Solicitor/Associate - Clinical Risk

Our Clinical Risk cluster is the biggest nationally, handling a challenging but fulfilling caseload of defendant clinical negligence work. We act for a variety of clients, including NHS Resolution, NHS Trusts, the MDU, independent healthcare providers and medical malpractice insurers.

Our reputation speaks for itself. The Legal 500 Series describes DAC Beachcroft as the "leading defendant NHS panel firm dealing with the most valuable and complex cases".(http://www.legal500.com/)

We are now seeking a Solicitor/Associate to join our Southampton office. This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious and passionate individual to join an award-winning, progressive and highly specialised team.

Key Responsibilities

• Handle a challenging caseload of defendant clinical negligence work on behalf of NHS Resolution. This will include drafting pleadings, witness statements and letters of response, conducting face to face negotiations and mediation of claims as well as preparing counter schedules
• Act as first and primary contact for clients on a day to day basis providing them with commercially focused legal advice
• Adhering closely to client protocol and process
• Provide supervision and coaching to junior fee earners
• Make an appropriate contribution to non-fee earning activity e.g. knowledge sharing, training, client seminars, and business development
• Comply with the required standards for internal procedures e.g. financial
• Management of files, billing regimes etc. as well as the specific requirements of individual clients
• Writing articles for publication both for in-house and external publications
• Handle confidential information in line with the firm's data security protocols

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• A Solicitor/Associate with experience in defendant or claimant clinical negligence, or defendant personal injury.
• Experience gained within an NHS Resolution panel firm would be preferable (but not essential), as would an understanding of the NHS and their business drivers, including knowledge of and ability to deliver against client protocols and KPIs
• Strong technical skills and an ability to understand and work through complex issues
• A demonstrable ability to adopt a commercial perspective rather than an ‘academic’ approach to legal issues and to be highly client focused
• Ability to operate with a high level of self-sufficiency, combined with an awareness of the boundaries of own competence/authority
• Team oriented and collegiate with an experience of and a willingness to mentor, coach and supervise less experienced members of teams
• Exposure to and success within business development activities
• Confident communicator with an ability to develop relationships, undertake client marketing and influence at all levels. Ability to deal confidently and professionally with clients on day to day issues, building up strong relationships
• Strong organisation skills to ensure a pragmatic and methodical approach to handling a variety of clinical negligence claims simultaneously, through an IT case management system
• Change oriented with a positive, flexible approach towards the implementation of new initiatives
• Able to handle a complex and constantly changing workload and to work under pressure
• Detail conscious with a concern for quality

About DAC Beachcroft

We are a leading international legal business with over 3,000 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We are market leaders in insurance, health and real estate but with a full-service offering, including growing Financial Services and Tech capabilities. We represent a wide range of clients – from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for nearly all of the top-20 UK and global insurers, we're market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise all of the UK’s top-five housebuilders.

We are a fast-growing international business with offices around the globe. In addition to our 11 UK offices, we also have offices in Bogota, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Lima, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, New York, Paris, Rome, Santiago de Chile, and Singapore plus a representative office in Miami and broad network of affiliations across the globe.

At DAC Beachcroft we are committed to and recognise the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion across the board, including and beyond the protected characteristics. We take decisions based solely on merit. We value, welcome and seek out people with different backgrounds and life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, ways of thinking and identities.

We are happy to talk flexible working with our Flex Forward scheme. We would encourage you to talk to us about our approach to flexible working during the hiring process if you would like to explore this further.

As a Disability Confident Scheme employer, we’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need any reasonable adjustments at any stage (including the application, assessment or interview process), please contact recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com in confidence with the vacancy reference in the subject line, and we’ll be happy to help.

Note for Recruitment Agencies

DAC Beachcroft manages all vacancies via our in-house recruitment teams, prioritising direct sourcing and referrals. When external support is required, roles are released to selected agencies on our Preferred Supplier List (PSL).

Speculative CVs sent to any DAC Beachcroft employee without prior instruction from our recruitment teams (LLP and CSG) will not be accepted, and no fees will be payable.

For PSL queries, please contact: recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com or csgrecruitment@dacbeachcroft.com