Legal Advisor - Glasgow

Job description

Job responsibilities

Legal Advice and Casework and Clinical Evidence Review

1. Provide expert legal advice to Freedom from Tortures treatment clients and their clinicians on all matters of asylum and immigration law affecting clients, prioritising clients with greatest legal risk i.e. who are unrepresented, detained or otherwise at risk Date updated: 6 January 2023 of removal.

2. Find quality legal representation for treatment clients who are unrepresented by establishing effective relationships with quality legal representatives locally and nationally.

3. Thoroughly assess the merits of clients cases, explore further evidence (including expert analysis of relevant medical evidence needs) and identify possible legal remedies available.

4. Liaise with treatment clients legal representatives about the clients asylum and immigration case and, where necessary, relevant law and policy relating to torture survivors.

5. Maintain accurate and timely records of work undertaken and advice given and contribute to the development and implementation of casework systems designed to manage and track Freedom from Tortures legal advice caseload in a safe, efficient and effective manner.

6. Provide emergency and annual leave cover for other Legal Advisers as and when required.

7. Contribute to multi-disciplinary decision-making on clients cases, alongside therapists, care coordinators, welfare advisors and other professionals within the clinical teams.

8. Legal review of clinical evidence produced by FfT clinicians for clients of the organisation, to include providing specialist advice on compliance with relevant legal standards of professional witness evidence.

9. Ensuring timely legal review of the clinical evidence.

Management/Compliance Responsibilities

1. Delegated responsibility for maintaining safe and ethical practice around delivery of regulated immigration advice in their location, with the oversight of the Head of LAWS.

2. Recruitment, induction and ongoing support, training and supervision of legal volunteers when required.

3. Implement and maintain compliant systems and practices in the delivery of legal services.

Training and Capacity Building

1. Develop and deliver internal and external training and internal written guidance for clinical staff and service users across Freedom from Tortures national centres in the area of asylum and immigration law, policy and practice as it relates to Survivors of Torture.

2. Deliver training to therapists to enhance their clinical evidence production skills and, where necessary, to undertake capacity building to enable LAWS colleagues to conduct legal review of clinical evidence.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Hold and maintain a current practising certificate from the Law Society
• of Scotland, or be a member of the Faculty of Advocates .

Experience

Essential

• Expert knowledge of UK and European asylum, immigration and human interview rights law and procedure.
• Knowledge of specific UKVI policies and case law relating to survivors of
• torture and the use of use of expert medical evidence in asylum claims.
• Knowledge of how expert medico-legal evidence should be presented in asylum and human rights proceedings drawing on UK and international law and practice.
• Recent experience of providing legal advice in asylum and immigration
• matters including to torture survivors.
• Excellent ability to assess the merits of cases and identify possible legal interview remedies available.
• Sensitivity in working with people who have experienced trauma.
• Excellent skills in prioritising tasks and managing a heavy work-load.
• Ability to develop successful working relationships both internally and
• externally.
• Experience of delivering training on legal matters.
• Experience of reviewing legal documentation, specifically expert
• reports.

Desirable

• Experience of advising or representing in judicial review proceedings.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Freedom From Torture

Address

Freedom From Torture

12 Commercial Road

Glasgow

G5 0PQ

Employer's website

https://www.freedomfromtorture.org/ (Opens in a new tab)