The Watford office, which opened in 2016 with the acquisition of British firm Matthew Arnold & Baldwin, has housed the Legal Delivery Service Centre since last year. In September 2021, the SRA launched the Lawyers Qualification Examination (SQE) in response to concerns about how aspiring lawyers are prepared for practice and to unify how individuals are selected, resulting in the most significant reform the legal sector has ever seen. After a six-month pilot project at its Watford office, Dentons plans to deploy legal delivery service centres in other locations. The program, conducted in collaboration with BPP, offers up to 10 candidates the opportunity to receive financial support through the new legal qualification, including preparatory courses, exams and supervision throughout the period of qualified work experience. You will work closely with the other members of this dedicated team as well as our MKRE team, legal services, project management team and clients. The team has a strong teamwork ethic and a world-class internal and external approach to client management. It is important that candidates are team players and develop both personally and professionally. The determination to provide targeted and high-quality services is just as essential as maintaining and developing relationships with internal and external clients. Our paralegals are supported by a development program that has won numerous awards at the National Paralegal Awards. The judges commented that “Dentons stands out for its outstanding and innovative work in promoting and developing training programs for paralegals, has taken clear steps to develop and support the development of paralegals, and to be a leader in the legal landscape.” Our success continues into 2022 and we are pleased that two of our paralegals have been recognized as the Best Legal Assistant for Real Estate Mediation and as the Best Young Practitioner of the Year. We couldn`t be more proud of their achievements.
We welcome the changes to Dentons, especially when they allow us to attract even more top talent to the firm, which is why we have launched QualiFLY, our training program that offers paralegals and other legal roles the opportunity to qualify for NQ at Dentons in England and Wales. Fifty-four employees were working in the office when the lockdown began, including four partners, nine employees, 23 paralegals and 11 business services employees. We have paralegals in all areas of our business, integrated into our fee, professional and managed services teams, as well as all our offices in the UK, Ireland and the Middle East in our Legal Delivery Centre (LDC). If you are interested in applying for this position, we welcome direct applications via our careers page, but if you have any questions in advance, please send an email to recruitment.matters@dentons.com – inquiries please only, applications will not be accepted by email. Dentons is committed to equal opportunities for all. We welcome applications from applicants with disabilities and support people with disabilities in the workplace. Any disclosure of disability will be treated confidentially and sensitively and if you would like to speak directly to a member of our team, please email recruitment.matters@dentons.com. Dentons is a corporate member of the Institute of Paralegals (IoP), the governing body of paralegals.
This is a testament to our commitment to our paralegals and their professionalism, and we are excited to be working with IoP as they are well positioned to guide us and share best practices in this area. The firm`s legal delivery centre, piloted in the Watford office and providing paralegal support in areas such as due diligence, is also expected to become “fully virtual”. Dentons has launched an internal Lawyer Qualification Examination (SQE) program, Quali-FLY, designed to help paralegals and other lawyers become future lawyers for the firm. Quali-FLY will support the planned growth of the firm`s Virtual Legal Service Delivery Centre (LDC), which currently houses approximately 60 paralegals who will have the opportunity to apply for a position in the program after successfully completing six months of work experience. Paralegals are key to our vision to be the law firm of the future, right now. One of the three goals behind this is “Smarter: Building a Smarter Model to Enable Simpler Service.” This is where our paralegals fit into the game. In fact, they offer a different approach to routine and sometimes complex tasks. We train our partners and staff to unpack the file and fund the work at the right level, according to the skills required. We welcome new and innovative ways of working to ensure we remain at the forefront of legal services, but this can only be achieved in conjunction with the continued development of our EMPLOYEES – our most important/valuable asset. In addition to the paralegal population, Dentons also offers the same opportunity to other lawyers, including members of Dentons Helix, the firm`s new legal offering, which was established to redefine the relationship between clients and legal service providers, combining the best of private practice and managed legal services.
QualiFLY has been in development for many months with the help and support of many of the company`s stakeholders and is expected to provide the company with a sustainable pipeline of talent recognized over the years. This new initiative demonstrates the firm`s commitment to professional development by leveraging new innovations in the legal sector to continue to help us build the law firm of the future.” Dentons is the world`s largest law firm, delivering quality and value to clients around the world. Dentons is a leader in the Acritas Global Elite Brand Index, winner of the BTI Client Service 30 Award, and recognized by leading business and legal publications for its innovations in customer service, including the formation of Nextlaw Labs and the Nextlaw Global Referral Network. Dentons` polycentric approach and world-class talent challenge the status quo to advance client interests in the communities where we live and work. www.dentons.com. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are external online distributors of ALM`s extensive collection of current and archived versions of legal news publications. Clients of LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law may access and use ALM content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, New York Law Journal and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information. With the ever-increasing demand for disaggregated legal services, the AMP offers an exciting opportunity for development and experience in the range of areas of legal services and the opportunity to undertake varied, challenging and engaging work. The LDC offers the opportunity to connect with all areas of business and offers an excellent presence throughout the company and with some of the company`s key customers. Dentons is designed to be different. As the world`s largest law firm with 20,000 professionals in more than 200 locations in more than 80 countries, we can help you grow, protect, operate and finance your business.
Our polycentric, goal-oriented approach, along with our commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity and ESG, allows us to challenge the status quo to focus on what matters most to you. www.dentons.com The team is supported by a development program that received the Best Law Firm – Paralegal Development Award at the 2019 and 2020 Paralegal Awards. The jury stated at the announcement of the award in September 2020 that “the overall winner has distinguished himself through his outstanding and innovative work in promoting and developing training programs for paralegals, taking clear steps to develop and support paralegal development and leadership in the legal landscape.” The firm is a corporate member of the Institute of Paralegals (“IoP”) and we are pleased that our development program has recently been externally accredited by IoP. We are currently looking for an intelligent, ambitious and enthusiastic paralegal to join our innovative and remote Legal Service Delivery Centre (MQP). The PMA provides paralegal support to all our offices in the UK and the Middle East. LDCs are part of our strategy to find new, more innovative and efficient ways of working to maintain and improve margins. As a virtual team, it provides an efficient, cost-effective and achievable alternative resource solution for less complexity, volume, repetitive and routine tasks (legal and administrative), giving older members of our practice groups the opportunity to focus and execute on more complex workflows, strategic priorities and business development. Help us make legal wages more transparent. Get exclusive access to anonymized legal salary data. Ash Rees, Managing Director of Dentons Helix, commented: “I am delighted that we can offer our paralegals this opportunity to reach their full potential while retaining that talent in our company.” The firm acquired its Watford operations in 2016 by hiring a banking law team from the regional law firm Matthew Arnold & Baldwin, consisting of approximately 75 lawyers and paralegals.