Launch of the High Court Judicial Assistant Scheme 2025/2026

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This vacancy has launched today (Friday 14 February 2025) and will close at 6pm on Friday 21 March 2025.

Brief details

  • Judicial Assistant – High Court of England and Wales
  • Salary: currently £38,661 pro rata
  • Number of jobs available: up to 13 full time jobs
  • Detail of reserve list: 12 Months
  • Region: London
  • City/Town: London
  • Building/Site: London CTS Rolls Building/Royal Courts of Justice, EC4A 1NL, London CTS Royal Courts of Justice, WC2A 2LL
  • Grade: HEO (equivalent)
  • Organisation Grade for MoJ: HEO equivalent
  • Post Type: Fee-Paid Worker (self-employed), Loan, Secondment
  • Duration of appointment: two or four legal terms
  • Working Pattern: Full Time
  • Role Type: Legal Services

Job description:

Judicial assistants (JAs) in the High Court of England and Wales are assigned to judges of the High Court across the three Divisions. They assist the judges(s) to whom they are allocated, for example by carrying out legal research, summarising documents and providing general support for the judge(s) in the organisation of their work and hearings. The application process for placements lasting either two or four legal terms during the 2025-2026 legal year. We aim to hold interviews during between 30 April and 9 May 2025.

Aimed particularly at recently qualified barristers and solicitors in the early stages of their legal career, applications will be invited from those able to demonstrate effective decision making, excellent communication skills, the ability to deliver at pace, as well as a high level of professional integrity.

Candidates will be asked to express their preference(s) in terms of the jurisdiction and courts in which they would wish to be placed, and as to the duration and timing of their placement.

Number of positions:

This recruitment is for the equivalent of up to 13 full-time appointments for the 2025/2026 legal year. The exact number of appointments will depend on the preferences of the candidates for a placement lasting two or four terms (for example, if all successful candidates request a placement of two terms, there will be capacity for 26 up to individual appointments during the course of the year).

Length and periods of placement:

Candidates will be asked to express a preference for a placement of two legal terms or the whole legal year.

The two-term appointments will be for the periods:

2 October 2025 – 1 April 2026, and

15 April 2026 – 31 July 2026

The four-term appointments will be for the entire legal year, which is the period:

2 October 2025 – 31 July 2026

Successful candidates will be expected to make themselves available for work during the relevant legal vacations (though not public holidays).

There is also an opportunity within the Chancery Division to opt for a shorter placement on secondment, bearing in mind that the first two terms of the legal year are substantially longer than the final two terms. In addition to the above placement dates, placements will be offered to applicants with specific interest/expertise in Intellectual Property for the following periods:

2 October 2025 – 19 December 2025

13 January 2026 – 1 April 2026

Assignment:

Candidates will also be asked their preference for the Court or Division to which they will be assigned, namely:

  • Chancery Division – General (Business and Property Courts)
  • Chancery Division – Intellectual Property Court (Business and Property Court)
  • Family Division
  • King’s Bench Division
    • Commercial Court (Business and Property Courts)
    • Technology and Construction Court (Business and Property Courts)
    • Administrative Court
    • KB Civil

Applicants will be free to select as many or as few of these specialisations as they wish. Candidates will be informed of the Court to which they have been assigned at the point at which they receive the offer. While every effort will be made to assign successful candidates to their Court or Division of choice, there may be occasions on which a degree of flexibility will be required, and judicial assistants will be asked to lend support to a judge in another part of the High Court.

Please note: candidates will only be offered a position in Divisions/Courts they have selected on their application form, subject to the availability of positions. If an applicant scores well in the recruitment process, but the Divisions/Courts they have selected are full, they will not receive an offer.

Nature of the work:

Depending on the preferences expressed by applicants, it is intended that there will be JAs assigned to Judges of the High Court across the three Divisions as set out above.

JAs will be placed with a judge or judges working in their chosen specialisation or one of their chosen specialisations. JAs will assist the judge(s) to whom they are allocated, for example by carrying out research, marking up and summarising case documents and transcripts, summarising submissions, discussing cases and hearings and providing general support for the judge(s) in the organisation of their work and hearings. The role will require candidates to manage involvement in multiple cases, some of them very large and involving extensive evidence. JAs will also be expected to aid their assigned judge(s) to meet tight deadlines.

The role of High Court Judicial Assistant offers those in the early years of their professional practice a ringside view of the trial process and first instance decision-making from the perspective of the judge, for the most complex, high value and often high profile civil and family cases. The work will be based in London, where JAs will be expected to work in either the Rolls Building or the Royal Courts of Justice.

Suitability, skills, and qualifications:

Typically, the candidate will have graduated with an excellent degree (2:1 or above, subject not specified) and have practical experience in legal research and writing, and familiarity with civil procedure (for example, it is expected that candidates will be familiar with and capable of dealing with issues arising out of CPR). We would therefore also accept applications from qualified trademark and patent attorneys. Experience gained in the early years of practice – from either arm of the legal profession – is also desirable, though candidates with comparable early years’ experience (for example in academia) are also eligible to apply.

The essential criteria for this role are as follows:

  • You must have excellent intellectual and legal ability.
  • You must have practical research skills, being able to seek and analyse information to inform decisions based on the best available evidence.
  • You will be able to communicate complicated factual and legal arguments both orally and in writing, in a thoughtful and concise way.
  • You must be detail-focussed when carrying out research tasks and drafting factual narratives.

Successful candidates will therefore have demonstrated a capacity to work effectively at pace and make effective decisions. These will be assessed in application and interview. These criteria should be considered when writing the statement of suitability.

Candidates should understand that a Judicial Assistant works full-time. It is not possible to conduct professional practice or to devote significant time to external study while working as a Judicial Assistant.

Salary:

The salary offered to successful candidates on a Fee-Paid Worker basis is the pro rata equivalent of an annual salary of £38,661, payable monthly in arrears.

Successful candidates in private practice may invoice for a monthly fee, reflecting the rate paid to those on Fee-Paid Worker basis and an adjustment to reflect the fact that they will not benefit from NI and pension contributions.

A secondment fee equivalent to the rate paid to Fee-Paid Worker candidates will be paid to the employer of successful candidates who are already in employment.

Interview dates:

If you are selected, interviews will be expected to take place during 30 April – 9 May 2025.

Contact information:

If you require any further information about the role, or you would like to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form, please contact the High Court JA Scheme manager by email HighCourtJAScheme@judiciary.uk

We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve.

Security clearance:

To apply for roles in the High Court you will need to confirm your employment history for at least three years prior to the date of application so that pre-employment checks (BPSS) can be undertaken. If you have spent significant time abroad (a total of six months or more in the past three years) you would be required to give a reasonable account of the reasons why.

For the role of High Court Judicial Assistant, you will be required to successfully complete National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorism (CTC) level as a condition of appointment. To meet CTC requirements, you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least three years prior to the date of application.

If you do not meet the above requirements, you may still be considered if, for example:

  1. You’ve been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
  2. You were studying abroad
  3. You were living overseas with parents

In such cases you will need to be able to provide referee cover for the period(s) of residence overseas. The duration of overseas residence and the country of abode will also be considered.

It is crucial to note there is no guarantee that with a referee you will be able to get CTC clearance. You will not be able to start your placement until CTC clearance is granted. Should a candidate not pass their clearance by meeting the basic security threshold, their place on the programme may be offered to a reserve candidate or given the option of a deferral to the next year.

For more information on CTC clearance, including the residency requirements to obtain this level of clearance, and for all information on appeals, please consult the gov.uk website. We reserve the right to revoke an offer of a place on the programme at any time throughout the clearance process.

Application form stage assessments:

Professional qualifications

Statement of suitability – word limit 500 words

Civil service behaviours: Making Effective Decisions – word limit 250 words

Also assessed: Organisational skills/time management – word limit 250 words

Two referees

Interview stage assessments (There is one in-person interview stage for this vacancy)

Case study exercise (candidates will receive the case study up to one hour prior to their interview, however, allowances for reasonable adjustments will be considered on a case-by-case basis)

This vacancy will be open to applications from 9am on Friday 14 February 2025 and will close at 6pm on Friday 21 March 2025.

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