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.
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 Paralegal to join
our team. Some litigation legal experience would be helpful but it not essential.
The role will involve supporting the Solicitors and Partners within
the team with their caseload, but will also offer the opportunity to
work independently on a number of varied tasks and matters in
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 and
interesting, as well as providing the opportunity to attend court, to
see cases through from start to finish, and to get involved in
advisory work as well as litigation. Examples of the types of work
that the successful candidate will need to undertake are as follows:-
Drafting notices in line with client instructions
Drafting County Court claims including possession claims and
injunction applications
Engaging with clients and witnesses and preparing witness evidence
for court
Attending client meetings and assisting colleagues to provide
advice on case strategy
Arranging service of documents on Defendants via process servers
Liaising with Counsel, opponents and the Courts
Preparing trial bundle indexes and bundles
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 attributes:-
A genuine interest in social housing and housing law
Competent in all IT applications, including Word, Excel and Outlook
Strong attention to detail and a clear communication style (both
written and verbal)
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.
