Solicitor

We are a top 50 law firm with 195 partners and around 1,700 staff in total.  We have 13 locations in the UK and a significant international network.  Our clients include some of the largest financial, automotive, telecoms and technology businesses in the UK.

We champion diversity and inclusion, and our mission is to attract and nurture a diverse group of people and to create an environment and culture that is genuinely inclusive, in which every member of staff feels valued for their contribution.  We have been awarded Gold status in the Law Society Diversity and Inclusion Charter in recognition of our commitment to this.  We were also the first major law firm to achieve “Gold Standard” Investors in People.

We have received many awards which reflect the quality and efforts of the firm, including perhaps most notably the Regional/National Law Firm of the Year in the Legal Business Awards 2018.

Our highly regarded national pensions team (Tier 1 in South East in Legal 500 and Tier 2 national ranking in Chambers) offers a specialist practice combining high quality advice and support whilst offering good value to clients. We are personable and client centred in everything we do. We encounter many pension schemes with similar problems and concerns, but recognise that each scheme is unique. We pride ourselves on providing tailored and practical advice.

Our clients consist predominantly of pension scheme trustees and medium to large corporates (many of whom are well known household names) and other entities including public bodies, SMEs, charities and trade unions.

Our advice combines sound legal analysis with an understanding of the factual background. Whether advising the trustees or the scheme sponsor, we strive to provide workable solutions for our clients.

We advise in relation to more than 250 occupational pension schemes, ranging from £1m to more than £2 billion in size.

Pensions law is a dynamic and challenging area of legal practice, drawing on a wide range of legal skills and disciplines.

We are looking for a junior pensions lawyer to join our growing team of UK experts. You will have completed a pensions seat in your training contract and/or will have post-qualification experience in this area.

We work along national lines and we will consider applications for most of our offices. We’ve had great success with Partner hires in recent times - most recently Julian Richards in London and this is a fantastic time to join a collaborative and well established national pensions team with ambition.

If you join us, we can offer you breadth and quality of work as well as scope for conducting business development and driving the team forward. We think client contact is important from the start of your career – we want our lawyers to have a passion for their discipline and to propose innovative suggestions to grow and develop existing work streams and the team as a whole.

We welcome individual input and initiative from all corners of the team and your contribution will be recognised and rewarded.

We are proud of our commitment to creating a positive working environment and exploring flexible options for our people and we would be happy to receive applications from those seeking part-time or job share arrangements.

We place a lot of belief in culture and community, and genuinely think we have something different to offer you at Shoosmiths.   This is reflected in everything we say and do from our use of technology to enable effective cross-office working, to the team spirit and culture (and the many events and activities we organise).

We are a values-driven business – our values are at the core of the firm and we evaluate how we behave in accordance with these values through a competency framework. This role is considered to be at competency Level 1 in our internal framework.

If you have any queries about this prospect or life at Shoosmiths before deciding whether to apply, we are always happy to have a confidential discussion with you so please get in touch with Rachel Charlton in our recruitment team (Rachel.charlton@shoosmiths.co.uk).

Shoosmiths is a committed Equal Opportunities employer promoting equality of opportunity. This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.