Paralegal

Job description

Job responsibilities

Detailed personal specifications and job descriptions have been attached to this advert for candidates to familiarize themselves with.

Person Specification

All

Essential

• Law degree/GDL from the UK university (which entitles you to train as a solicitor/barrister in England and Wales)

Desirable

• Experience of managing tasks within the scope of inquests in the Coroner's Court

All

Essential

• Experience of working within a legal team
• Experience of managing tasks within the scope of inquests in the Coroner's Court
• Experience of managing tasks related to claims made against the Trust, across variety of legal fields, such as clinical negligence, public liability, data protection, employment law, etc.)
• Basic knowledge of key legal issues in the NHS/healthcare, including, but not limited to: oMental Health Act 1983 oCare Act 2014 oMental Capacity Act 2005 oChildren Act 1989 oData Protection Act 2018 oAccess to Health Records Act 1990 oCivil Procedure Rules 1998 with associated Practice Directions oCourt of Protection Rules 2017 oCoroners and Justice Act 2009 oCoroners (Inquests) Rules 2013 and Coroners (Investigation) Regulations 2013
• Knowledge of the principles and processes of litigation within the UK Courts and Tribunal service.
• Good knowledge of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding process and all administrative requirements related to this process
• Able to prioritise your own workload
• Able to work under time pressure and set deadlines
• Able to process applications for Deprivation of Liberty to the Local Authorities and associated matters
• Ability to gather, write, and provide complex information for others to understand and interpret
• Ability to draft letters to clients, clinical staff and other health care professionals in order to obtain evidence to assist in the investigation of court of protection matters.
• Ability to draft first drafts of witness statements for use in the inquests/court proceedings under supervision
• Ability to contact relevant stakeholders by telephone and arrange meetings and attend these meetings, initially with the supervisor, progressing to interviewing witnesses and
• Ability to review patients' medical records and reports to consider whether disclosure to the court and other interested persons is appropriate with reference to the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Access to Health Records Act 1990.
• Ability to action disclosures under supervision.
• Ability to assist in the identification of suitable medical and non-medical experts within differing specialities to provide independent expert reports to assist in the investigation;
• Ability to formally instruct experts to prepare reports under supervision.
• Ability to attend meetings/hearing with other third parties such and draft notes from the meeting.
• Ability to draft of formal/court documents, including reviews, indexes, paginating and collating medical records into bundles and to draft chronologies of medical records.
• Ability to undertake research when considering and applying court guidelines and established legal cases.
• Ability to draft initial letters of advice, under supervision, to advise the Trust regarding the potential conclusions of the matter, risks for Trust, media risks, summarising witness evidence and proposing next steps in terms of identifying and addressing lesson learning.
• Ability to keep accurate records of time spent in daily activities via the computerised case management system, to enable costs to be recovered in successful cases and for NHS audit and reporting purposes.
• Effective and sensitive handling of difficult information and situations
• Motivational, negotiating and persuasive skills, for example when there is a difference of threshold view in a strategy discussion
• Ability to work across a range of clinical systems, capturing relevant information from different systems
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing to a wide range of people
• Flexible and adaptable to changing workload
• Able to work from across various sites and areas where the Trust provides its services and attend hearings and meetings in various parts of the UK.
• Attend the office over minimum 4 working days, with very limited opportunity to work from home.
• Calm and works well under pressure

Desirable

• Experience of processing and managing application to the Supervisory Bodies for Deprivation of Liberty in line with Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Process.
• Experience of managing tasks within the scope of welfare proceedings in the Court of Protection
• Experience of managing tasks within the scope of care and/or family proceedings in the family court and High Court Family Division.
• Previous experience working within the NHS

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Wolverhampton Civic Centre

St Peter's Square

Wolverhampton,

WV1 1SH

Employer's website

https://www.blackcountryhealthcare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)