Housing Litigation Solicitor / Barrister

Overview

Housing Litigation Solicitor/Barrister

Salary - £52,413- £56,730(Grade 8)

Hours - 37

Contract type - Full time 12 months fixed term

Our Team

We are a multi-award winning, Lexcel accredited Legal Services team, ahead of the game when it comes to legal excellence, offering the opportunity to excel as individuals and as part of a team.

The Civic Centre where Legal Services have dedicated office space, has been modernised in recent years offering an attractive and pleasant place to work.

The City itself has seen rapid development with major projects of which more are planned to further enhance Wolverhampton as a place where people come to work, shop, study and enjoy our vibrant City.

For those traveling into the City, Wolverhampton benefits from being in a prime location; with excellent transport links to Birmingham, Shropshire and neighbouring Black Country towns.

This is an exciting period for the City of Wolverhampton, the Council and our Legal Services team and a fantastic time to join us.

What The Role Offers You

A career with our team offers opportunities to develop beyond qualification. Every member of the team has a learning and development plan personal to them and running alongside that an annual appraisal which combined with being mentored and developed within the wider leadership team, means that by joining us will see you set your career on the right path for success.

Legal Services are at the heart of the Council’s functions and are vital to its work. This role gives you the opportunity to play an integral part in the City of Wolverhampton Council achieving its goals and aspirations.

Our team continues to go from strength to strength and with that, to grow and expand providing more opportunities, such as this, for the best people to join us.

We are looking to recruit a motivated Housing Solicitor or barrister. Candidates from both Local Government and Private Practice are welcomed.

This role will offer you the opportunity to:

• Manage a varied caseload focused on housing litigation;
• Support Colleagues when required;
• Represent the Council in courts and tribunals;
• Collaborate with a high-performing, supportive team;
• Receive tailored development, mentoring, and training;
• Work with minimal supervision;
• Undertake technical and complex research which requires developed interpretation and analytical skills as well as partnership working with both colleagues and clients; and
• Active involvement in client care and business development

What We Are Looking For From You

• Handling a housing caseload including managing cases from start to finish including disrepair, anti-social behaviour, and rent arrears matters. Work toincludingadvising and advocacy both Courts and Tribunals.
• Dealing with Private hire taxi appeal hearings
• Drafting court/case documents including statements of case, applications, draft orders, skeleton arguments, case summaries and disclosure requests
• Attending Magistrates’ Court and County Court, committees and meetings including dealing with the Court lists.
• Conducting litigation for client departments covering civil, regulatory crime and public law.
• Working with and advising elected Members on the full range of practice areas and on standards issues.
• A passion to further a career in Housing law and other areas of law in which the Litigation Team may be instructed from time to time;
• Advocacy experience and skills in all tiers of court and a willingness to undertake advocacy, particularly welcoming applications from those with an interest in developing their advocacy practice;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as demonstrable skills and strengths in negotiation, drafting, persuading, and influencing;
• An ability to command the respect, trust and confidence of your clients and senior managers as well as the court;
• Flexibility to assist other team members as required;
• The ability to work confidently and effectively either alone or as part of a team;
• A desire to develop legal skills to enable you to achieve technical excellence;
• The willingness to take on challenges;
• To be solutions and outcome focused; seeking to provide practical options by removing or working around what may be regarded as barriers;
• The ability to form strong working relationships with client departments to enable you to provide the best service you can for clients and the residents of Wolverhampton;
• To be organised with an eye for detail;
• A practical and commercial approach; and
• To be willing to consistently go above and beyond to provide good client care, sound legal advice and a fantastic quality of work.

We welcome applications from newly qualified solicitors and practising barristers, career changers from other legal areas, and those moving from private practice to public service. Previous candidates need not apply.

Our Benefits – What We Can Offer You

• Competitive salary with pay progression through multiple annual increments;
• Hybrid working (2 days in-office) and flexi-time
• Generous annual leave (26–35 days + bank holidays)
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Free city-wide parking
• Wellbeing and lifestyle benefits
• 2 paid volunteering days annually

Responsible Business

We care about each other and in 2022 unveiled our Wellbeing Pledges:

• Our People Wellbeing Pledge

We recognise our people are the foundation and greatest asset of our organisation

• The Manager Wellbeing Pledge

Managers are integral to our organisation and essential in maximising the wellbeing of our people

• The Organisation Wellbeing Pledge

The Council are dedicated andcommittedto the wellbeing of its people

We pride ourselves on the diversity and inclusivity of our team where colleagues can be themselves and succeed regardless of their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, culture, age or disability.

We are committedto supporting local people starting out in their legal career and are proud of our commitment to providing work experience placements and supporting apprenticeships within the team.

Our volunteering scheme, which enables everyone to undertake 2 days fully paid volunteering for a local cause per year, also provides the opportunity for us as individuals and as an organisation, to give something back to the local community.

Additional Information

If you want to progress your legal career with a successful, innovative and forward-looking organisation and team, then look no further than the Legal Services Team and the City of Wolverhampton Council and apply today.

This post may be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

To learn more about this role then please contact Adam Sheen on 01902 554926 or Mushtaq Ahmed-Khan on 01902 554973 for an informal chat.

Closing Date: 17th May 2026

Note: Previous applicants need not apply.

For full details of the responsibilities and requirements of this role please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

For more information about working for our organisation including the culture of the Council, the Council plan and vision, staff equality forums, core HR policies and much more please click here.

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