Paralegal – Costs - Birmingham

Job Introduction

The CSG costs product currently deals with some 600 instructions a month dealing with a wide range of work types referred from all the different clusters within DAC Beachcroft LLP. The strategic aim of the department is to provide litigation costs expertise on demand across the broad range of work carried out throughout the business from low value injury claims to complex multi-million international commercial litigation.

Currently the product has one Partner, one Legal Director and four Associates. There are in total 43 lawyers across a broad range of experience including Solicitors, Chartered Legal Executives, Costs Lawyers and Paralegals.

The costs product comprises several distinct teams specialising in a specific area of costs including paying party teams (challenging claims for costs of up to £100,000) and two complex claims teams. There are also two receiving party recovery teams. An opportunity has arisen for at least one paralegal role within the paying party section. The paying party section consists of three teams and deals with claims of costs arising from a wide variety of civil litigation including personal injury, disease, clinical negligence, property damage, cyber, commercial and accidents abroad. There is also a Scottish jurisdiction unit.

We are currently accepting applications from candidates with no or minimal experience in costs as paralegals. This is a full-time position to be based in our Birmingham office.

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!

Role Responsibility

Specific responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Handle a case load of costs challenges where individual costs claims are up to £100,000 in value.
• Assume responsibility for quality control and benchmark compliance on own caseload, including accuracy and timeliness of management reporting and information 
• Demonstrating a high level of financial management in respect of own files
• To hit, maintain and apply a consistent approach to all individual targets of chargeable time, financial performance, realisation rates, settlement rates and average claim spend, achieving a minimum budgeted annual target of 1440 chargeable hours per year.
• Maintaining and developing technical knowledge through attendance at training sessions, reading appropriate publications 

The Ideal Candidate

• Educated to law degree or equivalent
• IT literate with a good working knowledge of Excel and Word.
• Have an ability to adopt a commercial perspective to legal issues rather than a purely academic approach
• Must be able to work under pressure and be dedicated to meet required deadlines
• Demonstrates alignment with the Firm’s Cultural Principles (Clear, Creative, Determined and Supportive)

DAC Beachcroft