Solicitor

DMH Stallard is an award winning South East law, Legal 100 firm with offices in London, Brighton, Gatwick, Guilford, Horsham and Hassocks. DMH Stallard has grown rapidly since it was established in 1970, and has a headcount of approx 380. Our firm provides a comprehensive range of commercial, dispute resolution and litigation, employment, cyber security and cyber-crime, corporate, intellectual property, real estate and technology, media and telecoms advice to both businesses and individuals. Our clients, our people and our professional networks are the keys to our success.

Job Purpose:

• To operate as an effective member of the Dispute Resolution Guildford Group working alongside other fee earners in the Group.
• To work on a variety of dispute resolution cases, including commercial litigation (e.g. contractual disputes, professional negligence claims, construction disputes, shareholder disputes, banking litigation and insolvency.
• To be responsible under supervision for own caseload of work and own fee targets but also assisting where called upon to work with other members of the Group.
• To achieve the targets as defined by the Head of Department, including targets for contribution, matter related time recording and fees.

Responsibilities and duties:

• To assist Partners, Associates and, on occasions, other Solicitors in the Group working on specific matters. Some of the work will involve assisting Partners on bigger cases but the successful candidate may also be expected to run their own cases under supervision.
• To participate and contribute to the Group to ensure an effective working environment.
• To attend the firm’s internal training programme and other relevant technical training to ensure that skills and knowledge remain up-to-date.
• To attend and contribute to Group meetings to review current work, workloads as well as the Group’s position and performance.
• To develop his/her own technical expertise.
• To maintain awareness of the legal market, in particular relating to Dispute Resolution/Insolvency.
• To work for our clients generally on a variety of matters as referred to above.
• To be responsible for ensuring achievement of his/her own key financial targets, including fees, contribution and payment of debts and disbursements.
• To maintain accurate data on Case Manager and the firm’s intranet.
• To monitor his/her own performance in relation to, for example, the number of live files, file closures, file openings, billings and time recording and to take appropriate action to ensure targets are met wherever possible.
• To scope all matters appropriately, including the use of budget templates where needed, so that work is delivered on time and on budget.
• To be responsible for the delivery of the service to the client, ensuring that the highest standards of client care are maintained so that clients use DMH Stallard again and recommend the firm to others.
• To assist with marketing and business development initiatives such as writing for e-newsletters and/or attending seminars.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required:

• An interest in dispute resolution work, including but not limited to litigation and insolvency.
• A good understanding of contractual and tortious principles and remedies.
• An understanding of the Civil Procedure Rules.
• A commercial, pragmatic and not overly academic approach.  This is equally as important as technical ability.
• A willingness to contribute to business development.
• The ability to effectively manage time to achieve client and internal deadlines.
• Understanding the importance of client care with an ability to deal with a wide range of clients with differing objectives, including being able to understand the commercial objectives of the client.
• The ability to work within a team and provide support to Partners and Associates as appropriate.
• Confident Excel skills sufficient to enable the reviewing of relevant matters.
• Competent IT skills including Outlook, Word, Digital Dictation and iManage.
• The ability to draft documentation, with attention to detail.
• An understanding of the strategy and vision of the firm.
• The ability to communicate effectively with clients, in writing, over the telephone and in meetings.
• The ability to convey technical legal information in an effective and accessible way.

Benefits: 

• 25 days holiday (of which 3.5 are taken during the Christmas period), plus Birthday holiday, plus Bank Holidays.
• Life Assurance
• Private Healthcare
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Sodexo Discounts
• Pension Scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts on Legal work