Release is seeking to appoint a Supervising Solicitor for Community Care — with genuine flexibility for part‑time or full‑time working — to help shape and expand our legal services at the intersection of social justice and community care law, and harm reduction.
This role is particularly well‑suited to candidates seeking reduced hours, portfolio careers, or a position that allows for balance alongside caring responsibilities, studies, or other commitments. The successful candidate will join a values‑driven organisation delivering high‑quality casework, innovative community‑based legal services, and strategic litigation aimed at systemic change.
Job Title: Supervising Solicitor (Community Care) – Legal Aid
Location: Spitalfields London E1 5LJ – Hybrid – FTE/ PT applicants welcomed (For FT min. 3 days in office/2 days working from home/Part-time to be agreed)
Reports to: Legal Director
Salary: £40,560 - £45,760 plus 5% pension contribution/pro rota part-time
Holidays: 29 days + public holidays/Pro rota part-time
Contract Type: Permanent - Part or Full-time Open until filled
Closing date for applications: Open until filled
Interviews: Held on a rolling basis
We also want to ensure this opportunity is open to people who are strongly committed to social justice and the legal rights of marginalised communities, and who have substantial experience of legal aid in housing, public and/or community care law. If this is you, and you meet the minimum criteria for the Supervising Solicitor – Legal Aid role, but you may not yet have built up a body of work, please do apply.
Please note: We do not expect the postholder to generate legal aid income at a multiple of their salary. While we do aim to grow legal aid income across the team to an initial target of £15,000–£25,000 per annum, the focus of this role is on developing high‑quality legal aid practice and building sustainable income collectively, as part of a mixed‑income organisational model.
We particularly welcome applications from people from Black and minoritised communities, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, people from working-class backgrounds, and people with lived experience of the issues we work on. We are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve, and we know that lived experience and diverse perspectives strengthen our legal practice and our work for systemic change.
Person Specification
Essential
- Minimum 4 years + post qualified solicitor with a current practising certificate, and
- Minimum 3 years + substantial experience in legal aid casework, supervision and/or compliance, and
- Minimum 1 year + experience of supervising others, and
- Experience in public law, housing law, and/or community care law within legal aid practice, and
- Strong commitment to social justice, harm reduction, and trauma-informed practice.
- Approved legal aid supervisor with the Legal Aid Agency
Desirable
- Experience working in a charity or non-profit organisation.
- Experience supporting or contributing to strategic litigation or test case work.
- Understanding of the impact of drug policy and criminalisation on marginalised communities.
- Experience in developing new services, partnerships, or funding-linked delivery models.
About the Role
The Supervising Solicitor (Community Care) – Legal Aid is a key role in shaping and strengthening Release’s legal services. Working closely with the Head of Community Legal Services and Executive Director, and in collaboration with other colleagues, you will supervise the delivery of high-quality legal advice and representation, supporting the growth of legal aid practice whilst ensuring Release continues to train and develop social justice lawyers for the future.
We are looking for an experienced legal aid practitioner who is strongly committed to social justice and the legal rights of marginalised communities, and who wants to build leadership experience in a movement-led organisation. The role will combine hands-on practice, supervision and compliance responsibilities.
As Supervising Solicitor (Community Care) – Legal Aid, you will:
- Support Strategic Development: Contribute to developing the direction and priorities of Release’s legal services, including expanding legal aid work and strengthening access to justice.
- Provide Practice Supervision: Support a multidisciplinary team of solicitors, legal advisers and volunteers to deliver excellent, trauma-informed legal support. Support and mentor team members on how to adhere to legal aid file compliance, time recording and CCMS applications.
- Ensure Quality and Compliance: Help ensure consistent regulatory compliance and quality assurance across legal casework, including legal aid requirements.
- Strengthen and Grow Services: Help develop and improve legal service delivery models, including responding to emerging needs and client priorities.
- Contribute to Systemic Change: Support Release’s wider mission by helping connect legal services with policy, research, and advocacy work.
This role is ideal for someone with legal aid expertise and management potential, who wants to take a meaningful step into leadership whilst continuing to centre client care, justice and harm reduction.
Summary of Key Responsibilities
Strategic & Supervisory Leadership
- Shape Release’s legal services strategy, ensuring alignment with harm reduction principles and organisational goals.
- Support planning, delivery, and development of new legal service areas.
- Contribute to organisational decision‑making as part of senior management.
Legal Aid & Compliance
- Lead on securing, maintaining, and delivering Legal Aid Agency (LAA) contracts.
- Ensure ongoing compliance with SQM, SRA and other regulatory standards.
- Oversee legal aid billing, audit readiness, and casework quality assurance.
- Use legal aid casework strategically, including opportunities for litigation funding via CCMS.
Operational Oversight
- Support day‑to‑day operations, including case allocation, triage and service systems.
- Maintain robust compliance and quality standards across legal services.
Team Supervision & Culture
- Provide supervision and support to legal staff, caseworkers and volunteers.
- Embed trauma‑informed, culturally competent, and anti‑racist practice.
- Promote team wellbeing, resilience and creative legal thinking (e.g., pre‑action and JR routes).
Service Innovation & Accessibility
- Contribute to developing new, accessible models of legal support (community‑based and digital).
- Ensure services remain responsive to the needs of people who use drugs and other marginalised groups.
Policy, Advocacy & Learning
- Feed casework insights into Release’s policy and campaigning work.
- Support creation of briefings, reports, research outputs and external communications.
Partnerships & Profile
- Build and maintain partnerships with community groups, legal networks and advocacy organisations.
- Help sustain Release’s reputation as a leader in harm‑reduction and rights‑based legal services.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Governance
- Support monitoring of outcomes, learning and service performance.
- Provide updates to senior leadership and Trustees, including risks and opportunities.
About Release
Release was founded in 1967 as the world’s first 24-hour legal helpline for people arrested for drug-related offences. What began as a grassroots response to injustice has grown into the UK’s leading independent drugs charity, dedicated to advancing social justice and harm reduction. For nearly six decades, we have provided free, expert legal advice and representation to thousands of people, while campaigning for evidence-based drug policy and systemic reform.
Our work goes beyond individual cases. We challenge discriminatory laws, advocate for human rights, and dismantle barriers to justice for those most affected by poverty, criminalisation, and marginalisation. Over the years, we have pioneered initiatives such as bust cards, needle exchange advocacy, safer nightlife campaigns, and rights-based resources for sex workers and other marginalised communities. Today, our services include legal support in housing, community care, immigration, and social security through our community legal services. We also provide advice on drugs law and drugs related matters through our national helpline. The drugs team provide advocacy for people in treatment systems ensuring their health needs are met and operate our harm reduction hub. Both teams are also responsible for policy research and advocacy that influences national and international debates.
Release holds consultative status at the United Nations and continues to have a significant voice on drug policy reform in the UK and globally. Our mission remains clear: to uphold, advance and advocate for the social, economic, and human rights of those adversely impacted by drug laws and policies, particularly people and communities which are marginalised because of their race, social and/or economic status.
Our Impact
- Over 3,000 individuals supported annually through free legal advice and representation.
- Policy influences at national and international levels, including contributions to UN drug policy discussions and technical advice to Governments.
- Groundbreaking research exposing racial disparities in drug policing, evidencing the need for alternative legal reform and shaping public debate.
- Community outreach across the UK, delivering rights education and harm reduction resources to thousands.
- Innovative service delivery, integrating legal support within drug treatment and community health frameworks including homeless day centres.
Funding Model for Legal Services
Release’s legal services are a lifeline for people who are stigmatised and marginalised because of drug use whether past or present. By providing trauma-informed, person-centred representation and advocacy our work dismantles barriers to justice and challenges the criminalisation model, but sustaining and expanding these services requires a robust and diverse funding model without compromising our principles and objectives.
Currently, our legal services are funded through a blend of trust and foundation grants and multi-year service contracts:
- Trust and Foundation Grants
These grants provide direct funding for critical work streams such as Social Security Tribunal representation and immigration assistance, as well as essential core support to maintain and grow our services. - Service Contracts
We partner with alcohol and drug treatment providers in London and, increasingly, across the country. These contracts enable us to integrate legal support within harm reduction frameworks, ensuring clients receive holistic care. - Legal Aid Funding
In 2024, Release secured a Public and Community Care Law contract, marking the beginning of our engagement with legal aid. While this currently contributes less than 1% of our legal services income, it represents a strategic opportunity. Legal aid will allow us to:- Develop expertise in areas such as housing, public, community care law, and more.
- Train lawyers grounded in social justice principles without imposing unsustainable fee-earning pressures.
- Identify and pursue new areas for strategic litigation.
Our vision is to scale this model sustainably, using legal aid as a development tool whilst continuing to rely on grants and service contracts for stability and innovation. This approach ensures our lawyers remain focused on advocacy and systemic change, not just billable hours.
What We Offer
- A values-driven, collaborative environment.
- Opportunities to grow leadership skills within a movement-led legal services team.
- Commitment to staff wellbeing and professional development.
- Training in trauma-informed leadership and harm reduction approaches.
- The opportunity to directly support systemic change and improve access to justice for marginalised communities.
- Opportunities for overseas travel.
To apply please send us your CV and up to 3 pages on why you want to apply for the position, work at Release and are suitable for the role addressing the person specification and job description.
Once completed please email your documents to: leadership@release.org.uk using the reference Ref: SSCC0526 in the subject line.
You will receive an automated receipt.