Position: Legal Compliance Manager
Department: Practice Support
Location: St Albans/Radlett
Company overview
Debenhams Ottaway is a progressive law firm with a long history and a reputation built on providing outstanding service and legal advice. Based in the heart of St Albans with a London presence, we help individuals, families and businesses in Hertfordshire, London and across the UK.
We believe passionately in building long term relationships with our clients and people. Our teams of talented and ambitious people work together to help clients succeed. This is an opportunity to join an exciting and demanding work environment that offers support and guidance to help everyone achieve their best. Our career framework provides the opportunity to learn and develop in a structured but flexible way.
Overview
At Debenhams Ottaway the client and our people are always at the heart of what we do. This role plays a vital part in management of the firm’s risk, protecting client and employee information, ensuring our continued compliance with legal, regulatory and best practice standards and ensuring we retain our accreditations.
Key areas
The Legal Compliance Manager is responsible for:
- Handling of complaints on a day to day basis to reduce risk and implement learnings and reporting to the Complaints partner.
- Handling of claim/circumstance notifications and the day to day management of claims, under the supervision of the PII partner, to reduce risk and implement learnings.
- Providing support and guidance to the Practice Support Group and Partners on fraud and regulatory risk and compliance issues, including but not limited to Anti Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations, SRA Code of Conduct, Solicitors Accounts Rules, Financial Services Regulation and UK GDPR.
- Drafting policies and procedures and keeping up to date with current legislation and regulatory requirements of the SRA and other relevant bodies.
- Regularly reviewing firm policies and procedures, making recommendations for improvements and ensuring that they are real life risk focused rather than “box ticking”.
- Ensuring that risk management policies are commercially focussed and balanced with the needs of the business and the workload of its personnel.
- Providing analysis of the firm’s risk assessment data.
- Assisting in the research of any compliance failures and recommending improvements to prevent recurrence.
- Assist the Senior Responsible Officers (SROs) with annual WIQS and CQS reaccreditation.
- Assist the COLP/Managing Partner/PII Partner (as necessary) with PII and the practising certificate renewal process.
- Acting as the main point of contact for the ICO and ensuring that the annual data protection fee is paid by the firm.
- Act as an independent audit function to assess MLR practiced at the firm.
- Being the main contact for any internal audits.
- Work with other third parties as required.
- Lead data protection compliance including but not limited to reporting data breaches internally, logging Data Protection Impact Assessments and dealing with any subject access requests received by the firm.
- Work with HR and the COLP to develop the annual compliance training plan.
- Line management of the Compliance Executive, fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment.
- Reviewing supplier contracts and reporting to the relevant practice support leader on any identified issues and recommendations, prior to contracts being signed.
Skills and Attributes
Essential
- Significant experience working within a compliance or risk management role. Alternatively a Solicitor with at least 5 years PQE in professional negligence/indemnity litigation, regulatory, PSL either in-house or in a commercial setting.
- A good understanding of the SRA Code of Conduct and general compliance issues in a law firm.
- A good understanding of (or ability to understand and apply) AML legislation and the Legal Sector Affinity Group Anti-Money Laundering Guidance for the Legal Sector, such that the candidate has the ability and confidence to propose/suggest how the MLRO/MLCO should respond to scenarios presented by fee earners.
- Sound understanding of Lexcel/ISO requirements.
- Ability to understand and apply complex technical information.
- Good prioritisation skills.
- Good written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong IT skills, particularly using MS Office.
- Experience of drafting and implementing policies and procedures.
- A progressive approach to problem solving.
- A commitment to continual learning and encouraging the same in others.
- A supportive and collaborative approach.
Recruitment Agencies
We operate a preferred supplier list for all permanent, contract and temporary recruitment.
If you are interested in being part of our PSL, please email us and we will supply you with a copy of our terms.
We ask you not to send CVs or terms of business to or make contact with our staff, management or partners outside of HR, unless you have been authorised by our HR team to do so.
Any CVs sent contrary to this policy will will not be accepted as introductions in accordance with any terms of business that are sent to us and/or our terms. We reserve the right to make direct contact with the candidate without entering into your TOB. Agencies who are part of our PSL found bypassing this process may result in us terminating our working relationship with you.
All CVs need to be sent to Zahra Solomon at our recruitment email address – recruitment@debenhamsottaway.co.uk
