Contentious Probate Paralegal
Up to circa £30,000 plus excellent benefits (Work level 6B)
Bristol, Almondsbury – office based 
Full time, 37.5 hours

We’re looking for a paralegal to join our contentious probate team within Co-op Legal Services.
At Co-op Legal Services we do things differently, whether that’s continuously innovating our technology to support your delivery or our commitment to providing exceptional client experience. In this role, you’ll support solicitors with a variety of tasks within a caseload of disputes and litigation relating to estates. This is an exciting opportunity to gain exposure to contentious probate and property litigation matters. We’ve doubled our probate team within the past year, and as we continue to grow, they’ll be plenty of opportunity for development.

What you’ll do:

•    contact witnesses and draft witness statements for solicitors’ approval
•    review medical records and evidence
•    prepare court bundles and draft and complete court forms
•    draft letters of claim and letters of response
•    deal with external enquiries and make outbound calls to support potential clients
•    provide advice to colleagues in the wider probate team on contentious matters 
•    manage your own litigation caseload following training 
•    assist in some estate administration cases in which there is a dispute/litigation  

This role will suit people who have:

•    experience in contentious probate or other litigation 
•    some knowledge of litigation through study 
•    a keen interest in working in contentious probate and property litigation 
•    great organisational skills, with the ability to manage your own workload
•    strong verbal and written communication skills
•    a client focussed approach, with the ability to put the client’s interests at the heart of everything you do

Why Co-op?

Here you’ll do work that matters. We’re a commercial organisation with a purpose beyond profit, you’ll have an opportunity to help us build a stronger Co-op and stronger communities. You’ll also get a package that includes:
• an annual bonus scheme (dependent on personal and business performance)
• a pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• 28 days holiday plus bank holidays (rising to 32 in line with service)
• wellbeing benefits to support your physical financial and mental health
• coaching, training, and support such as study leave, to help you develop your skills and progress your career
• discounts on Co-op products and services

Building an inclusive work environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. We want to build inclusive work environments, where our colleagues have equal opportunities to reach their full potential. We celebrate our differences and recognise the importance of our teams reflecting the communities they serve. 

If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply. 

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process. 

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme and all our commitments to diversity and inclusion at colleagues.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-and-wellbeing.

If you’re successful in your application, we’ll perform some background checks as part of our pre-employment screening process. These will include an SRA check, credit checks, and a DBS (disclosure and barring service) check. Please note Co-op does not offer visa sponsorship for this role.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes between 45-60 minutes. If you're a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.