Law Society notices

Criminal litigation accreditation scheme - chief assessor and assessorsThe Law Society's criminal litigation accreditation scheme (CLAS) opened at the same time as the implementation of the Legal Services Commission's (CLA) Duty Solicitor Arrangements 2001 on 2 April 2001.

Duty solicitors who were registered with the LSC between 2 January 2001 and 2 April 2001 have been passported into stage 1 of the CLAS.

Chief assessorThe Law Society is inviting applications for the part-time position of chief assessor.

It is particularly interested to hear from solicitors who have had experience (minimum 10 to 15 years) of criminal defence work, including police station and court duty solicitor work and have been involved with the selection of duty solicitors.

Those who have had experience of duty solicitor work in the past and have current relevant experience of criminal law and practice and assessment methods will not be ruled out for consideration.

The successful applicant will be expected to devote an average of one day per week during the scheme development phase - expected to last approximately 12 months from the date of appointment - and approximately two days per month thereafter.

The annual remuneration is 7,500 plus any expenses with the option of additional payments for additional work which is required to take the development of the CLAS forward.

The post will involve:l Monitoring and assessing the performance of the assessment organisations (providers of the stage 1 CLAS and the police station representatives qualification assessments) against the Law Society's standards and guidelines assisted by assessors;l Providing assistance with the scheme development, including settling the final form of questionnaire for re-accreditation;l Assisting with the appointment and training of a team of scheme assessors;l Developing a marking scheme to ensure that the criteria for re-accreditation are applied consistently;l Supervising the work of the panel of assessors;l Assisting with the development of stage 2 of CLAS;l Advising Law Society adjudicators on individual appeals and complaints against members;l Advising Law Society staff on applications and technical issues.

The chief assessor will be appointed initially on a three-year part-time contract for services, subject to a notice period on either side.

Assessor - CLAS training and assessmentThe Law Society invites applications from suitably qualified solicitors for the part-time appointment of assessor (CLAS training and assessment); there are three posts.

It is particularly interested to hear from solicitors who have substantial (minimum five years) experience of police station and court duty solicitor work and of assessments by way of portfolio and practical testing.

The post will involve:l Becoming fully familiar with the Law Society's assessment guidelines and standards of competence for duty solicitor assessments and for the police station representative assessments;l Attending meetings of assessment boards and practical tests and producing written reports to the Society on the performance against the guidelines and standards;l Examining the assessment organisations' question papers, practical tests and portfolio marking guidance to ensure its consistent application by the assessment boards;l Attending meetings with the chief assessor and Law Society staff to discuss issues arising from monitoring visits.The appointment will be for an initial period of three years.

Remuneration will be paid at the rate of 300 per monitoring visit and report plus reasonable expenses.

It is expected that the work will require up to seven days per year.Marking assessors (CLAS) The Law Society is also interested to hear from solicitors with at least five years' experience of criminal defence work, including magistrates' court and police station duty solicitor work, who would be interested in becoming marking assessors for the re-accreditation programme.

The marking assessors will be appointed in September 2001 and receive appropriate training on the marking scheme and application process before the start of the re-accreditation programme in November 2001.

Marking assessors will receive payment for each application marked and report produced and would be expected to mark at least 10 applications per month.

Applications for all posts should be in writing with a current CV to the Team Manager Professional Accreditation Development, The Law Society, Ipsley Court, Redditch, B98 0TD or use DX 19114 REDDITCH by 9 July 2001.

Interviews will be held during the week commencing 23 July 2001.For an informal discussion about any of the appointments please contact Michael Barstow on 01527 517141 extension 3215 or e-mail him at: michael.barstow@lawsociety.org.uk