G7 Lawyer or Legal Officer

Employment Group

London and Leeds

£50,000 (Grade 7) or £42,844 (Legal Officer)

With around 12,000 Solicitors and Barristers, the Government Legal Department (GLD) is the largest provider of legal service across government - from roads to rivers, health to human rights, our work touches on most aspects of public life.  Our active commitment to making GLD a brilliant place to work where everyone can fulfil their potential is reflected in exceptionally high staff engagement and a dynamic working atmosphere that is unique.

GLD’s Employment Group provides employment litigation and advisory services to central government, with a client base of over 55 departments and public bodies. These roles offer successful candidates the opportunity to work on high-profile litigation, to advise at the heart of policy creation on effective employment practice and to join a team which has a supportive and collaborative culture, putting diversity and inclusion at the heart of all it does.

The Group comprises around 120 lawyers across offices in London and Leeds: we are expanding our presence in Leeds and London.  GLD is committed to increasing its presence in Leeds in particular, now recognised as Britain’s fastest growing legal sector and the country’s second biggest legal hub after London. 

As such, it’s a really exciting time to join us.

In these roles, you will have the opportunity to undertake employment litigation or advisory matters for any of our 55-odd clients, principally central government departments and their agencies. In addition to managing an interesting and often high-profile litigation caseload, there are opportunities to work on a broad range of projects including multi-party litigation, the management of insourcing and outsourcing contracts involving staff transfers, the support of good industrial relations across the civil service and a range of departmental restructures. With the opportunity to join this fast-paced team whether as an experienced practitioner or immediately on qualifying, your career progression is guaranteed.

Appointments are offered full-time or through a wide range of flexible working options, reflecting GLD’s commitment to diversity. Our people are supported by excellent knowledge management, a rich training programme and a supportive culture of leadership and management at all levels of the organisation.

You will succeed if you have the drive and ambition to deliver a high-quality service across a range of challenges. With good verbal and written communication skills, your ability to impart clear advice will prove crucial, as will your appreciation of legal risk and quality legal judgement. You should be (or be on the verge of becoming) a qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales, ideally with a 2.1 degree or better: however, this is not essential if you can evidence a high level of academic and/or professional achievement.

We’re keen to meet ambitious individuals with the ability to find solutions to complex problems, so if you’re enthusiastic about sharing your knowledge and furthering the capabilities of our team whether based in Leeds or London then please get in touch to discuss these opportunities.