Solicitor

Shepherd and Wedderburn are currently recruiting for a newly or recently qualified Solicitor in our rural property department at our office in Edinburgh or Aberdeen. This role will include the provision of effective legal service to clients of the firm, using knowledge, understanding and experience to advise on rural property transactions and farming partnerships. This will include the sale and purchase of farms, estates and forestry, advising landlords and tenants on agricultural tenancies and dealing with renewable energy developments and partnership matters. 

Candidate Profile

Essential

• Exceptional time management skills
• Exceptional communication skills
• Strong Problem solving skills
• Rural experience not essential but candidate must have property law experience.

Technical/Legal Skills

• Demonstrates appropriate range of legal knowledge and recognises when to raise concerns relating to work with the supervising solicitor.
• Has excellent attention to detail and understands the importance of accuracy and the consequences/risks of carelessness.
• Demonstrates initiative to obtain relevant information to complete tasks.
• Ability to present legal information in an understandable format with guidance, and produces communications which meet client or supervising solicitor instructions following internal protocols, conventions and using required styles or other precedents.

Business/Work Management

• Works as part of a team to attain objectives within agreed timescales and budgets.
• Keeps the supervising solicitor fully informed on a regular basis.
• Complies with all firm policies and procedures, including financial.
• Ensures personal WIP effectively administered; consults on billing; accurately administers timesheets.
• Generates and implements improvements in working methods.
• Prepares well for meetings with guidance.
• Makes effective use of the firm’s information management systems, and complies with all legal and regulatory requirements.

Business Development & Client Relationship Management

• Has an understanding of client care issues.
• Communicates client feedback to supervising solicitor.
• Has an understanding of value of activity versus time spent.
• Participates in marketing/BD activities where appropriate.

People Management

• Takes responsibility and will provide professional and/or personal support as appropriate.
• Communicates effectively with the supervising solicitor, clients, court clerks, the other side, and relevant bodies or authorities.
• Develops an effective personal presence with partners and colleagues.
• Interacts positively with colleagues in other sections.
• Maintains positive working relationships with clients.
• Supports diversity & inclusion within the team.

Personal Development and Knowledge Management

• Completes appropriate CPD hours.
• Ability to maintain an adequate and up to date understanding of relevant law, policy and practice, and to identify where legal research is required.
• Takes responsibility for personal learning and development, evaluates strengths and limitations in relation to the demands of their work, and reflects on and learns from others.
• Undertakes personal study/research to address gaps in knowledge.
• Ability to utilise internal/external knowledge resources e.g. libraries, daily current awareness/plc newsletter etc.
• Contributes to firm knowledge resources.

Ethics, professionalism and judgment

• Recognition of ethical issues and will raise with appropriate person.
• Demonstrates an understanding and application of the ethical concepts which govern their role and behaviour as a paralegal.
• Identifies the relevant SRA or LSS principles and rules of professional conduct, and seeks assistance in applying them.
• Resists pressure to condone, ignore or commit unethical behaviour.
• Respects diversity, and acts fairly and inclusively.
• Discloses when work is beyond their personal capability and recognises when they have made mistakes and takes appropriate action.
• Seeks expert advice when required, and makes effective use of feedback, guidance and support received.

Firm Contribution

• Awareness of and, where appropriate, participates in development of team's operational goals.
• Displays an awareness of organisational goals and has an engaged commitment to team goals.
• Participates in extra-practice events to assist development of firm.
• Participates in CSR activities.

At Shepherd and Wedderburn we strive to provide a supportive, inclusive and high performance working environment, where everyone feels they belong. Diversity and inclusion is at the heart of our business and we welcome applicants from different backgrounds to all levels of the organisation. To foster inclusivity we particularly encourage applications from those who may be from underrepresented groups, including candidates from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBT+ people, disabled people and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Shepherd and Wedderburn is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information that we collect as a “data controller”. The information provided by you will be processed in accordance with our GDPR Privacy Notice for Applicants and Work Experience Students. If you are successful in obtaining paid employment with us, we will hold your information in accordance with our Personnel Data Retention Policy, which will be provided to you at the relevant time.

We will process the information you provide solely for the purpose of evaluating your application for employment. The information will be disclosed to the interview panel (if relevant), your line manager (if appointed), and Human Resources staff members. We may contact any references provided for the purposes of discussing your application, and will ask your permission before doing so.

If you provide any information deemed to be “special category” information under the General Data Protection Regulation, we may use this as follows:

• We will use information about your disability status to provide appropriate adjustments to the interview process.
• We will use any information provided in our diversity monitoring form about your race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, gender identity, gender expression, social mobility background, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, any disability information, age, and marital/civil partnership status to ensure meaningful equal opportunity monitoring and reporting. Any analysis of this data will be done on an anonymous basis.

Should your application be unsuccessful, the information provided will be deleted within 1 year of a decision not to progress your application.

If you have any further questions about how we process and store your information, or your rights in relation to this, please refer to our GDPR Privacy Notice for Applicants and Work Experience Students (available at www.shepwedd.com/careers/working-with-us/privacy-notice)