Senior Associate - Education team

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About us

Stone King is an ambitious and friendly firm specialising in the Business & Social Enterprise, Charity, Education, Faith and Private Client sectors. Our collaborative culture and core values are intertwined with our ethos of doing the right thing by our clients, communities, and our people. Our passion for the sectors we work in and the purpose-driven work we do with our clients has resulted in SK being recognised as national leaders in our specialist fields across the country.

The opportunity

We have a fantastic opportunity for an Associate or Senior Solicitor to join our top ranked (Legal 500; Chambers) Education team. The location of this role is flexible, as the firm is embracing flexible and agile working arrangements. The individual can be based from our Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Manchester, Leeds, or London office, although a mixture of home working is also available to suit individual and business need. Travel to our other offices or offsite depending on client needs may also be required.

The successful candidate will work for our institutional education clients, with a focus on the operational work regarding all aspects of everyday school delivery to pupils for our state and independent school clients. The role would also involve the same type of work in Further Education. This would include matters such as pupil safeguarding and welfare, Equality Act issues (e.g. transgender, disability discrimination), admissions and exclusions, parent complaints, as well as supporting strategic governance advice to trustees in conjunction with our charity team. This is an exciting and hugely varied role, which brings experience in both contentious and non-contentious work, as well as an understanding of how regulatory, political and commercial factors can affect legal issues for schools.

Reasons to apply

• Gain invaluable experience with our nationally renowned Education Team. You'll be working closely with renowned specialists across the firm, elevating your professional journey to new heights.
• To be part of an ambitious, collaborative and friendly national firm where our culture and values are at the heart of everything we do. We believe our people are our greatest asset and strive to create the best place to work.
• Excellent benefits for our people, with a focus on wellbeing and development at the forefront.
• Hybrid working - Stone King are proud to be signatories of the Mindful Business Charter as part of our commitment to mental health and wellbeing. We want to support all of our people in achieving a healthy work/ life balance, and would be happy to speak with prospective candidates about flexible working arrangements.

Key Responsibilities

General duties include, but are not limited to:

• Effectively manage an individual caseload (with supervision where appropriate)
• Attend to clients of the Firm in the office or elsewhere if needed.
• Work in a collegiate and collaborative way within an immediate Team and wider Firm environment.
• Communicate promptly and effectively both internally to colleagues and externally to clients.
• Maintain your continuing professional development requirements and take an active interest in furthering your knowledge within the field of law.
• To carry out your work for both colleagues and clients to the highest possible standard, having regard to the Firm's standards, procedures and core values.
• To regularly attend, and be involved in preparation for, Team meetings.
• To attend and be involved in preparation for marketing and business development events and activities.

Requirements

Essential

• An experienced Solicitor, with extensive experience of running own caseloads and a proven track-record of supervising and delegating to others effectively.
• The ideal candidate will have the potential to market the firm and should have a strong interest in business development. Typical business development opportunities would include, but are not limited to: attending seminars and networking events, presenting workshops to the firm's clients and being involved in pitches/tenders.
• A strong commitment to career development and further learning.
• Previous experience handling own caseload and ability to work independently and as part of the team.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to prioritise workload.
• Previous experience of supervision and development of others.
• Attention to detail.
• IT literate including Office 2010.

Desirable

• Prior experience is preferred in providing legal advice to schools or a demonstrated desire an interest to work with the Education sector.
• Previous experience of supervision and development of others.

Reporting

The post-holder will report to a Partner in the Education team.

Our Firm

We are an ambitious, collaborative and friendly firm recognised as leaders in our field with offices across the country. Our culture and Core Values are at the heart of what we do. We know that our Firm can only succeed with the right people, and that is why we employ talented individuals who want to work for a Law Firm that is among the best in the UK has a leading reputation and is top ranked in Chambers and Legal 500

Individual differences are embraced at Stone King and we strive to create an environment in which people feel supported and able to be themselves. As well as signing up to the Race Fairness Commitment, we have a Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy Group, along with Diversity & Inclusion Allies.

We are committed to promoting an inclusive working environment that supports the growth and development of all our people, and we welcome applications from candidates of all ethnicities, disabilities, social backgrounds, age, sexual orientations and gender identities. As part of our continued commitment to an inclusive working environment, we are proud to have signed up to the Age Friendly Employer Pledge.

Stone King are also proud to be signatories of the Mindful Business Charter as part of our commitment to mental health and wellbeing. We want to support all of our people in achieving a healthy work/ life balance, and would be happy to speak with prospective candidates about flexible working arrangements.

We want our recruitment practices to be as inclusive as possible, so please let us know if you need us to make any reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process to help you perform to your best.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Cycle to work scheme
• Profit Share Scheme
• Employee Benefit Platform
• Private Medical Insurance
• Life assurance (4 x salary)
• Pension scheme
• 28 days holiday (in addition to statutory UK holidays).
• Additional day allocated for CSR activities per annum.

Closing date: 3 May 2024

Adverts normally close at midday on the closing date, however vacancies may close early if sufficient applications have been received. Therefore we would encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.

Stone King LLP is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity by encouraging all our staff to achieve their full potential and guaranteeing that all employment decisions are taken without reference to irrelevant information or discriminatory practices.

Recruitment agencies - please do not send us unsolicited CVs. If you do so, we reserve the right to contact the candidate directly and your T&Cs will not apply

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