Vacancy: Senior Solicitor – Glasgow

Join us as a Senior Criminal Defence Solicitor and immerse yourself in providing top-tier legal defence services within summary and solemn courts, as well as at police stations.

Your independent delivery of ethical services will profoundly impact clients’ lives while upholding core criminal justice values. Your expertise in navigating various court cases, coupled with your knowledge of the criminal justice system and legal aid, is essential to our team’s success.

Don’t miss the opportunity to apply your drive, self-motivation and excellent communication skills in a dynamic role where innovation and pragmatism thrive. If you’re ready to make a difference and support our mission, apply now!

Essential criteria

• In-depth working and technical knowledge of the criminal justice system and legal aid
• Practical experience of practicing Scots criminal law in a court setting
• Practical experience of advising and assisting suspects in police detention
• Experience of conducting proceedings in areas requiring specialist knowledge of criminal law, procedure and advocacy
• Driven and self-motivated with the ability to achieve results, using own initiative to make things happen while working to high standards to produce high quality output with minimal supervision
• Ability to exercise sound judgement in evaluating information and courses of action to reach logical and objective decisions on what will most likely lead to the best result
• Excellent written and oral presentation and communication skills to influence and persuade others in a way that is easily understood
• Good planning and organisation skills to achieve results in a qualitative, timely and cost-effective way including setting priorities, planning the efficient use of resources and monitoring progress against objectives
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Tenacity
• Innovative and pragmatic
• Ability to mentor and coach colleagues to achieve their potential
• A valid driving licence.

Desirable criteria

• Computer literate in Word, Excel, time and case recording, and the operation of case management systems.

How to apply

Full details about the role and an online application are available through our recruitment portal (external link).

About PDSO

PDSO was established in 1998 and is a national network of publicly employed solicitors providing criminal legal assistance and operating from eight offices across Scotland. Operating as a SLAB direct service, we advise and represent clients, who are eligible for criminal legal aid, in relation to summary and solemn cases at every level and in Scotland’s busiest courts all over the country.

We are part of SLAB’s Client Legal Services Directorate which comprises PDSO, the Civil Legal Assistance Office (CLAO) and the Solicitor Contact Line (SCL), making us Scotland’s largest multi-disciplinary legal aid practice and a unique place to work.