DESCRIPTION

The Healthcare & Sports team are seeking an Assistant Lawyer (0-2 years PQE) to join them.
This role offers an excellent opportunity to work within our established Healthcare & Sports team, working on non-delegated hourly rate healthcare claims. The role will focus predominantly on healthcare claims, but there will be an opportunity for the right candidate to expand this role. The Healthcare & Sports team work exclusively for private medical providers and their insurers, and claims can include orthopaedics, plastics, dental, ophthalmic, and radiological.
In this role, you will be required to undertake a variety of chargeable activities and some non-chargeable tasks to support the London Healthcare & Sports team. Flexible working for the right candidate is available and whilst most of the team are in London, candidates from Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester should apply.
In this role you may be required to work temporarily as part of a client team and the right candidate will be able to demonstrate strong client relationship skills.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES:

• Higher education/non law degree or equivalent experience in the legal sector whether Claimant or Defendant.
• Experience or equivalent experience in dealing with clinical negligence claims.
• Experience of and understanding of the litigation process.
• Excellent telephone and communication skills with people at all levels inside and outside of the business.
• An ability to organise and prioritise tasks using initiative.
• Calm under pressure with the ability to re-prioritise and delegate effectively when required.
• Positive, confident and enthusiastic.
• Excellent listening, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Excellent Inter-personal and client care skills.
• Excellent IT skills.
• A team worker with the flexibility to do what is required to get a favourable result and ensure client service levels are met.
• Ability to learn technical knowledge relating to clinical medicine standards of care.
• Ability to anticipate problems, identify solutions and make decisions.

You will work as part of the London Healthcare & Sports team and will both handle your own matters under supervision and support other senior lawyers to progress each file from receipt of papers from the insurer client to resolution of the claim.

The role will include:

• Delivery of agreed performance targets and quality standards - the Assistant Lawyer will be expected to record 7 chargeable hours per day.
• Following correct file handling procedures, including file opening processes, preparation of client care letters and complying with client SLAs.
• Reviewing an initial file of papers, preparing appropriate chronologies and forming initial views on breach of duty, causation and quantum with preparation of reports to clients.
• Obtaining and carrying out appropriate client instructions, including researching suitable experts and obtaining liability reports, liaising with both insured and insurer clients and updating strategy recommendations as appropriate.
• Maintaining a strict overview of reserves on all files and arranging billing at regular intervals. Appropriate reserve recommendations made to clients with regular reserve reviews completed.
• Drafting a variety of documents including Court documents, instructions to experts and counsel, advices to clients and without prejudice settlement correspondence.
• Handling the file efficiently on a day to day basis, to include fielding telephone calls and general queries, liaising with the parties involved (including insurers, insureds, experts and witnesses), ensuring adherence to Court Guidelines and obtaining CRU/NHS Charges certificates.
• Dealing with a Court timetable, including complying with disclosure, facilitating witness statement preparation and exchange of expert reports etc.
• Suitably organising the matter-associated paperwork through use of Egress/Bundledocs.
• Using and maintaining the internal case management system (Tracker) to keep the digital file current.
• Carrying out legal research tasks.