Legal services at the council
Thousands of staff, hundreds of thousands of residents. New legislation, newsworthy stories. Changing needs and unexpected events. Here in Legal Services, we operate within a complex, highly regulated and constantly moving environment. Which brings many challenges – not to mention its own personal and professional rewards.
As a talented, 39-strong team of solicitors and support staff, we provide first-class legal advice to all of the County Council’s departments, members and maintained schools. Now, ask any of our people why they work here and they’ll tell you about the incredible satisfaction that comes from working for the greater good. Being able to see your work make a difference. That, and the variety, the intellectual challenge, the quality of life, the fact that we don’t have to stress about billing hours…we’ve a lot going for us as a legal team here in Somerset.
Developing your career in law
When you join Legal Services, you’ll have the opportunity to build up specialist knowledge – by working within specialist teams. There’s no pigeonholing. It’s your career so you get to choose which direction you want to take it in.
Your continued professional development means everything to us. If you’re just starting out, we’ll support you to gain recognised legal qualifications. (In fact, the majority of our lawyers have qualified with us.) Whatever stage you’re at in your career, we want you to keep learning, keep growing.
And the greater good we’ve mentioned? Well, it starts with people like you. People who care. Who want to make lives better. That’s why we’ll do everything we can to help you work in the way that suits you and your commitments. Because helping brilliant people do brilliant things is what we’re all about.
Meet the team
Emma Harrison, Solicitor – Advocate
“The law in relation to deprivation of liberty has changed dramatically in recent years – and the issues have extended into Childcare law. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working within Adult Social care, creating and presenting talks to social workers and schools, and working with the Children with Disabilities Team to create a procedure to deal with these cases.
The council has really invested in me. When I started, I was a paralegal fresh out of my LPC course. From there, the council has supported me to qualify as a legal executive, solicitor and a solicitor-advocate. They also supported me when I was appointed as a National Lead for Adult Social Care in Lawyers for Local Government (LLG).
The council has been really supportive on my return from maternity leave. There are monthly meetings for people returning from maternity leave, paternity leave and adoption leave. I’ve found these extremely beneficial in getting back into the flow of work and being able to talk to like-minded people about maintaining a work/life balance.”
Get in touch
We're always pleased to hear from talented people. So if you've got any questions about the opportunities that we have available in Legal, or if there's anything else you'd like to know before you apply (or even during the application process), please get in touch with us.
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