Junior Paralegal

Job overview
The Integrated Legal Team are a busy Team seeking a Junior Paralegal to assist with the delivery of the Legal Responsibilities within the Trust, particularly Inquest and Claims management but also other legal work, including Court of Protection, as well as Mental Health Act compliance work. To work closely with members of the Integrated Legal Team to assist with the day-to-day administrative processes involved in managing and progressing Inquests, Claims, and other Legal matters
Main duties of the job
Coroner's Investigations & Compensation Claims
• Compilation, bundling and redaction of records
• Support with document management
• Arrangement of meetings on behalf of Team Members
• Witness Tracking
General:
• Admin support across the Integrated Legal Team.
• Acting professionally at all times on behalf of the Integrated Legal Team.
• Respond to internal and external enquiries, either written, email, face to face or telephone using empathy and judgement and taking appropriate action including giving (or withholding) potentially complex and sensitive data as appropriate.
• Maintaining confidentiality at all times and making file notes for legal purposes.
• Work confidently with a variety of information management systems and computer software packages.
• Send and receive sensitive information within and outside the Trust securely and without delay, using relevant protection and encryption systems.
• To assist the Integrated Legal Team with a wide range of legal enquiries and reports, prioritising and escalating to the Claims and Legal Services Manager, as appropriate.
• Liaise with the Health Records Department in relation to the availability of medical records.
• To provide cover and support across the Integrated Legal Team
• Support improvements and initiatives within the Integrated Legal Team.
• Work within the procedural guidelines.
• Ensure deadlines are met and take appropriate action to make sure that work is completed to given timescales.
Working for our organisation
The post is part of the wider Integrated Legal team, and will be a hybrid post, with opportunities to work both at Trust HQ and remotely.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for a more detailed overview of the role and responsibilities.
Person specification
Education
Essential criteria

• Good standard of secondary education; GCSE at Grade C or above including Maths and English (2)

Desirable criteria

• Legal related qualifications eg: legal diploma or degree

Knowledge/Experience
Essential criteria

• Ability to analyse complex data
• Experience of producing documents to a high standard of presentation with good accuracy
• Experience of working as part of a team
• Experience of maintaining office systems
• Dealing with difficult and sensitive information
• Strong interpersonal skills - able to communicate effectively with managers and external stakeholders.
• Organisational Skills
• Mental Effort
• Emotional Effort

Desirable criteria

• Experience of legal processes
• Experience of legal processes within the NHS or similar setting
• Understanding of medical and legal terminology
• Previous experience of data input

Sussex Partnership NHS FT is committed to supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our communities. Our workforce is currently under-represented from Black and Minority, Ethnic and disabled communities and we would welcome applications from these communities.
We regret that we are unable to advise candidates if they have not been shortlisted. If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date please assume that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.
In the event of an excessive number of applicants the Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy earlier than indicated.
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust takes its responsibilities for the safeguarding and protection of children and young people and vulnerable adults very seriously and expects this of all its employees and bank workers. The Trust works with adult and children's social care to ensure that the integrated service has systems in place to equip staff and bank workers with the knowledge and skills to recognize abuse, and take action to safeguard and protect vulnerable adults and children and young people. It is expected that all staff and bank workers familiarise themselves with the appropriate structures and policies and with the Sussex child protection and safeguarding procedures and the Sussex multi-agency policy and procedures for safeguarding vulnerable adults and undertake the relevant essential training and further training appropriate to their role.
Successful candidates are normally offered salaries at the bottom of the relevant salary range. However, where previous or equivalent NHS experience in a similar role can be demonstrated and evidenced, this may be taken into consideration when setting the starting salary.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.