Lawyer (Farm & Rural Legal Service)

LAQ's Civil Justice Service practices in the areas of Anti-Discrimination law, Consumer Law, Employment law, Social Security Appeals and National Disability Insurance Scheme Appeals. Civil Justice Service also operates the Farm and Rural legal service and provides advice and assistance with rural producers experiencing debt problems.
Civil Justice Services provides legal advice and representation to clients experiencing a range of vulnerabilities including mental illness, intellectual impairment, financial distress, sexual assault survivorship, elder abuse, domestic and family violence and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients and clients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Our Farm and Rural Legal Service is recognised as a leading provider of specialist legal services to rural and remote Queenslanders who are in difficult circumstances, assisting them in severe debt related problems and financial disputes with lenders. This unique service is the only one of its kind in Australia.
In this role you will have a keen knowledge and interest in rural matters and particularly issues impacting primary producers and rural small business operators. You must be prepared to travel extensively and frequently throughout Queensland to remote locations to give legal advice to clients and attend meetings with rural financial counsellors, banks and creditors.
As a lawyer, you will prepare cases, advocate for your clients and provide advice and representation to farmers mediating with their lenders and provide advice and representation relating to consumer law with an emphasis on credit and insurance.
The role also gives you the opportunity to contribute to improvements to the justice system. The work is challenging and complex but rewarding.

**In this role you will**:

- Provide high level specialist advice, task assistance and information on credit and debit related issues to primary producers and rural small business operators in rural and remote areas.
- Propose, negotiate, mediate and document appropriate terms of agreement of financial disputes between primary producers and lenders. Provide follow up assistance to ensure clients comply with terms of agreement.
- Help primary producers and other relevant stakeholders in the development of debt relief proposals by ensuring appropriate recognition and acknowledgement of primary producers' legal entitlements.
- Represent clients in consumer law (with an emphasis on credit and insurance law) matters including preparing matters, instructing counsel and personally appearing in various courts, tribunals and at conferences.
- Provide legal advice, task assistance and information to clients around the state by phone, videoconference and face-to-face in consumer law matters. Task assistance includes preparing letters, documents, complaints, and submissions.
- Guide team members and other Legal Aid Queensland staff with enquiries related to consumer law and credit and debit related issues to primary producers and rural small business operators in rural and remote areas
- Prepare submissions to support Legal Aid Queensland's contributions to policy, procedure, law reform and legal service delivery initiatives.
- Contribute to the development of innovative advice and case management practices, develop and maintain web content (including advice filters and protocols), case management standards, legal advice and information guides, and casework and advice precedents.
- Contribute to the development and maintenance of networks with relevant external stakeholders.
- Ensure all work complies with quality and case management standards and meet all other professional and corporate responsibilities.
- Maintain a high standard of practice through governance and risk management.
- Model the values of respect, quality and accountability.
- Demonstrate the capacity and willingness to learn new areas of civil law if required.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License.