7 minute read
Think local government is all missed bins and potholes? Think again!
In this article Sarah Hall, Deputy Director of Law and Governance at West Northamptonshire Council explores life as a Local Government Lawyer.
I want a career in local government......said no law student, ever! Such a career choice is practically unheard of and the opportunity simply isn’t promoted in universities. However, with over 4,500 local government lawyers and governance officers across the UK, a career as a local government lawyer can be incredibly rewarding offering variety, opportunities and great benefits.
Having gained my degree at the University of Northampton I then went on to complete my LPC. Fresh from university I was undertaking some temporary admin work for the NHS when my boss suggested a walk across the road to Broxtowe Borough Council to enquire whether there were any vacancies in the legal team. I didn’t even know local authorities had legal teams or what they did. Intrigued I investigated and 2 months later was their newly appointed legal assistant. That was 2001. I competed my training contract with Broxtowe in 2004 and am now on my sixth local authority. I’ve never worked in private practice and love the work that I do.
So, what do I do?
Fundamentally local government lawyers are there to protect the local authority and ensure that their actions are lawful. However, we do much more than that. We serve the public and we uphold the law. We protect the vulnerable, we safeguard green spaces and the work that we do is for the benefit of the residents and businesses in our local authority area. Of course, we don’t do this in isolation, teams across the council lead on these cases, we simply provide the legal back up.
I trained as a planning lawyer, but that evolved into a focus around information governance, which then developed into corporate governance. However, along the way I have done a bit of everything, litigation, housing, highways, property, regeneration, contracts and employment - the variety is both the beauty and the challenge of working in small district or borough councils. Larger authorities such as city, county and unitary authorities do however offer the opportunity to specialise and work in designated teams. But even in those teams there is lots of variety. My favourite story comes from a colleague who worked in local government for 34 years. Years ago when he was first establishing himself as a local authority lawyer, he was contacted by the police in connection with a lion (yes you’ve read that correctly, a lion) that had been spotted on the balcony of a block of flats. It turned out it was the local authority’s responsibility to deal with it. Tales such as that demonstrate the variety of work we undertake. One day you could be working on a multi-million pounds regeneration contract, prosecuting fly tippers or sitting as legal advisor to a licensing panel, the next you could be advising on the safe removal of a lion!
What all local authorities have in common however is a fixed client base, offering in-house lawyers the opportunity and ability to build relationships with their client officers. These officers instruct you and seek your support to help them meet their objectives and ultimately help the council to meet its priorities in delivering services to the communities it serves. As Debbie Carter-Hughes, Executive Director of Pathfinder Legal Services Ltd, a local authority owned legal company, says “Working for professional clients (rather than lay individuals) brings its own challenges but also means that you are not having to repeat the simple things, you get to develop a great relationship with your clients and you are “part of the team”.
So, if you are thinking of joining a local authority where do you start?
Firstly, if you are a law student check out the Lawyers in Local Government Website (llg.org.uk). There is a wealth of information on there and they run annual work experience programmes for students wanting to experience life as a local government lawyer. Having attended the University of Northampton law careers fair recently, not a single student I spoke to was aware they could have a career in local government. However, it can be a brilliant option for utilising and building on the skills and knowledge developed through university. As Debbie Carter-Hughes explains “Local authority legal work is not only rewarding but is varied in nature; no two days are the same. The breadth of work is great and calls on all the skills that you learn in your academic and professional studies (advocacy, drafting, negotiation etc).”
But what if you are an established lawyer working in a different sector thinking of making the move into local government?
Within Northamptonshire there are two unitary local authorities in addition to Pathfinder Legal Services Ltd. All three organisations provide legal services to local authorities covering the full range of functions that local authorities deliver. Legal teams vary in size, but all have a variety of roles ranging from Legal Assistants to Heads of Legal with Lawyer, Senior Lawyer and Principal Lawyer posts in between. Gone are the days of insisting on local government experience, we’re more interested in the transferable skills that people can bring to the team. There are also plenty of opportunities to grow and develop within local government with qualifications, management training, upskilling and mentoring routinely available. Sanjit Sull, Assistant Director for North Northamptonshire Council adds “Local government provides a great opportunity to develop your legal career. The workload is varied and provides an opportunity to directly impact development of the local authority area. The environment also supports development of soft skills through project work linking with colleagues from across departments.” I shouldn’t also forget the practical benefits such as generous annual leave, flexible working and a local government pension to name but a few.
What about the type and value of the work within local government?
Aside from the lion on the balcony case, there is also the opportunity to get involved in unique and high-profile matters. As a trainee I gave the first advice on renaming the A52 Brian Clough Way. I also appeared on the first licensing appeal cases in Nottinghamshire and I lead on a judicial review of a decision of the Secretary of State following a planning appeal decision...and won. Debbie Carter-Hughes agrees “I have been offered the opportunity to take on some nationally significant work (and many featured in the local or national press) whilst working for different local authorities and making changes which help and assist the wider public is great. I would encourage anyone looking for a challenging legal career to consider working for a local authority legal team.”
There’s another aspect to the role of a local authority lawyer which I haven’t yet mentioned, and that’s the ability to get involved in local government administration. Whether that’s assisting Councillors in supporting their communities or working on an election. The breadth of experience and opportunities to develop skills on offer in a local government environment is hard to beat. There is nothing as exciting as counting votes until 4am only to find that there are just two votes between two candidates! Yes, we recounted several times before the election was finally declared.
The opportunities within local government both for those entering the legal profession and for those who are already established are endless. The move can be made at any time and I’d encourage anyone considering a change to go for it. The final thoughts on a career in local government have to go to Deborah Evans, CEO of Lawyers in Local Government, our support body and national voice “If you truly want to make a difference; seek a legal career that enables you the opportunity to transform lives of vulnerable people, to assist in the regeneration of your local area or the planning of communities or assist your local authority in delivering hugely important local services. Local government offers a friendly, inclusive community of lawyers, flexible working, and a myriad of development opportunities to start your career off in the right direction. You won’t regret it.”