Lawyer (Ref: 21774)

Job summary

Job description

Role: Lawyer

Business: Office of Public Guardian (OPG)

Location: National

Grade: G7

Salary: National: £58,511 - £65,329, London: £63,343 - £70,725 (salaries subject to increase by end of the year)

Contract Type: Permanent

Minimum Hours: 4 working days per week

Organisational Overview

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) protects people in England and Wales who may not have the mental capacity to make certain decisions for themselves, such as about their health and finance. We are an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), set up in 2007 following the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act of 2005.

OPG is responsible for registering lasting powers of attorney (LPA) and enduring powers of attorney (EPA) and supervising deputies who are appointed by the Court of Protection.

OPG is a fantastic place to work offering a range of development opportunities. The OPG is a disability confident employer and is committed to developing a supportive and inclusive environment that reflects the diverse community we serve.

OPG is currently delivering an ambitious transformation programme. This will change the way we provide services and help us meet the growing needs of our users, partners and our stakeholders. It will make sure our users experience a better level of support and will help us to respond to the changing needs of society. Transformation will ensure we can better support adults at risk and create high-quality services that are accessible and affordable.

Legal Team Overview

The team – comprising 70 to 80 staff members – is multidisciplinary in nature, and aims to provide a high quality and efficient specialist legal service for OPG. We have Senior Lawyers, Lawyers, Senior Paralegals and Paralegals, a Legal Support team as well as an excellent team of legal operations specialists.

The team has two principal functions:

(1) to conduct litigation on behalf of the Public Guardian in the Court of Protection, managing the whole litigation process. This involves reviewing cases from colleagues in Operations, Investigations and Supervision, and making a decision as to whether to issue applications covering the following:

1. Determination of the lawfulness of certain provisions of LPAs and the severance of unlawful parts;

2. Removal of attorneys appointed on the ground they are not acting in accordance with their MCA obligations; and

3. Removal of non-compliant deputies.

(2) to provide legal advice across the organisation on a wide range of matters including policy, investigations, complaints and where litigation is threatened/brought against OPG.

The work is important, rewarding and challenging in ensuring timely action is taken to prevent abuse of vulnerable members of society. Whilst being based across several different offices, the team works well together as a community, team members are well-supported and there is progression as well as a genuine career ladder available at every level. As one of the public sector’s most important in-house legal teams, members are passionate about the daily work and the organisation’s purpose, and come from a wide variety of backgrounds.

We also aim to become a Government leader in the responsible use of AI to support our legal practice, and so there are opportunities to get involved in the continuous development work in this area.

Duties and Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

Litigation

• Conducting litigation on behalf of the Public Guardian (PG and third party applications);
• Providing legal advice on potential/actual litigation and others matters relating to the Public Guardian’s statutory function;
• Supporting the leadership team in successfully delivering the work of the team;
• Drafting/supervising Paralegals with drafting of Court applications and supporting evidence;
• Acting as instructing Solicitor in relation to hearings – including potentially appearing personally before the Court of Protection in directions/interim hearings.

Advisory

• Responding to a range of queries from the business around your litigation practice;
• Ensuring that legal advice is practical and written at an appropriate level, taking into account risk guidance;
• Delivering relevant training internally on a range of topics to internal audiences;
• Providing legal advice/guidance for MP correspondence and complaints to the Public Guardian.

Corporate/Leadership

• Strong communication and leadership within the organisation as one of OPG’s senior leaders;
• Positive contribution to the OPG’s transformation programmes and the development of change/continuous improvement initiatives within the team;
• Working collaboratively with key client departments, including policy, operations, investigations and supervision;
• Providing supervision and development for more junior staff in the team, especially Paralegals and those aiming to qualify, with the opportunity to also line manage Senior Paralegals;
• Positive promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion inside and outside the team.
• Undertake any other reasonable duties consistent with the skillset of this post.

Agreed Expectations

The successful candidate will be expected to regularly work from their nearest base location (either one of OPG’s main offices or your nearest national MoJ office) in line with current Civil Service requirements, outside of any reasonable adjustments. Work hours are standard but in line with other Lawyer roles, you may be expected to work outside of those hours occasionally where Court deadlines require it.

This is a full-time post, with a minimum requirement of 4 working days per week. However, requests for flexible, part-time working and job share will be considered, taking into account the operational needs of the Department.

Skills & Qualifications

Essential Skills:

• Qualified (or will be qualified by end March 2027) to practise as a Solicitor or Barrister in England & Wales OR qualified as a UK CILEx Lawyer with litigation practice rights/FCILEx. In addition, given the nature of the work, you must have experience of having already worked in a legal team as a trainee, paralegal or Lawyer in the jurisdiction of England & Wales. (Lead Criteria)
• Proven experience in one or more of the following areas of work – litigation/Mental Capacity Act/Court of Protection – combined with a clear genuine interest in OPG’s area of work. (Lead Criteria)
• Excellent legal judgment and appreciation of legal risk, coupled with the ability to “look around the corner” for future challenges. (Lead Criteria)
• Advanced interpersonal and communication skills, with proven ability to work effectively as a team player.
• Ability to work at pace and meet challenging deadlines which requires you to be flexible/adaptable, setting priorities as the workload and focus within your area changes.

Desirable Skills

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates.

• Experience of working as a Government Lawyer.
• Interest in/experience of using AI OR automating legal processes.