Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU)

ATLEU is young charity providing legal representation to victims of trafficking and labour exploitation. We assist victims to obtain safety, recovery and redress. Continue Reading Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU)

About the Role

This is a unique opportunity for a Justice First Fellow to join ATLEU’s award winning legal team. We are the only UK charity providing dedicated and holistic legal advice to survivors of human trafficking and slavery. We have brought many of the leading trafficking cases including those heard by the Supreme Court.

ATLEU’s work covers a broad range of practice areas, offering a fantastic training opportunity, with a significant amount of complex and strategic litigation. This post would suit someone who is passionate about using the law to uphold human rights and challenge discrimination, and who has a particular interest in one or more of the following areas of practice:

• Public Law
• Immigration and asylum
• Claims against public authorities
• Civil litigation

In the first year the fellow will undertake a seat in immigration and asylum law, where they will be assisted to gain the Law Society’s immigration and asylum accreditation, and a seat in public law, which will involve obtaining identification, leave, support and other entitlements for victims of trafficking.  In the second year the fellow will have the opportunity to develop experience in bringing claims against public authorities which involve a damages element and the choice of a final seat in either housing or civil litigation, which would involve bringing claims for compensation against employers/traffickers (eg. for unpaid wages, discrimination, breach of contract, false imprisonment, protection from harassment) in the High Court/ Employment Tribunal.

We welcome applications from candidates with different levels of experience, at different stages of their working life and from those who have taken different paths to the law. The successful candidate will be intelligent, resilient, an exceptional communicator and passionate about ATLEU’s mission and values.

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity and we positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity. ATLEU’s work tackles issues around poverty, migration, exploitation, discrimination, violence and other human rights abuses. We particularly welcome applicants from communities who are significantly underrepresented within our sector, such as individuals from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and those with lived experience of the issues that we seek to tackle.

About ATLEU

ATLEU’s mission is to secure safety and justice for survivors of trafficking and slavery by using and reforming the law. We effect change through a combination of legal casework, strategic litigation, policy and campaigning work and legal capability training and second-tier advice.

ATLEU is at the forefront of this vital and fast-moving area of law, bringing high-profile strategic challenges that shape the way the law develops and strengthening the protections for all survivors of trafficking.

Legal advice is an essential component in obtaining the support, safety and redress that survivors need to move forward. ATLEU works intensively with survivors over several years often assisting with multiple matters, helping to regularise their immigration status, obtain identification as a victim of trafficking, access treatment, support and appropriate housing, and recover compensation.

We work in partnership with frontline organisations and advisers throughout the UK to improve access and quality of support and advice available to survivors of trafficking. Each year ATLEU advises and trains hundreds of professionals who work with survivors of trafficking. In some parts of the UK survivors are waiting for 12 months to see a lawyer. The problem is acute in the north of England and in response in 2018 ATLEU opened a second office in Sheffield to improve access to this essential support which plays a crucial role in fighting trafficking in the UK today.

We capture and share knowledge and insights gained from our casework, second-tier advice, training and research to inform future work, support test cases and influence national policy.

ATLEU is recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the London Legal Support Trust and was awarded both the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award and the Marsh Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Fight Against Modern Slavery Legal Award in 2016. In 2019 ATLEU was nominated for a Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award in the access to justice through IT category for ATHUB.org.uk, its online legal information resource for professionals working with survivors of trafficking.

Our Values

ATLEU has a set of values, which are integral to who we are and how we work. These are:

There is always another way.

We are persistent, resourceful and creative in our approach.  We do the hard work to make justice accessible.  We don’t give up in the fight for fairness and freedom.

We make the time. We listen. We hear.

We take the time to really listen to our clients and colleagues. We want to restore autonomy and agency from where it was stolen.  We give advice, not tell you what to do. If you fight, we fight.  Our clients’ needs come first.

Knowledge is for sharing.

We lead the way in our knowledge and expertise of reforming the law. The strength of our team comes from our willingness to collaborate and share.  We put our work before pride and always ask for help.  Power of our knowledge comes through sharing it with others to secure justice and reform the law.

For further information, visit our website.