Associate/Senior Associate - Employment

Farrer & Co is synonymous with the highest quality legal advice and service.

We advise individuals, families, businesses, financial services, educational and not-for-profit organisations on every aspect of the law, wherever the need arises. From our offices in London we work with trusted professionals around the world to deliver a seamless international service.

Our clients present us with complex and varied challenges. Whether that's a complicated family trust issue, a multinational corporate transaction, or an emerging threat to their reputation, they need clear thinkers who can advise on the best solutions, fast thinkers when speed is of the essence and agile thinkers who can produce a fresh approach to get the job done. That's why they choose us.

Our clients value our in-depth knowledge, technical excellence and diversity of disciplines. But what really binds our long-standing relationships with them is our approach: pragmatic, plain speaking and always steadfast in our values, which we hold dear. Values which mean we gain our clients' trust, always strive to do the right thing, and aim for the best results for them.

Superb client service sits at the heart of everything we do. We are modern lawyers with timeless values.

We are one of the largest employment teams in the City comprising 9 partners and 22 fee earners. We are recognised in the legal directories for our employer, senior executive and safeguarding practices. In Legal 500, we are quoted as 'a leading player in this space. Not that many leading employment practices do both employer and employee work, and they stand out for their work for individuals.'

We provide advice on the full range of employment issues advising (i) employers from the financial services, sports, corporate, media, retail, education, visitor attractions and charity sectors and (ii) individual senior executives operating at the most senior levels across a range of sectors but particularly in financial services, Plc board directors, professional services and media.  

We pride ourselves on excellent client service and on providing pragmatic, swift solutions, which come off the fence. The successful candidate will be joining a highly collegiate and supportive team with great prospects for career development.

This role will report to one or more Partners and will work within the Employment team which sits within a wider Commercial Department alongside the Corporate, Banking & Financial Services, IP & Commercial and Charities & Communities teams. The successful candidate will provide employment advice to employer and senior executive clients.  Our employer clients come from a wide variety of sectors, including the financial services, education (including higher education), media, visitor attractions and sports sectors.  Our senior executive team is ranked as a top tier practice in the directories, reflected in the team’s stellar client base and the sensitivity and complexity of the work with which the successful candidate will be involved.  In addition, they may also be involved in some of the safeguarding work the team does within the education and sports sector in particular.

We are looking for someone who can run with matters with a high degree of autonomy.  The employment team also undertakes a lot of marketing and business development activity so the successful applicant must be enthusiastic about writing articles, delivering presentations, attending networking events and building long-term relationships with clients and intermediaries.  

• Advising employers on drafting of contracts, policies and procedures and on day to day issues, such a disciplinary and grievances and smaller redundancy procedures;
• Advising senior executives on entry into new jobs, on issues during employment, for example relating to sensitive investigations or disciplinary matters, on their leaving employment (for example, on negotiating terms or advising on the enforceability of restrictive covenants);
• Advising, within a team, on bigger projects, such as larger collective redundancy consultations and significant investigations;
• Advising on the management of litigation for both employer and senior executive clients in the Employment Tribunal, High court and appeal courts, including bringing and defending claims relating to discrimination, whistleblowing, breach of fiduciary duties, confidentiality and restrictive covenants / team moves;
• Providing support to the team's commercial and corporate teams (for example, in relation to employment due diligence or the TUPE provisions within sale or outsourcing agreements);
• Writing articles for the team's blog (on a rostered basis) and speaking at client training events.

• High level of technical knowledge across the employment work performed by the team;
• Efficient communication skills and the ability to communicate advice to the person receiving it;
• The ability to deal with many matters at any one time;
• The organisation skills to keep files in order and to move transactions to completion effectively;
• Enthusiasm and strong team working skills.

• Contributes ideas and solutions to benefit the practice area and the firm;
• A clear self-starter who can be relied upon as a matter of course;
• Remains calm under pressure and is able to provide patient and willing advice;
• Encourages feedback from others and takes on constructive criticism;
• Builds rapport with a range of people adjusting own style to reflect ream dynamics.

• Minimum 2.1 degree and a training contract undertaken in a mid-sized or city firm.

Your hours of work are 9:30am-5:30pm but it is essential to be committed, flexible and prepared to work beyond the normal office hours when necessary and in response to team and client demand.

Open to talking flexibly.

Farrer & Co conducts a pre-employment screening which consists of a Criminal History Background and Credit Check for successful candidates.