Legal Adviser (Litigation)

This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in the Litigation Unit at the heart of the Competition and Markets Authority’s Legal Service.

With markets changing, this is an exciting time to join the team and make a real and positive impact on the UK economy and society.

About the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

We help people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. Our work is wide ranging, ambitious and often new and challenging.

Our Litigation team plays a central and increasingly important role in delivering successful outcomes across the CMA’s work – for example by defending our competition decisions on appeal, litigating to enforce consumer protection law, obtaining warrants to support our investigations and obtaining director disqualification orders.

The volume and profile of the litigation we undertake has increased substantially in recent years, and is expected to grow further in light of the expansion of our case work, following the UK’s exit from the EU and the addition of new CMA functions.

The role

As a Legal Adviser, you will assist in the conduct of proceedings across the CMA’s civil litigation, with a focus on competition and consumer enforcement appeals, challenges to merger decisions, pursuing directors’ disqualification proceedings and public law cases.

You will engage with external stakeholders and internal stakeholders throughout the CMA and help decision makers identify litigation risk in their investigations and decision making.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Assisting in the day-to-day conduct and management of CMA litigation, including:
  • The preparation of pleadings and statements of case
  • Drafting pre-action correspondence
  • Preparing and drafting witness statements and evidence bundles
  • Instructing counsel, drafting applications to court and attending court
  • Dealing with other matters, such as warrants, onward appeals, costs, disclosure, interim matters and correspondence with litigating parties and the courts
• Working with project teams at the pre-litigation stage in advising and decision making
• Advising on the litigation risk of press releases and other cross cutting issues
• Playing a constructive role in the development of the CMA’s Litigation Unit
• Contributing to the CMA’s external activities

About you

You will be a fully qualified lawyer entitled to practise in the UK (including Scotland or NI) or evidence of preparedness to sit and pass the SQE within three years of appointment (and to qualify in England and Wales if not already qualified).

Experience of holding a litigation caseload in the UK, or other common law jurisdictions is important.

You will also have the ability to handle cases with high volumes of documentation as well as the ability to work as part of a project team. Candidates will be expected to have excellent communication skills, with experience of dealing with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.

Experience of competition/consumer law is desirable but not essential.

Please note we are also recruiting for Assistant Directors. If you would like to be considered for the roles of Assistant Director and Legal Adviser, you will need to submit a separate application for each role. 

What we can offer you

The CMA is a hugely diverse, rewarding and stimulating place to work – an opportunity to work for the public good and to stretch and develop yourself in doing so while also having considerable flexibility when it comes to how and when you work. We offer generous benefits, including an excellent pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 27%, at least 25 days leave (increasing to 30 over five years), and generous maternity/paternity leave provision. You can also take advantage of interest-free season ticket loans, a cycle to work scheme.

To find out more about this opportunity and about working for the CMA, please click on the APPLY button.

Please note that for exceptional international candidates, we may be able to sponsor your right to work in the UK, subject to your eligibility to work for the Civil Service. Sponsorship will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Closing date for applications: 11:55 pm on Monday 12th February 2024.

Like many other organisations, we operate a hybrid working model with a mix of office and home working. We believe this supports us to deliver our best work while allowing the flexibility to maintain balanced and healthy lives.

The CMA are an accredited Disability Confident Employer, and we are an equal opportunities employer, welcoming suitably qualified applicants from all backgrounds. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.