Senior Associate – SEN
Mental Capacity
Southampton or Bristol
Apply nowWhat you'll do
This completely new opportunity within Enable Law reflects our desire for continued growth whilst ensuring that our clients remain at the heart of all that we do. We are seeking an experienced Education lawyer with a SEN focus to join our successful and highly regarded team, to be based from Southampton or Bristol with a blend of office and home working available based around client and business need. You will be working alongside our established Court of Protection, Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence teams, and leading on SEN and Education matters with existing and new clients. Whilst there is work already within the team, this role presents an enormous opportunity to bring new clients into the firm. As a new role within Enable, we will be looking to provide you with all the support and encouragement needed to develop this new practice area and grow your own team over time as sustained workflow increases. You will be personally highly motivated by the opportunity to stand out and increase your profile and reputation in this highly specialised field of work, whilst collaborating effectively within Enable Law to develop effective referral connections across the teams.
Given the scope of this role, we're excited about the opportunity to accelerate your career development prospects as for us, there is no 'glass ceiling' preventing your progression. It is entirely based on your own merit and the successes borne out of your determination and drive to grow the business. Over time, you will be recruiting to resource your team based on business needs, and with our 'one team' approach, you will benefit from considerable support from the outset. Working closely with the existing Enable Law teams based in Southampton and Bristol, you will become part of our collaborative culture where our focus is upon supporting and providing the best possible outcomes for our clients.
What we're looking for
With considerable experience working as an Education and/or SEN lawyer, you will be seeking to take the next step in your career, where you can enhance your profile and create new and lasting connections with clients. We're seeking someone who is personally self-motivated and equally able to motivate others, with the enthusiasm and commitment to share knowledge and build capacity across the wider team. You work with dedication, sensitivity and commerciality with your clients, listening closely in order to understand their needs and priorities whilst working in partnership with them to secure the best possible options and outcomes. You readily build strong and trusting professional relationships with clients, and feel genuinely motivated to do your best for them. In your current work, you will have already shown yourself to be a strong business developer, able to develop new and effective networks and build key contact relationships across your practice area. You will have begun building networks and contacts in the region which may include case managers and specialist schools among others and are active in engaging with a variety of knowledge sharing opportunities within the Education sector.
You are likely to be supervising and/or supporting the development of junior fee earners in your current role and be positive and approachable in doing so. At Enable Law, we consider ourselves to be a high performing, welcoming and inclusive team, and your first-class communication skills will enable you to become a key member, gaining the trust of a broad range of internal and external stakeholders. In this challenging and at times emotionally demanding area of practice, you are resilient, thorough and attentive to detail, and take pride in the high standards of your work with your clients. In return for your considerable efforts, we are fully committed to working with you to unlock your potential and take your career where you want it to go.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this role, please contact our Recruitment Team via email in the first instance, and we will come back to you as soon as we can: [email protected]
Why Enable Law?
Enable Law is one of the UK’s leading specialist medical negligence, personal injury and mental capacity law firms. Our team of over 80 individuals aims to provide a high quality service in a friendly and approachable way. We work for clients across the UK and have offices in seven locations across the South West, South Coast and London. We consider our people to be our most valuable asset and therefore, offer continual opportunities for support and professional development.
Meet the team: https://www.enablelaw.com/meet-the-team/
Enable Law are a part of Foot Anstey group. Foot Anstey LLP is one of the UK's fastest growing law firms. We believe in helping our clients and people achieve their ambitions, unlocking new and exciting opportunities. Our team of business and legal advisors are motivated by understanding clients' goals and collaborating with them and other advisers to deliver solutions. We are on an exciting journey to become our clients’ most trusted advisor, enabling them to achieve their ambitions. How we do it is just as important as what we do. Our values of collaboration over convention, championing aspiration, being refreshingly human, embracing entrepreneurial spirit and delivering integrated thinking guide the way we act, every day, from the way we operate as a business to how we treat our colleagues and clients.
Our people are critical to our success. We help our employees achieve their aspirations through offering meaningful careers with balanced rewards, which have been carefully designed to focus on personal wellbeing. We offer continual opportunities for support and professional development through our Business Skills Academy and Digital Skills Academy. We believe in empowering each other to achieve and strive to create a progressive and inclusive working environment. We are open to discussing flexible working patterns for all of our vacancies. Over 40% of our employees have a permanent flexible working pattern, which is something that we actively encourage. Due to the pandemic, the majority of our employees are currently working on a flexible, remote basis. We anticipate a gradual return to our offices over the upcoming months in line with Government guidance.
The recruitment process
We appreciate the time and effort it takes to apply for a role. We will acknowledge your application immediately and we will respond within 7 days regardless of outcome. We review applications on a rolling basis and will move to shortlist as soon as possible. Typically we undertake a two interview stage process. Throughout the process you will receive ample information about us and the role.
Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace is essential to delivering our strategy, and we were delighted to be awarded the National Equality Standard in 2018 and to successfully renew this in 2021. That’s why this is right at the heart of our priorities. This goes beyond our policies – it’s something we consider across everything we do, from the make-up of our client teams, encouraging staff to reach their potential, through to our leadership.
‘Powering your ambition’ is the statement that summarises what we stand for as a firm. It means that we aim to support our clients and our people to achieve their goals, regardless of background, gender, race, beliefs, sexuality or other non-work related factors. We champion aspiration and encourage it in everyone that works with us. As such we actively encourage applications from all suitably qualified people, regardless of any characteristics protected by law. If you apply for this role you are encouraged to answer the diversity and social mobility monitoring questions. The answers you provide will remain entirely anonymous and confidential and will in no way impact your application.
Foot Anstey. Powering Your Ambition