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TSol (Treasury Solicitor's Department)

TSol (formerly known as The Treasury Solicitor's Department) also has lawyers co-located with clients at The Department for Education, The Department for Culture, Media & Sport and HM Treasury.

The Department

TSol provides legal services to over 180 clients in central Government Departments and other publicly funded bodies in England and Wales, and collects and manages bona vacantia on behalf of the Crown.
We are one of the largest legal organisations in the United Kingdom, utilising the skills of over 700 dedicated employees, of whom 450 are solicitors and barristers.
Our unique position within Government, talented and skilled employees, and detailed knowledge of our exclusively public sector client base ensures that we deliver an unrivalled service. We are structured in four main areas: Litigation Division, Employment and Commercial Contracts Group, Advisory Division and Bona Vacantia.

Litigation Group

TSol’s Litigation and Employment Group acts for over 800 different clients spread across 180 Government Departments and public bodies. The range and interest of our work is unique; we handle over 20,000 cases each year and represent our clients in a wide range of courts and tribunals.

We are committed to delivering the Government's pledge on Alternative Dispute Resolution and encourage consideration and use of ADR in all appropriate cases.

TSol has been awarded the Lexcel quality mark. Lexcel is the Law Society's practice management quality mark awarded to organisations consistently delivering excellent legal services and the highest management and customer care standards.

Many of the cases handled by the Litigation and Employment group are high profile, often involving questions of constitutional importance especially in the fields of judicial review, public interest immunity, contempt, national security and human rights.

The Litigation and Employment Group is organised into three Divisions:

Division A Private Law
Division B Public Law
Division C Employment and Commercial

Read about what its like to work as a lawyer in the Litigation Group.

Advisory Divisions

Treasury Legal Advisers

The Treasury Legal Advisers Division advise HM Treasury as well as a number of other bodies including the Office of National Statistics, the Royal Mint, the Cabinet Office (Civil Service Pensions) and National Savings.

Our lawyers advise on a diverse range of matters including Government finance to public/private partnerships, from EMU to the Future of Europe, from pensions to prospectuses. Half the team work on financial services.

For example members of the team were heavily involved in the implementation of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which brought about a wholesale reform of the regulation of banking, insurance and investment business, and entailed a vast programme of secondary legislation.

Department for Culture, Media and Sports Division

The recent work of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Division includes advice on the staging of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, on broadcasting policy including digital switchover, on alcohol licensing, gambling, and heritage listing matters.

The Department for Education & for Innovation, Universities and Skills

The Department for Education gathers together every area of policy affecting children and young people, by fully integrating children’s services and educational excellence. The Department's priorities (contained in the Five-Year Strategy for Children and Learners: Maintaining the Excellent Progress) are:

·better support for children and families;
·a continuing drive to raise standards of reading, writing and maths in
primary schools;
·reforming secondary and further education to increase choice and
opportunity for 11- to 19-year olds;
·raising participation in education and training post-16 years old.

In particular DfE lawyers:

· give legal advice as policies are developed;
· provide legal support to officials and ministers in the parliamentary process, including procedure and implementation of Acts of Parliament;
· draft secondary legislation, such as regulations and orders;
· support ministers in Parliament;
· advise on litigation in which the Department is involved; and
· assist officials with the legal problems they encounter in their day-to-day work.

The Cabinet Office and Central Advisory Division

The Cabinet Office and Central Advisory Division (COCAD) provides legal advisory services for most parts of the Cabinet Office (European Secretariat's needs are met by the European Division). Our Public Law Team has a broad client base within Government, including the Department for International Development, and among non-Departmental public bodies that have a need for advice on functions, the exercise of powers and other administrative law issues.

The European Division

The European Division provides and co-ordinates legal services in support of the Government's policies in relation to the European Union. It advises the European Secretariat of the Cabinet Office, conducts all litigation on behalf of the UK in the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, and through coordination seeks to ensure a consistent approach to questions of Community law among UK Departments and the Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh administrations.

Bona Vacantia Division

The Bona Vacantia Division deals with the assets of dissolved companies and people dying intestate with no entitled relatives. The Treasury Solicitor acts on behalf of the Crown to collect, administer and dispose of bona vacantia (the legal name for “ownerless goods”) property and tights vesting in the Crown in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our lawyers handle cases involving a variety of legal issues including land and property, intellectual property, trust, landlord and tenant, and contract. They have a large amount of autonomy in decision-making, deal directly with the public and their representatives, and often have to deal with complex and challenging legal and policy issues.

Read about what its like to work as a lawyer in the Bona Vacantia Division.

Benefits & Rewards

High priority is given to individuals' training and development needs, including continuing professional development. We have a comprehensive in-house training programme covering a wide variety of topics. Subjects recently covered include Humans Rights Act updates, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Judicial Review, Project Management and leadership.

Legal Trainee & Pupillage Opportunities

Legal Trainees and Pupil Barristers are recruited through the GLS Legal Trainee Scheme.

Trainee Solicitors have four six-month seats, the first two in Litigation Division (one of these is usually in a public law area and the other in a private law area) and the third and fourth in the Advisory Divisions. Pupil Barristers have a seat in Chambers and two generally in Litigation Division. At any one time we have about 18 of our own legal trainees and a number of guest trainees from other Government Departments.

Pupil Barristers should note that, from 2007, in order to ensure that Pupil Barristers benefit from the same range of experience as the Trainee Solicitors, on qualification barristers will serve a period of 2 years in the Legal Officer grade. In their first year as a Legal Officer they will undertake two 6 month postings. This will replicate the Trainee Solicitor’s experience but they will be employed, of course, as qualified barristers. In their second year as a Legal Officer they will move to a post where they are likely to remain for a minimum of 2 years. In the first year the newly qualified barristers will be paid at the lower Legal Officer rate and in the second year at the higher. After two years, and providing performance is satisfactory they will be regraded to Grade 7 level.

In the 2008 we recruited 6 pupil barristers and 3 trainee solicitors to commence in 2010. We also recruited 2 pupils and 1 trainee to start in September 2009.

Read about what its like working as a Legal Trainee in TSol.

Qualified Lawyer Vacancies

Vacancies for posts in this Department are advertised through the central GLS scheme. All vacancies are posted on the Civil Service Recruitment Gateway (this link will open in a new window).

Location

Currently located at One Kemble Street, London WC2B 4TS.

Lawyers in the Treasury Legal Advisers division, Department for Education and Department for Culture, Media and Sport are co-located with the client at their central London offices.

Further Information

Visit www.tsol.gov.uk and www.bonavacantia.gov.uk

Or contact:

Mary Esplin
Director HR
Tel 020 7210 3392
mary.esplin@tsol.gsi.gov.uk