Inquests & Criminal Advocate

About your new role

The Regulatory Department is a market leading national team offering a diverse and broad range of expert advice to organisations and individuals facing health & safety, criminal and other regulatory prosecutions.  We are one of the largest Regulatory teams nationally.  

The role

Whilst we have a team of specialist criminal and regulatory lawyers within the Regulatory team, as part of our growth and expansion, we are looking for an associate or principal associate with experience and a passion for advocacy.

The role would predominantly involve advocacy at inquests for a range of individual, insurer, organisational and emergency service clients, but with an interest in some magistrate’s court advocacy too. The candidate would have some case handling responsibilities and have a role to the play in the team’s client-facing work.

We can consider applications from all locations.

Main duties and responsibilities

• To advocate at inquests and pre-inquest review hearings for a number of different types of clients.

• To advocate at some other types of hearings, such as plea and other procedural hearings in the magistrates court.

• To conduct pre-hearing conferences and meetings with clients.

• To run a caseload of inquest and criminal cases.

• To ensure you maintain an up to date knowledge of relevant areas of regulatory law, updates, legislation etc.

• Assist with business development initiatives including training and networking.

• Produce monthly and ad-hoc client MI reports.

• Work in accordance with client and internal SLAs.

• Work in accordance with Weightmans’ values and procedures.

This list is not intended to be exhaustive and you will be expected to perform other duties and have other responsibilities that fall within the wider remit of the role.

About You

The person specification
• Advocacy experience is essential.

• A passion for advocacy is essential.

• Experience of inquests is desirable.

• Experience of criminal practice and process is desirable.

• Ability to work to deadlines and targets.

• Ability to work as part of a team and on own initiative.

• Excellent communication skills.

• Excellent organisational skills.

Why work for us

Weightmans is a Top 45 law firm with offices throughout the UK. Having been recognised as the leading legal employer at the annual Britain's Top Employers awards 2021 and achieved record rankings in Chambers UK.

The independent research showed "Weightmans provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout all levels of the organisation."

We are truly committed to fostering a culture of equality and diversity, where everyone in the firm is respected and recognised on merit for the work that they do.

We strongly encourage applications from people of all ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and disabilities. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustment at any stage of the application process.

Please feel free to note your preferred pronouns in your application.

Work for a firm where people matter – work for Weightmans.

As well as being immensely proud of the work we carry out for our clients and the culture we provide to our people we offer a wide range of benefits including;

• 28 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rated for part time)
• Agile / working from home including provision of home office equipment*
• Healthcare cover/ Medicash
• Pension plan
• Life Insurance 4 x salary
• Interest free travel loan scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme including counselling, legal and consumer advice service
• Discounted gym membership
• Discounted dental scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Offers & discounts
• Great reward and recognition scheme

*there are a small number of roles that cannot be performed from home, your Recruitment Adviser can confirm.

Please note

• Any reference to experience or PQE in our adverts or job descriptions is to be used as a guideline only. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and with different levels of experience who can demonstrate that they fulfil the requirements of the role.
• The successful candidate appointed to this role will be subject to our standard background checking process, and any offer of employment made is conditional upon successful completion of those checks. Further details can be obtained from the Recruitment team.
• We are open to part time/job share applicants.

Recruitment agencies (PSL /non-PSL)

Weightmans operates a strict 'preferred supplier list' (PSL) and is committed to working closely with the recruitment agencies that feature on that list. As such, Weightmans does not accept speculative or unsolicited CVs, profiles or any other introductions from both our PSL and non-PSL agencies.  If a PSL or non-PSL agency chooses to submit a speculative or unsolicited CV, profile or introduction without instruction from a member of Weightmans’ recruitment team, we will reserve the right to treat the introduction as a gift and contact the candidate directly without accepting or entering into the agency’s terms nor being liable for a recruitment fee.

Eligibility to work in the UK

Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process. All candidates must either already have a right to work in the UK before commencing employment, or meet the Home office criteria for Visa sponsorship. Candidates who require sponsorship should evaluate the Home Office eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker visa before applying.