Solicitor

We are a top 50 law firm with 190 partners and around 1,700 staff in total.  We have 12 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 most recently the Regional/National Law Firm of the Year in the Legal Business Awards 2018.

Our national Commercial Practice Group contains Privacy & Data, TMT, Commercial Contracts, IP, Financial Services and Projects & Infrastructure specialists. We are proud to have a number of leading practitioners in our teams. We are ranked in the top tier of Legal 500 for most of our practice areas, although our intention is to have top rankings across the board.

We work in partnership with our in-house colleagues and we drive advancements in our technology and services in line with this. Our products such as our Convergence toolkit to effectively manage large projects, our Resource Solutions product suite which is tailored to meet the individual needs of our clients, and Matters+, our matter management solution for in-house teams which has been short listed for two legal innovation awards, are examples of our forward thinking to providing best-in-class legal services to our clients.

Our team in Leeds supports a fantastic range of local, national and international clients, from digital SMEs through to global investors and brands, on all aspects of their contracting arrangements, but with a particular focus on technology and infrastructure.

We are looking for a 1yr PQE+ Solicitor to join our commercial team in Leeds.

We can offer you the opportunity to work with leading lawyers on top quality work in a collaborative environment. We operate a meritocracy. Your efforts and achievements will be recognised and you will have the chance to progress in accordance with your contribution.

We want to talk to you if you’re a self-starter - ambitious and passionate about building a career in this area. Our commercial lawyers are pragmatic and innovative – they put the client at the centre of everything they do and they are continually seeking to develop and advance. We believe you should be honing your skills for communication and client service excellence at the same time as your technical knowledge and we will provide you with opportunities to do both.

You will be working alongside leading TMT and Projects specialists among others so this is a great place to bolster your experience and identify the commercial work that inspires you so you can specialise as you progress.  From contracts for e-business to major outsourcing projects, and whether relating to purchasing, production, marketing, selling, infrastructure or technology, you will see that our lawyers understand the need to be both commercial and apply the law in real life situations in partnering our clients to achieve their commercial objectives.

We place a lot of belief in culture and community, and genuinely believe 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 agile working, to the team spirit and culture and our collaborative way of working across offices.

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).

Skills and Qualifications

• You must have at least a 2.2 degree together with the necessary further qualifications e.g. GDL, LPC, PSC (please note that course fees will not be reimbursed).
• Previous experience and knowledge gained in the commercial discipline is essential, ideally you will have at least 1 year of PQE in a busy commercial team – either in private practice or in-house.
• We want people who can effectively communicate and collaborate with a diverse range of people and job functions.
• Clients call us about a vast array of issues – you’ll need to be responsive and good at thinking on your feet.
• We expect exceptional written and verbal communication skills; organisational and time management skills, detail oriented, and the ability to handle multiple priorities.
• You’ll need the ability to work as part of a team, but also be self-motivated and able to work on your own initiative.

This role may on occasion require flexible working hours, and travel throughout the 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.