Specialist Panels of Junior Counsel
BSO Legal Services (DLS), which provides legal services to the public health and social care sector in Northern Ireland, is re-establishing its Specialist Panels of Junior Counsel to provide legal advice, representation and support to its HSC clients.
DLS is inviting applications from suitably qualified barristers with relevant specialist experience to become members of the Specialist Panels for the following areas of law:-
- Administrative Law and Inherent Jurisdiction
- Commercial Law & Public Procurement
- Employment Law
- Family Law (and associated Judicial Reviews)
- General Litigation (Personal Injury)
- Inquests
- MedicalNegligence
- Mental Capacity Law and Mental Health Law
- Recovery of Residential Charges/ Debt Recovery Work
Eligibility criteria
In order to be eligible to apply for one of the Specialist Panels of Junior Counsel Applicants must:
- be a qualified barrister eligible to practise in Northern Ireland at the date of application, (and)
- demonstrate extensive post qualification experience as a barrister in the specialist area(s) of law for which the candidate wishes to apply.
- DLS may consider applications from barristers with less than 5 years experience in the last 7 years, but given the specialist nature of the work, it is expected that those with less than 5 years standing may find it more difficult to satisfy the criteria for selection.
DLS reserves the right to tighten the eligibility criteria, dependent on the volume of applications for any of the Specialist Panels.
Maximum number of applications
Due to the specialist nature of these panels, Counsel may apply for a maximum of three Specialist Panels.
If any counsel applies for more than 3 of the Specialist Panels, strictly only the first 3 of these applications received by DLS (or the first 3 attachments to an email submission) will be considered. The later applications/attachments will be rejected.
Duration of Specialist Panels
The Specialist Panels of Junior Counsel will be effective from 1st January 2025 for a period of 5 years, although DLS reserves the right to extend this timescale.
Information Session
DLS will be holding an online information session regarding the DLS Specialist Panels of Junior Counsel. This will include information regarding the application process and working for DLS and our HSC clients.
This Information Session will be hosted on Microsoft Teams on: 3.30pm on Wednesday 30th October.
If you would like to request an invitation to attend this session, please email dlscounselpanel@hscni.net
Application Forms and Further Information
Application forms and further information for the Specialist Panels of Junior Counsel
Attachment One – Application Form For Specialist Panels Of Junior Counsel
Attachment Two – Information Pack For Applicants Specialist Panels
Attachement Three – Reference Pro Forma For Specialist Panels
Attachment Four –Data Sharing Agreement
Attachment Five – Counsel Panel Equality Monitoring Form – For reference – Please complete the form in the link below.
Attachment Six – Announcement DLS Counsel Panel 2025
Please download and complete the Application Form and Equality Monitoring form and return to dlscounselpanel@hscni.net by Friday 22nd November 2024 at 5pm.
Referees
For the Specialist Panels of Junior Counsel only, 2 references are required in support of the application and will form part of the selection process.
All references must be received by 5pm on Friday 29th November 2024; it is the Applicant’s responsibility to ensure references are submitted to DLS by that deadline.
FAQs
Please check Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs – Specialist Panels of Junior Counsel