A exciting opportunity has arisen for a Paralegal to join our community-guided organisation, with an ambitious and exciting vision, in the heart of Portobello, West London for a 12 month fixed-term contract.
You will provide support to our Cost-of-Living Crisis Clinic Consultant to co-ordinate the efficient service delivery of our busy Cost-of-Living Crisis Clinics, used by clients who need assistance to make successful applications for: welfare benefits; social housing; lower utility and broadband tariffs; and crisis and general grants. You will work with a wide range of people internally and externally, providing support and supervision to volunteer advisers and helping clients.
You will be a confident communicator who will have the right blend and balance of strong administration skills with excellent interpersonal and customer-facing skills and legal knowledge, working for a charity supporting and enhancing the lives of people in the local community.
This role is central to Westway Trust’s commitment to deliver activities and events to the benefit of the North Kensington community. You will also work from and help to co-ordinate the delivery of our Cost-of-Living Crisis Clinic at our outreach site, St Luke’s Community Centre, EC1V.
Key responsibilities of the role include but not limited to:
General Duties
Being the initial point of contact; receiving calls and emails from clients and referring agencies, , and booking client appointments in an efficient and timely manner
Setting up and clearing away after Cost-of-Living Crisis Clinic sessions, (currently, Tuesdays, at St Luke’s Community Centre, 90 Central Street, Islington, EC1, and Wednesdays at Westway Trust, 1 Thorpe Close, Ladbroke Grove, W10). Sessions start at 9.00am and finish around 1.00pm
Meeting, greeting and orienting (showing where the facilities are and H&S guidance) clients and volunteers
Triaging clients on to our database and referring clients who are out of scope to other relevant organisations
Assisting clients to complete online and paper forms both face-to-face and remotely
Liaising in a positive manner with our stakeholders, eg. clients, other teams within Westway Trust, our funder, a City Law firm, and our hosts, Westway Trust and St Luke’s Community Centre
Responsibility for monitoring our work, completing simple reports, writing case studies, making sure volunteers complete their data entry after advising clients, and running case management statistics using AdvicePro, our case management system) (training on AdvicePro will be provided)
Recruiting, inducting, training and supervising volunteers both corporate (from the City) and lay (students and local residents)
Casework; writing up case notes about clients helped
Attending relevant meetings and training and keeping resources up-to-date
General administration including: photocopying, scanning and record keeping, and coordinating the general day-to-day activities of the Cost-of-Living Crisis Clinics
Effectively contributing to make our Cost-of-Living Crisis Clinics high performing in line with the values of Westway Trust
Appeals & Representation Duties
Responsibility for our legal appeals representation service, including:
Triaging clients, including reading appellant’s hearing bundles to assess the merits of their case
Case management of appellants’' appeal cases, (ie, smooth management of appellants' cases from inception to post-hearing)
Attending hearings
Guiding and case managing lawyers/law students on applications for leave to appeal/set aside to the Upper Tribunal/Judiciary, (from the Lower Tribunal). Full training will be given
Qualifications: You will have or be working towards a law degree or equivalent.
Knowledge and Experience:
A good understanding of the law in any jurisdiction
Experience of providing an efficient, customer focused service, with a personable and collaborative approach and ability to provide, develop and maintaining friendly positive relationships with customers, staff, volunteers and other stakeholders
Good time management and organisational skills
Excellent administrative skills
High level of IT skills. Experience of using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and database software (we use AdvicePro)
Personal Skills:
Good people management/awareness skills
Good communication and presentation skills, orally and in writing.
Ability to work independently and on own initiative with minimum supervision
Ability to work as part of a team in a multi-cultural and diverse environment
An inquisitive mind and good problem solver
Interest in civil law
Good memory and research skills
Demonstrable understanding and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
Connections to/understanding of North Kensington or the surrounding area is highly desirable
The application deadline is Thursday 9 May 2024 when applications will be reviewed and shortlisted for interview. However, we reserve the right to close the application early. An early application is strongly recommended.
Please apply directly on our website.