:
A genuine interest in social housing
Competent in all IT applications, including Word, Excel and Outlook
Strong attention to detail and a clear communication style (both
written and verbal)
Punctual with good time management skills and the ability to
manage and prioritise a range of tasks
Commitment to good customer service
Good empathy skills and the ability to deal with a range of
different personality types when working with clients and witnesses
Commitment to meeting or exceeding personal targets
Willing to listen and learn
Good team player with a willingness to assist colleagues
Self-motivated, enthusiastic, committed and approachable
Ability to remain calm and professional when under pressure
Work-life balance
Where possible, we want to offer
all Bevan Brittan people flexibility to work their week in a way
that suits them - we operate a hybrid working model based on the
needs of our clients, teams and that of the individual. Our core
business hours are 9am - 5:15pm Monday to Friday, however we are
open to individuals working more flexibly around those times and
would welcome a conversation with you if you have any questions.
We offer a substantial benefits
package to all employees including:
A minimum of 25 days holiday
(plus the option to buy up to an additional 5 days)
Discretionary bonus scheme
Generous pension scheme
Private medical insurance
through Vitality
Biennial private health
assessment through Nuffield Health
Life assurance
Access to Employee Assistance Programme
Cycle to work scheme
Responsible business
To us, being a responsible
business is second nature; a core part of Bevan Brittan's identity,
running through our culture and embodied by the clients we serve. We
want to demonstrate our commitment to these causes through actions
rather than words; colleagues from across the firm are already
heavily involved, living and breathing the four pillars of our
Responsible Business strategy:
Community Engagement -Each lawyer has the opportunity
to undertake pro bono legal work for local charities and
not-for-profit organisations. We also play an active role through
our local office communities, in 2022 we fundraised and donated a
total of £80,000 to our four regional office charities, with each
charity receiving £20,000 to help fund their vital services.
Environmental Sustainability - Bevan Brittan is proudly a
carbon neutral firm. We have achieved the UN's Climate Neutral Now
accreditation and our environmental sustainability plan is focused
on achieving our net zero carbon target.
Equality, Diversity &
Inclusion - We have a strong and vibrant
diversity programme that gives colleagues across the firm an
opportunity to take part, led by our Equality, Diversity &
Inclusion Committee and supported by our Ambassadors, who drive
engagement in our strategy and raise awareness across the firm.
Wellbeing - We are proud of our open
culture, where colleagues feel empowered to speak openly about
physical and mental health issues and to seek out support when
needed. We have trained 21 colleagues across the firm as Mental
Health First Aiders and established a programme of initiatives
including our informal 'coffee with' scheme.
Collectively, these four pillars
ensure we look after our colleagues' wellbeing; offer an environment
in which all can progress on merit, regardless of personal
circumstances or background; give something back to the communities
in which we work; and protect the environment.
