National Legal Consultant

DRC is seeking to hire a highly qualified candidate who will be overseeing and providing technical guidance and backstop to legal consultations providing representation and counselling services for DRC beneficiaries in field locations in Lebanon. The Legal Consultant will be responsible for providing technical supervision of DRC’s legal program which includes: legal awareness, individual counseling and court representation. The candidate will be located in Beirut country office - Achrafieh. 

Responsibilities:

•Develop and review existing informational materials regarding legal services, civil documentation, residency and other relevant legal issues.

•Produce, adapt and roll-out technical products based on identified needs such as: training, SOPs, guidance notes etc.

•Make recommendations and provide on the job coaching to improve quality of legal program.

•Support legal team to achieve activities’ objectives and targets.

•Provide regular support to the field legal teams to ensure harmonization of approaches, tools and standards of operation among all field offices.

•In coordination with Protection Managers and the Protection Specialist advise on broader legal services programming strategy and potential mainstreaming opportunities for legal assistance within DRC programs.

•Feed into the protection strategy by providing legal context analysis, prioritization of legal needs and identifying appropriate interventions in line with community consultations.

•Identify, review and prepare protection cases in need of court representation and working collaboratively with legal consultant/s on national or field level. Advise field legal teams on how to better identify, counsel and accompany clients through the court process. Review legal documents that will be submitted to courts. Brief Protection Specialist on status of court cases on a bi-weekly basis.

•Regularly and proactively monitor and analyze ongoing trends in Lebanon and in the region as related to protection and legal programming, and provide regular updates on these trends and how they affect programming.

•Participate in the submission of timely, accurate and well-written donor reports and other reporting requirements (incl. Donors’ reports and Activity info). Feed into proposal development on legal aid.

•Lead the recruitment of qualified legal consultants and legal officers when needed.

•Support DRC on national and field level on developing a common analyses and shared learning to support advocacy efforts.

•Maintain positive work relationship within the team, and promote team-building efforts with respect to internal DRC HR/Admin rules and procedures.

Implementation of services: Starting June 2021.