Ethnic Minorities Law Centre

The Ethnic Minorities Law Centre (EMLC) is a recognised Scottish charity and has been operating since 1991 as a non-profit making company limited by guarantee. We are committed to tackling poverty, destitution, inequalities and discrimination by providing high quality legal services to a diverse and disadvantaged community. Our specialist areas of law are human rights, immigration, asylum, employment, discrimination and social welfare law. We provide training on legal rights and legal support to local advice and community agencies and campaign to influence law, policy, practice and promote human and civil rights.

Always looking to adapt to the needs of our service users, and to search out and address unmet legal need within the black and minority ethnic communities, we have developed specialist legal expertise to meet these needs and our service has responded to changes in the legal requirements and demographics of our client group.

The geographical scope of our service has expanded from Glasgow city to include most of the outlying local authority areas formerly in the Strathclyde Region. More recently, we opened a branch office in Edinburgh to provide a service to the city of Edinburgh, and we have also established projects to expand our service in the Highlands, Aberdeen city and Aberdeenshire areas.

As well as expanding geographically, the nature of our services has also responded to client needs and demands. For example, we have established specific youth projects to target young BME communities, such as the current Youth Discrimination Project. Our work with asylum seeking and refugee women led us to establish the Female Support and Counselling Project, to provide a holistic service to this vulnerable group who had particular experiences of traumatic events.

Looking towards the future, we have been active in engaging with the mainstreaming agenda to increase understanding of the needs of BME communities among mainstream advice and support agencies, and to increase their capacity to deal with these issues. This work was trialled in our successful PanLanarkshire pilot, where working in partnership with local CABX to provide training and second tier support was an essential part of the remit, and this model has gone on to form the basis of the Edinburgh, Highland and Aberdeenshire projects.

We have highly regarded, dedicated staff and strong support from our funders, volunteers and communities. In challenging times, we are a vibrant Law Centre.

Deputy Principal Solicitor

The Deputy Principal Solicitor is a crucial role for us. You will hold an unrestricted Practising Certificate and have a minimum of 3 years PQE. You will have an in depth understanding of the role of Law Centres in the provision of legal services and access to justice. Knowledge of the legal and advice sectors and the problems facing the community served by the Law Centre is also essential for this post. With the support of the Board of Directors and Management Team, you will have the ability to work in conjunction with and assist the Principal Solicitor to lead the organization, plan and deliver for the future. You will have responsibility for securing funding and delivering our projects. You will be an ambassador for our organization, our work and have a vital role in developing our existing strong partnerships.

In conjunction with the Principal Solicitor the Deputy Principal Solicitor will:

Be responsible for the effective and efficient use of resources whilst ensuring that the range and standards of legal service are of the highest quality deliverable.
Will ensure that the law centre complies with the terms, any waivers and professional requirements of the Law Society of Scotland.
Will be responsible for maintenance of clients' accounts and records in accordance with the Solicitor’s Accounts Rules.

Documents for download and additional information:

How to Apply

We trust that you have found the information on this site both useful and informative.

To apply, please send a completed Application & Equal Opportunities Form (downloadable below) to Kelsey Sinclair by email - ksinclair@aspenpeople.co.uk or by post to Aspen People Ltd, 5th Floor, 78 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, G2 5UB quoting reference G932).

Documents for download:

Applicants will be shortlisted for interview by matching the details given in application against the job description and person specification. We would therefore ask applicants to provide clear evidence to show how your experience, skills and knowledge match those requirements as well as why you are interested in the role.

Please note that you will receive an acknowledgement of your application within 48 hours - if you do not receive this please contact Kelsey Sinclair.

For any process, logistical or practical queries please contact Kelsey Sinclair on 0141 212 7555. For a confidential discussion regarding the brief, please contact Donogh O'Brien or Mhairi Higgins at our search partners, Aspen People, on the same number.

Recruitment Timeline

We have provided below a note of the critical dates within this recruitment campaign which will hopefully help you plan your diary:

Closing date for applications	Friday 31st July 2015
Interviews	Friday 14th August 2015

Applications are welcome from members of the 'BME' (Black and Minority Ethnic) population as the Law Centre is seeking to increase their participation at senior level within the organization.

The Ethnic Minorities Law Centre is an equal opportunities employer.

The Ethnic Minorities Law Centre is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC018379