Advocate – 8DB – Nationwide
Please Note: The application deadline for this job has now passed.
Job Introduction
8 DAC Beachcroft Buildings or 8DB, is our advocacy team of the DAC Beachcroft group which was founded and developed by the industry leading barristers for the in-house advocacy model. The aim of 8DB is simple: to bring the services of the Bar to our clients.
Our team of barristers and advocates, centrally clerked, work with both internal and external clients to deliver the advisory, drafting and advocacy they might otherwise instruct chambers for. Our barristers have different expertise, but collectively their practices cover:
- Personal Injury
- Clinical negligence
- Occupational health / disease
- Inquests & Regulatory
- Commercial litigation & International
- ADR
- Costs
- Employment
We are flexible on location and looking to hire x3 Advocates based Nationwide.
What’s in it for you?
As well as offering high levels of flexibility and a great work life balance, we offer a well-rounded remuneration package (which includes private medical insurance, income protection insurance and discounted gym membership, amongst many other benefits) alongside real opportunities for growth and progression. We actively encourage colleagues to make use of our professional funding scheme to complete legal or business qualifications relevant to your role.
At DAC Beachcroft our Flex Forward policy means that we have relaxed core hours and colleagues are able to flex their hours across the day and week. For more information please review the following link - https://jobs.dacbeachcroft.com/whats-in-it-for-you/
There are regular in person and remote social events organised for colleagues at DAC Beachcroft , not to mention the opportunity to get involved in a range of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) activities, including volunteering or becoming an ally for one of our inclusion and diversity or business network groups.
We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, which aligns closely to our cultural principles (Determined, Clear, Creative and Supportive). If you are excited about this role and being part of our culture, but your past experience does not align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles!
What you will do
We know that interesting, engaging and challenging drafting / court work is not easy to come by prior to pupillage. Few employed opportunities exist where you are afforded supervision and training from barristers, proximity to clients and crucially – daily exposure to courtroom advocacy. This role is all of that and more.
- Initially your role will involve, dependent on your experience, a tailored training programme to ensure familiarity with procedure, law and tactics of the county court work you can expect to undertake. This will be followed by a shadowing period, where you will learn from more experienced tea members, shadow drafting/ preparing and attendance as well as reporting back of cases.
- Once signed off, you can expect to undertake a range of drafting, advisory and court work. Still under supervision, you will have a support network to guide you as you gain confidence in handling an array of instructions.
- Around six months in, we would be expecting to see your engagement in a range of our work; and familiarity with the day-to-day of the job. Subject to the rights of audience available to you, there is then scope to begin developing the complexity and range of your work.
- In our experience, driven and properly trained advocates (many of whom go on to pupillage, including having been trained by barristers within the team) can also participate in employment tribunals and international arbitration.
Who you are
We are looking for somebody who is pursuing a career at the Bar; somebody who sees their future in the cut and thrust of advocacy. That being said:
- You must have completed both an LLB (or equivalent) and the BPTC (or equivalent).
- Demonstrate alignment with the Firm’s Cultural Principles (Clear, Creative, Determined and Supportive).
Beyond that, although not required, we welcome people with:
- Previous advocacy experience (e.g. self-employed agency roles); and/or
- Previous paralegal/litigation experience (e.g. in one of our areas of practice).
About DAC Beachcroft
We are a leading international legal business with 3,000 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We have 11 offices in the UK as well as offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Rome, Singapore, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Miami. We also have associations/alliances with firms in Malaysia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Central America, the USA, Australia and Germany.
We are a broad-based commercial firm with a strong heritage in insurance, health and real estate. This is complemented by a fast-growing Business Advisory capability. We represent a wide range of clients, from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for the UK’s top-ten insurers, we are market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise the UK’s top-12 housebuilders.
We have an impressive legal pedigree, with 141 practice area rankings across Chambers UK 2023 and The Legal 500 2023 and over 230 individual lawyers ranked in the two guides.
Our successes have been recognised by the legal industry and the markets in which we operate. Our most recent accolades include being named the top winner at the 2022 Legal Innovation Awards with two awards, bringing home two National Insurance Awards in 2023 for ‘Insurance Law’ and ‘Innovative Product’, winning ‘Legal Adviser of the Year – Public’ at both the 2021 and 2022 HealthInvestor Awards and ‘Legal Adviser of the Year – Private’ at the 2021 awards, and being named ‘Arbitration Team of the Year’ at the 2022 British Legal Awards. Regionally in the UK, we were named ‘Law Firm of the Year – Large’ in the 2022 Yorkshire Legal Awards and ‘Innovators of the Year’ at the 2022 Bristol Law Society Awards.
Our vision is to be leading business advisers, recognised for our insight and our outstanding commitment to clients, and for being the place where talented people want to work. For further details on our work and our culture, please visit www.dacbeachcroft.com.
What you need to know about applying
At DAC Beachcroft, we don’t just accept your differences we celebrate them. From bespoke solutions for our clients, to treating you like an individual. Our strength comes from your diverse ideas and bringing the whole you to work. So if you’re good at what you do, come as you are. We welcome direct applications and are happy to talk flexible working.
We also want you to be at your very best. Please feel free to let us know of any changes we can make at any point in the recruitment process that will help support your application. If this opportunity sounds of interest to you, please make an application and submit your CV. Your application will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.
Note for Recruitment Agencies – the DAC Beachcroft recruitment team is responsible for managing all current vacancies through direct hiring and referrals wherever possible. We do work with recruitment agencies and where we require external support we will formally release those vacancies to the agencies on our Preferred Supplier List deemed best placed to assist us. Speculative CVs sent by any agency to any DAC Beachcroft employee without a specific request by the recruitment team will not be accepted and with no introduction fee applicable. Our recruitment team can be contacted at csgrecruitment@dacbeachcroft.com
DAC Beachcroft