Paralegal - Professional Indemnity

Department: Professional and Commercial Risk

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Manchester

Reporting To: Ben Parks

Description

DAC Beachcroft's Professional and Commercial Risk team is one of the leading defendant professional indemnity practices in the UK, acting on behalf of insurers and professionals across a broad range of sectors.

We have an opportunity for a Paralegal to join a specialist professional indemnity team in Manchester, supporting a delegated authority scheme focused exclusively on claims against law firms. Acting on behalf of leading insurers, the team investigates and resolves allegations of professional negligence made against solicitors and law firms, handling matters from initial notification through to resolution.

This role offers an excellent opportunity to develop technical, commercial and client-handling skills. You'll be given responsibility from an early stage, managing your own caseload while working closely with experienced lawyers and insurer clients. Initially, you will support a specialist delegated authority scheme handling professional indemnity claims against law firms, gaining exposure to a wide variety of issues and developing strong claims-handling and investigative skills. Following this period, there will be an opportunity to broaden your experience within the wider Professional and Commercial Risk team, working across a broader range of professional indemnity and litigation matters.

Key Responsibilities

You will be responsible for handling a varied caseload of pre-litigation professional indemnity matters on behalf of insurer clients, investigating allegations made against law firms and assisting in the resolution of disputes.

This is a client-facing role with significant responsibility and regular interaction with both insurers and insured law firms. You will develop experience in investigating claims, assessing liability and drafting responses, while building relationships with key client contacts.

Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Managing a caseload of delegated authority professional indemnity matters under appropriate supervision.
• Investigating allegations of professional negligence made against solicitors and law firms.
• Reviewing case documentation and identifying key legal, factual and procedural issues.
• Drafting correspondence, responses to complaints and liability position letters.
• Liaising with insurer clients, insured law firms and other stakeholders on a day-to-day basis.
• Building and maintaining strong client relationships, becoming a trusted point of contact for allocated law firms.
• Conducting legal research and preparing case summaries and internal reports.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

We are interested in hearing from candidates who can demonstrate:

• Previous experience working in a legal environment, ideally within professional indemnity, insurance litigation or dispute resolution.
• Strong investigative and analytical skills, with the ability to identify key issues and assess risk.
• Excellent written communication skills, with confidence drafting professional correspondence.

Previous experience in any of the following areas would be advantageous, but is not essential:

• Professional indemnity claims.
• Claims against solicitors or law firms.
• Insurance litigation.
• Defendant litigation.
• Dispute resolution.
• Regulatory or complaints handling work.
• Professional Negligence

Why Join Us?

This role offers a fantastic opportunity to develop your career within a specialist area of law while gaining significant responsibility and client exposure from day one.

You'll benefit from:

• Managing your own caseload and developing early responsibility.
• Exposure to a diverse range of professional negligence and liability issues.
• Regular interaction with insurer clients and law firms.
• Support and mentoring from experienced professional indemnity lawyers.
• Exposure to the wider Professional and Commercial Risk practice, eventually including litigated matters
• Strong opportunities for career development and progression.
• The opportunity to work within one of the UK's leading defendant insurance and professional indemnity practices.
• Company Benefits: Private Healthcare, Bonus Scheme, Health & Wellbeing.

As a Disability Confident Scheme employer, we're committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need any reasonable adjustments at any stage (including the application, assessment or interview process), please contact recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com in confidence with the vacancy reference in the subject line, and we'll be happy to help.