Marrickville Legal Centre are looking for a Family Law Solicitor to join our team in 2020. Help vulnerable individuals achieve better & fairer legal outcomes including those affected by family violence.
Position Title:Â Solicitor
Position Reports to: Managing Principal Solicitor or as delegated
Status: Fixed term, full-time
Rate of pay: MLC Level 1 – 8 ($73,798.96 – $94,511.57 per annum excluding superannuation)
Period of employment: For a fixed-term period from 13 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 (with possibility of extension, subject to funding and performance).
Ordinary hours / days of work: 35 hours per week to be worked between Monday to Friday between the hours of 8am and 8pm, with specific days and hours to be agreed between you and the Managing Principal Solicitor.
Supervisor:Â Managing Principal Solicitor or as delegated.
Annual Performance Appraisal:Â As per MLC policy. Please note this position is subject to service deliverables.
Terms and Conditions of Employment: As contained in the letter of offer and as per Marrickville Legal Centre Enterprise Agreement 2012 – 2015.
Delegated Authority
As per chart of delegations.
Supervision
As per MLC Policy which is available upon request. Documented supervision meetings will occur to monitor and provide support with a focus on Support, Accountability, Education and WHS.
Role and Context of the Position
Marrickville Legal Centre offers free legal advice and assistance to the community of the inner-west, south-west, southern suburbs of Sydney, and beyond. There are 1.5 million people living in our key catchment: that’s 30 percent of Sydney’s total population.
Marrickville Legal Centre solicitors provide access to justice through the provision of legal services, law reform and community legal education, particularly for people who are disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances.
This position is specifically for the provision of legal services (legal advice, casework and representation) in the area of family law, prioritising individuals who have been affected by family violence. Given the multiple and complex issues confronted by people affected by family violence, this position may also at times be required to provide legal services in civil law matters related to an individual’s experience of family violence (for example, advice on apprehended domestic violence orders, and advice and casework assistance on victims’ compensation).
The position will be based primarily at the Marrickville Legal Centre’s Illawarra Road office. This position will also involve regular travel to outreach locations across metropolitan Sydney, and out-of- hours work to assist in delivering community legal education and regular evening advice clinics.
Primary Responsibilities
·       Provide high-level advice, advocacy and casework services to MLC clients;
·       Ensure that the CLC Risk Management Guide requirements for all aspects of legal advice and casework are adhered to.
·       Ensure file records and statistical data on client contacts are accurately recorded.
·       Undertake community legal education activities.
Position Expectations
In addition to your primary responsibilities, you will be expected to undertake the following general duties and responsibilities:
Legal Advice and Casework
 a.       Provide high quality legal advice, assistance and referrals for clients;
b.       Undertake legal casework, this includes representing clients at Legally Assisted Mediations at Family Relationship Centres, in accordance with MLC casework policy, or as directed by the Managing Principal Solicitor;
c.        Conduct litigation;
d.       Brief counsel and pro bono solicitors as required; and
e.       Provide advice, support and assistance to other staff.
Community Legal Education and liaison
a.       Provide legal education and training;
b.       Contribute to legal education publications for community members, legal practitioners and community workers assisting socially and economically disadvantaged people; and
c.        Liaise with community organisations, police, chamber registrars, court staff and other stakeholders as appropriate. This may include working on weekends or out of usual hours to attend community events
Law Reform
 a.       Identify suitable public interest cases;
b.       Research and prepare reports, submissions, recommendations and commentaries on law and policy reform issues;
c.        Advocate for law and policy reform with other community organisations; and
d.       Participate in law reform activities of Community Legal Centres NSW.
Supervision of Volunteers
a.       Provide supervision, mentoring and support to a broad range of volunteers, including but not limited to:
i.       Law students;
ii.       Solicitors and paralegals;
iii.       Graduates completing the practical legal training component; and
iv.       Solicitors from pro bono partners seconded to MLC.
Organisation Expectations
Governance and Accountability
a.       Adhere to MLC Constitution, philosophy, policies and procedures including state and federal legislation, funding body service agreements, the Community Legal Centres Australia Risk Management Guide and industry standards;
b.       Document work in line with required standards;
c.        Undertake data collection;
d.       Perform all reasonable duties requested by the Managing Principal Solicitor; and
e.       Attend supervision sessions.
Occupational Health and Safety
 All employees will understand and comply with the WHS Policy, and participate and support the implementation of the WHS Policy.
Close date
Applications close 31 January 2020.
To apply for this role, please send your CV and Cover Letter addressing the responsibilities and expectations of the position to Managing Principal Solicitor, Vasili Maroulis at vmaroulis@mlc.org.au.
