Associate

We are a top 50 law firm with 194 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 numerous accolades which reflect the quality and efforts of the firm, perhaps most notably we were named National Law firm of the year at The Lawyer Awards 2019.

Our national Employment team is widely respected for providing an excellent service and delivering pragmatic and timely legal advice to its highly regarded client base.

We work differently here and pride ourselves on our commercial edge. We understand how our clients operate – partnering with them to drive improvement and add value in many different ways across their business – not just by delivering legal advice.

The team primarily works with employer clients along with some individual advisory work and a mix of both contentious and non-contentious matters. We also have specialists in advocacy, corporate work and business immigration.

In Solent we are handling a variety of matters for a mix of household names and local employers in the region. Our client roster includes the likes of Travelodge, Krispy Kreme, Phase Eight and Big Yellow Storage.

We are looking for an Associate to join our team in Solent.

You will occupy a key position in this thriving team working on a full range of employment matters – both contentious and non-contentious. We offer full Tribunal capability up to and including advocacy at hearings. You will work alongside other employment lawyers in our national network and our colleagues in other teams – particularly corporate.

As an Associate in this team you will have chance to build your own relationships with clients.  Indeed we imagine you will already have some of your own clients at this stage in your career and will have demonstrable skills in winning work and developing your client base. We want you to feel proud of our enviable client roster and work with us to expand it. We hope you will be innovative and passionate in the way you help us to deliver our service.

You will be able to steer the direction of your career and develop your preferred area of expertise as you progress. We encourage you to make your individual input with the support of a collaborative team behind you. We will also look to you to supervise and develop juniors and have a role in influencing the course of the team. This is a meritocracy and your contribution will be recognised and rewarded.

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 agile working, to the team spirit and culture.

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 2 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.