Professional Support Lawyer

A leading UK law firm with a network of offices from the South Coast to Scotland, working together as one national team. An innovative practice and the first top 100 law firm to achieve “Gold Standard” Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm. The lack of barriers between departments, a real lack of hierarchy, zero tolerance for arrogance and pomposity makes Shoosmiths a fantastic place to work.

Our Real Estate group is one of the largest real estate teams in the UK, advising an impressive range of clients including commercial and residential developers, investors, major corporate occupiers and banks/funders. Offering exceptional market knowledge, the team holds an outstanding reputation with clients and the market generally. “Clients are full of admiration for this team, noting it combines outstanding technical expertise with a “very” responsive service” (Chambers). Our Property Litigation team is also one of the largest in the UK, comprising 29 Legal Advisors across 6 of our office locations.

We are seeking a commercial property litigation PSL to join our established PSL team, known for providing a pro-active, excellent service to real estate legal advisers nationally. This is a varied role with no two days the same, covering a broad range of tasks. There is plenty of scope to develop within the role and the successful candidate will be a part of a supportive, collegiate and highly respected team.

If you are an accomplished property litigation solicitor with a minimum of 3 years’ post qualification experience, and if you are looking for a dynamic new challenge, then please get in touch with us. Previous PSL experience is not essential. This is a part-time role, with a minimum requirement of 18.5 hours and maximum requirement of 22.5 hours per week.

• Monitoring external know-how sources and highlighting new cases that arise, and preparing a weekly update
• Writing articles for external publication
• Conducting research on key or new areas of law to support the property litigation team
• Answering legal advisor queries
• Researching and advising on best practice
• Creation and maintenance of know how
• Maintaining and updating the team’s bank of sample drafting
• Planning, facilitating and delivering training for trainee solicitors and newly qualified legal advisers
• Assisting in the delivery of a national training programme for the property litigation team
• Assisting the team’s legal advisors in preparing client-facing training sessions
• Supporting the know how elements of the induction of new team members
• Maintaining and updating the team’s presence on the firm’s intranet
• Maintaining and updating the team’s risk management policies and protocols and assisting with the development of the team’s case management system for its lease renewal caseload
• Participation in technological innovation projects and precedent maintenance
• Engagement and support for divisional and firmwide projects and initiatives
• Preparing responses to government consultations
• Management of/assisting with relationships with external suppliers

• Credible experience and knowledge gained in commercial property litigation
• Prior experience creating and delivering technical training sessions is desired
• Confidence in drafting know-how and conducting legal research
• Strong organisational and time management skills with the ability to handle multiple priorities
• Detail oriented
• The ability to work as part of a team, but also able to be self-motivated and able to work on own initiative
• An effective communicator with a collaborative approach
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, specifically Word, Excel and Outlook
• Willingness to learn how to use other IT systems such as SharePoint, AI systems, and document assembly systems

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.