Providing free legal representation for the public
and advocacy experience for junior lawyers
Vacancies
Staff Vacancies
Assistant Legal Officer - Employment
The Free Representation Unit (‘the FRU’) provides representation in social entitlement and employment tribunals for people who can’t afford lawyers. We represent approximately 300 clients annually in tribunals across London and the Southeast.
Most of our work is done by approximately 300 volunteers, generally law students on the Bar Professional Training Course or the Legal Practice Course and junior solicitors and barristers. They are supervised by our legal officers. We offer full representation at the tribunal hearing and all the associated preparation of the case, including drafting witness statements, schedules of loss, applications, preparing hearing bundles and the drafting of submissions. Our staff and volunteers also negotiate settlements with respondents and attend judicial mediation. So far during 2026 our employment team has secured £277,458 in judgments and settlements.
As an Assistant Legal Officer, you will make a vital contribution to FRU’s work, but the post is also part of our efforts to give aspiring lawyers and junior practitioners training and experience. We expect you to develop as a lawyer and advocate. With our help you will have significant responsibility for supervising volunteers. You will also have your own caseload and will be expected to make a substantial contribution to FRU’s overall casework, especially in complex cases. You will be supervised and supported by our Principal Legal Officer for employment.
FRU takes on a wide range of complex employment law cases. The ALO will gain substantial employment law experience in a short space of time through training and supervising volunteers and taking on their own cases. The quality of our work is recognised by the judiciary, chambers and law firms. We are a small friendly and collegiate team, and you will receive excellent training and support. In recent years FRU legal officers of different levels have gone on to become an employment judge, run a network for employment law agencies, become a trade union legal manager or secure pupillage.
At FRU we are passionate about equal opportunities and welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds.
Salary: £30,264 per year (pro rata if part-time or job share).
The closing date for applications is 9:00am Wednesday 2 September.
Interviews will be held on Tuesday 8th September.
If you're interested in the role, you can find full details and information about how to apply in the Application Pack.
Volunteers
If you wish to become a volunteer representative, please visit the Volunteer page to see if you are eligible, how to apply and the training procedure.