Role overview

Marrickville Legal Centre offers free legal advice and assistance to the community of the inner-west, south-west, southern suburbs of Sydney, and beyond. There are 1.5 million people living in our key catchment: that’s 30 per cent of Sydney’s total population.

Marrickville Legal Centre solicitors provide access to justice through the provision of legal services, law reform and community legal education, particularly for people who are disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances.

The Youth Legal Service (YLS) provides specialist legal information, advice, assistance and ongoing representation for young people up to 25 years of age as well as to youth workers and parents on behalf of young people in relation to a wide range of legal issues. The YLS also provides community legal education to young people and those who work with young people. The YLS convenes the Youth Justice Coalition, a network of legal and non-legal youth justice agencies. This is a state-wide service.

The position operates under the direction and supervision of the Managing Principal Solicitor and its primary focus is on delivering legal assistance, Community Legal Education (CLE), stakeholder engagement, managing internal and external client referrals and assisting with client management for YLS matters that are undertaken by more senior lawyers in the appropriate teams.

This position will be based primarily at Marrickville Legal Centre’s offices in Marrickville, however work will be undertaken at Burwood Local Court providing a duty lawyer service Thursdays and Sutherland Local Court providing a duty lawyer service on Wednesdays.

This position will also involve regular travel to outreach locations across metropolitan Sydney for the purpose of delivering legal advice clinics and legal education, as well as out-of-hours work to supervise evening advice (once weekly) and weekend work to participate in community activities and events (occasionally).

Essential skills

• Admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW.
• Working with Children Check.
• Prior experience in a legal not-for-profit setting such as a Community Legal Centre dealing with, identifying, and understanding the specific vulnerabilities of young people aged 25 and under. This includes legal and non-legal issues.
• Existing stakeholder relationships with youth organisations, disadvantaged schools, and youth committees such as the Youth Justice Coalition.
• Post Admission Experience – 2 years or more.
• Proven ability to relate to vulnerable youth, particularly those living with a disability and those who are Culturally and Linguistically Diverse.
• Experience advocating in the Local Court of New South Wales and District Court of New South Wales in criminal and traffic-related matters.
• Experience advocating and representing clients in police tort matters.
• Demonstrated extensive experience of 2 years or more in criminal law and traffic law.
• Sound judgment and outstanding analytical skills.
• Proactive and independent attitude and result-oriented approach.
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to challenge the status quo to deliver the best possible outcome for the community.
• Ability to present complex legal and other information clearly, accurately and in a way that can be understood by our young people.
• Demonstrated ability to take initiative, accept responsibility, and work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, including the supervision of a broad range of volunteers.
• Ability to supervise and coordinate teams and volunteers to deliver the legal advice in line with MLC’s service agreements.
• Strong relationships with key stakeholders who provide support to young people across New South Wales.
• Demonstrated experience of 2 years or more in working with youth organisations to present legal information to young people in educational settings.
• Existing pro bono partner relationships with law firms.

Please review the full position description attached.

For additional questions about the position or about working at MLC, contact Managing Principal Solicitor Vasili Maroulis at [email protected] using the subject line: Youth Solicitor enquiry via EthicalJobs.