Trust Lawyer

TRUST LAWYER or ACCOUNTANT

Location: Winchester, Hampshire

Salary: £32-45,000 depending on qualifications and experience

(Please note: our advertisement uses PQE/salary levels purely as a guide. We are happy to consider applications from all candidates who are able to demonstrate the skills necessary to fulfil the role.)

The Firm

Shentons Solicitors is an established and respected High Street Firm in Winchester, Hampshire. This is an opportunity to work in the beautiful Cathedral City in an area of law in which the Firm wishes to expand and specialise.

The Team

Our highly skilled and experienced Probate Team already provides a wide range of wills, attorney, deputyship and probate services to those living in Winchester and the surrounding area.

The Role

You will work as part of a team to provide outstanding legal services to our clients on all aspects of taxation relating to estate planning and trusts. You will expand our client base and area of expertise by providing specialist advice in the creation and running of trusts and in particular, trust taxation. You will report to a partner within the team. The role requires significant flexibility and covers everything from providing detailed legal advice on trusts to the drafting and updating of legal documentation. 

Your key duties will be:

• to lead and grow the trust business by promoting, marketing and attracting additional business from new and existing clients and to promote cross-fertilisation of work to other departments
• to maintain and nurture the firm's key client relationships
• the provision of expert and timely legal advice (support) and legal risk management advice in plain language on:
  • All tax aspects of the creation and running of trusts
  • Changes to legislation in the UK; and
  • Legal risk issues arising within trusts
• to assist in maintaining the suite of template client facing documents and legal terms in use within the trust and estates service 
• To provide training for staff on relevant legal documentation, developments and issues in this practice area.  This could include drafting and presenting legal seminars and bulletins.

Skills and experience: You will be

• a qualified solicitor or hold a CCAB professional accountancy qualification in England and Wales
• STEP member or hold a Chartered Tax Adviser qualification
• a minimum of three years’ post qualified and have up to date experience in Trusts, Wills, Probate and Trust taxation and of tax and accounting rules
• a graduate from a leading educational establishment with excellent academic results
• able to demonstrate an excellent working knowledge of estate planning and UK trust structures with considerable exposure to  work of a trust practice and have the credibility and experience to be able to deal with the firm’s top clients
• able to show proven ability of calculating complex inheritance tax liabilities accurately
• experienced in administering trusts including making HMRC returns and have expert knowledge of trust taxation
• highly organised, motivated and professional and have strong analytical and drafting skills
• able to show a proven track record of achieving personal time recording and billing targets
• able to develop new business through the internal and external network of contacts
• able to train other members of the team in the areas of your expertise
• able to show or develop a knowledge of international trust and estate law; it would also be an advantage to have experience of dealing with both onshore and offshore trust matters

Key competencies you will demonstrate:

• outstanding client care skills
• an ability to communicate complex issues openly and effectively to clients and colleagues
• an aptitude for increasing the client base through networking
• high levels of numeracy
• clear commercial application of legal knowledge
• ability to deal with a varied work stream and meet tight personal and team deadlines
• highly developed organisational skills, with attention to detail and ability to prioritise and re-prioritise

The ideal candidate will:

• be highly motivated and enthusiastic self-starter and be prepared to expand the limits of the job description
• achieve high volumes and quality of work and be prepared to undertake their core day to day activities as well as working as part of a close knit team and helping with work within the Probate Department as required
• be a respectful, positive and proactive contributor to firm life and able to interact effectively across all levels of the business
• display confidence and excellent internal and external networking skills
• have achieved recognition for their work from colleagues and clients

How to apply

Please send you CV and covering letter addressing the skills and competencies required for the role to our Practice Manager at aedgerleyharris@shentons.co.uk by midday, on Monday, 9^th November 2015