Children Law Solicitor - Colchester

Duncan Lewis Solicitors:

Founded in 1998, Duncan Lewis Solicitors is a leading UK law firm with over 500 professionals and offices nationwide. Recognised by The Legal 500, Chambers & Partners UK, and The Times Best Law Firms, we provide expert legal services across more than 25 practice areas while championing access to justice and supporting some of the most vulnerable members of society.

As the UK's largest provider of publicly funded legal services, we are proud holders of Investors in People Gold accreditation and recipients of multiple Law Firm of the Year awards, including the Women and Diversity in Law Awards 2026, LexisNexis Legal Awards 2024, and Modern Law Awards 2023. Our ethos is simple: we give people a voice.

Department Background:

Applauded by The Legal 500 has 'an extremely knowledgeable and hugely capable child care team', our highly specialised Child Care Department is ranked and recommended by The Legal 500 UK and Chambers & Partners UK independent legal directories for its expertise in all aspects of child care law.

Our Child Care team represents children, parents, guardians, and family members in a wide range of complex child care matters, including care proceedings, adoption, child arrangements, surrogacy, and international child abduction cases.

Many of our specialists are members of the Law Society Children Panel, the Association of Lawyers for Children, and Resolution, reflecting the strength of expertise across the department. As one of a select number of firms on the ICACU referral panel, we are trusted to handle complex and high-profile cases, including those with international and culturally sensitive elements.

Main Responsibilities of the Role

• Report directly to Department Director
• Responsible for all aspects of Child Care work including providing technical expertise and guidance to other team members
• Ability to manage and supervise Trainee Solicitors and Caseworkers to manage appropriate caseload types and complexities
• Assisting with delivery of appropriate training and development in the department
• Variety of duties including dealing with a range of public and private children cases including child abduction, child protection issues, special guardianship and adoption matters as well as undertaking your own advocacy
• You will have a professional pro-active approach, strong client care skills and be interested in Business Development and Marketing to supplement the substantial work volumes brought in by the company.

Key Skills Required:

• Qualified Solicitor with 1 - 5 years' PQE in Children Law, with experience managing a varied caseload and delivering high-quality legal advice and representation.
• Have extensive experience in dealing with all Family / Child Care related work
• Must have a clean, valid Practising Certificate at the time of applying
• Strong management skills
• Committed team player with ability to approach team concerns fairly, foster culture of positive change and encourage cross referrals
• Previous proven supervisory experience and working to key performance indicators
• Professional with a pro-active approach; excellent client care skills and ability to deal with vulnerable clients and resolve complicated practicalities involved in child care issues
• Excellent networking and communication skills with the ability to successfully market the Company and generate new business
• Working knowledge of the publicly funded Child Care work and have the ability to service privately funded cases
• Experience in own advocacy is an advantage
• Excellent IT Skills -familiar with Microsoft Office applications and document management skills

What we offer

• A fantastic supportive team
• Excellent progression opportunities
• Support for appropriate legal awards/recognition

Salary Structure (Outside London - In London)

• NQ: £40,000 - £42,500
• 1 Year PQE: £42,000 - £44,000
• 2 Years PQE: £43,500 - £45,500
• 3 Years PQE: £45,000 - £47,000
• 4+ Years PQE: Competitive / Negotiable ,depending on experience

The Company will support your career progression if you decide to pursue Children Panel accreditation with the Law Society or Resolution. The total cost of progressing onto the Children panel is approximately £1700 .

Children Law Accreditation Salary:-

Moving forward we are looking to offer all new Children panel members a salary of:

• £52,000 p.a. outside London. - £55,000 p.a. in London

This salary will apply from the date you are registered as a panel member/accredited with the Law Society.

The recruitment process will fully comply with GDPR and other applicable laws. Background checks including CRB / DBS checks will establish your eligibility to work in the UK and suitability to the role.

Equal Opportunities:

Duncan Lewis is committed to Equal Opportunities and embraces diversity of its staff. The Company strives to ensure that our staff reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, which is reflective at all levels within our workforce.

We guarantee an interview for candidates that disclose a disability and meet the essential requirements for the post. Please provide additional details in your covering letter if this applies.