Summary
An exciting opportunity to join Water Plus where you will be providing legal advice to the business, particularly debt recovery support, under the supervision of qualified members of the Legal Team.
Wage
£23,809.76 a year
Training course
Solicitor (level 7)
Hours
Monday to Friday. Shifts to be confirmed.
37 hours 30 minutes a week
Start date
Tuesday 27 May 2025
Duration
2 years 6 months
Positions available
2
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you’ll do at work
The role offers an exciting opportunity to join the fast paced Legal, Regulatory and Compliance team. Which currently includes 5 permanent qualified lawyers, 2 legally qualified paralegals, 5 regulatory/compliance professionals and 6 operational support operatives.
This is an ideal opportunity intended for entrants into the legal profession and provides candidates with a unique opportunity to apply their legal knowledge in a commercial context. Practical legal experience is therefore welcomed but not necessary.
Successful candidates will gain exposure to a variety of challenging legal matters such as GDPR, contracts and litigation.
The role offers work in the dynamic team and includes working directly with external lawyers litigating on complex high value disputes. Candidates will gain valuable exposure in preparing for trial and attending court.
Successful candidates will also work closely with all stakeholders and senior management to reduce the legacy debt and improve customer experience in our bulk litigation work. There are also opportunities to work alongside our commercial counsel in their work on GDPR and negotiating and putting in place contracts.
The successful applicants will be highly motivated problem solvers who are able to manage their time and conflicting obligations well and process, analyse and evaluate large sets of data. We are looking for critical thinkers who can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of debt recovery.
Duties:
* To be able to explain clearly to customers the circumstances around their account and draft and negotiate settlement agreements
* To own the customer’s enquiry or issue from receipt to resolution, ensuring that promised actions are completed, and the customer is kept up to date via the debt collection agency or solicitor
* Work with the internal team and/or external solicitors to conduct litigation
* To accurately identify the root cause of the customer’s situation and produce accurate litigation triage forms so next steps can be determined by a qualified solicitor
* To adhere to all regulations, policies and guidelines
* To assist in on-the-job training and development of other team members and provide specialist support to deliver outstanding performance
* Support with legal matters, including GDPR, review and negotiation of contracts including simple variation agreements and support on more complex matters
* Conduct legal & regulatory research as required
* Carry out administration, including writing letters, filing documents, taking notes, etc
Where you’ll work
Prospect House
Gordon Banks Drive, Trentham Lakes North
Stoke-On-Trent
ST4 4TW
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
College or training organisation
BPP PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION LIMITED
Your training course
Solicitor (level 7)
Equal to master’s degree
Course contents
* Obtain relevant facts by effective questioning and active listening.
* Find, analyse, and assess documents to extract relevant information including recognising when additional information is needed, interpreting and evaluating information obtained, recording and presenting information accurately and clearly.
* Recognise when legal research is needed and use appropriate methods and resources including identifying, finding and assessing the relevance of sources of law, interpreting, evaluating and applying research results, recording and presenting findings of research accurately and clearly.
* Develop strategies and solutions including an understanding of a client’s commercial and personal circumstances, their needs, objectives, priorities and constraints.
* Provide advice which is informed by appropriate and factual legal analysis and identifying the consequences of different options.
* Draft documents from scratch and use precedents which address all legal and factual issues, complying with all formalities and using clear, accurate and succinct language.
* Undertake effective spoken and written advocacy in court and outside of formal court hearings including: effective preparation by identifying and mastering relevant facts and legal principles, organize facts to support an argument or position, present a reasoned argument in a clear, logical, succinct persuasive way, make appropriate references to legal authority, comply with formalities, deal with witnesses appropriately, respond effectively to questions or opposing arguments, identify strengths and weaknesses from different parties’ perspectives.
* Negotiate solutions to clients’ issues including: identify all parties’ interests, objectives and limits, developing and formulating best options for meeting parties’ objectives, presenting options for compromises persuasively, responding to options presented by the other side, developing compromises between options or parties.
* Plan and manage legal cases and transactions including applying relevant processes and procedures to progress matters effectively, assessing, communicating and managing risk, bringing a transaction or case to a conclusion.
* Obtain relevant facts by effective questioning and active listening.
* Find, analyse, and assess documents to extract relevant information including recognising when additional information is needed, interpreting and evaluating information obtained, recording and presenting information accurately and clearly.
* Recognise when legal research is needed and use appropriate methods and resources including identifying, finding and assessing the relevance of sources of law, interpreting, evaluating and applying research results, recording and presenting findings of research accurately and clearly.
* Develop strategies and solutions including an understanding of a client’s commercial and personal circumstances, their needs, objectives, priorities and constraints.
* Provide advice which is informed by appropriate and factual legal analysis and identifying the consequences of different options.
* Draft documents from scratch and use precedents which address all legal and factual issues, complying with all formalities and using clear, accurate and succinct language.
* Undertake effective spoken and written advocacy in court and outside of formal court hearings including: effective preparation by identifying and mastering relevant facts and legal principles, organize facts to support an argument or position, present a reasoned argument in a clear, logical, succinct persuasive way, make appropriate references to legal authority, comply with formalities, deal with witnesses appropriately, respond effectively to questions or opposing arguments, identify strengths and weaknesses from different parties’ perspectives.
* Negotiate solutions to clients’ issues including: identify all parties’ interests, objectives and limits, developing and formulating best options for meeting parties’ objectives, presenting options for compromises persuasively, responding to options presented by the other side, developing compromises between options or parties.
* Plan and manage legal cases and transactions including applying relevant processes and procedures to progress matters effectively, assessing, communicating and managing risk, bringing a transaction or case to a conclusion.
Your training plan
* Solicitor Level 7 (Master's degree) Apprenticeship Standard
More training information
* Your Level 7 apprenticeship shall be delivered by a blend of online and face-to-face from BPP [alongside our award-winning internal training]. Coupled with the on-the-job learning, completion of the apprenticeship will lead to obtaining your solicitor qualification
* The apprenticeship standard is based on the SRA’s Statement of Solicitor Competence. Achievement of the standard and the associated apprenticeship assessment plan will satisfy the SRA’s regulatory framework for qualification as a solicitor, subject to the SRA’s usual tests of character and suitability
Requirements
Essential qualifications
Degree in:
* English legal (grade 2:1)
Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.
Skills
* Communication skills
* Attention to detail
* Organisation skills
* Interpersonal skills
* Typing skills
* Minute taking skills
* IT literate
* Reliable
* Adaptable and flexible
* Confidential
* Methodical
* Sensible
* Pragmatic
* Diplomatic and tactful
* Results driven
* Determined
Other requirements
Ability to deal with stressful situations or time-pressured tasks. Able and willing to work outside normal hours where necessary. Essential: An English legal degree of at least 2:1 level (within the last 4 years) and/or other legal professional qualification (i.e. Legal Practice Course / GDL)