Associate (Newly Qualified)

Lewis Silkin is a UK top-100 commercial law firm with offices in London, Oxford, Cardiff and Hong Kong. The firm is recognised by clients and industries alike as being distinct: for its deep understanding, insight and advice to creative, innovative and brand-focused businesses; for its market-leading international practice in employment, immigration and reward; and for delivering pragmatic, commercial advice in a refreshingly human way.

With 69 partners and more than 360 staff, the firm is structured around two key divisions, Employment, Immigration & Reward (EIR) and Creators, Makers & Innovators (CMI).

The EIR Division is one of the leading employment law practices in the UK, with 24 employment and immigration Partners and around 100 other specialist lawyers. Consistently top ranked by independent legal directories, we have more recognised experts in employment than any other UK firm.  The majority of our lawyers are based at our London office in Chancery Lane but we also have offices in Oxford, Cardiff, Dublin and Hong Kong and other lawyers who work remotely.

The work of the team as a whole is a mix of contentious and non-contentious matters, for a wide range of clients.  The lawyers undertake a significant amount of business development including giving seminars and producing Lewis Silkin branded publications.  There is a significant international element to the Division’s work, largely on account of its membership of the Ius Laboris international alliance of employment lawyers.

Incentives and immigration work is handled by specialists within the Division and this will therefore not form part of the role.

Reporting Structure

The Associate will be based in our Cardiff Office (although travel to London and Oxford will be expected from time to time) and will be reporting to the Head of the Cardiff Office.  The Cardiff Employment team consists of two Partners, one Managing PDL and one PDL, three Senior Associates, seven Associates, six Paralegals and a support team. 

The Associate’s workload will be exclusively employment work.  The Associate will mainly be assisting more senior associates and partners with their cases, as well as running his or her own matters under supervision. The caseload will consist of a mix of contentious and non-contentious employment work and the associate will have direct contact with a variety of clients. 

The role will develop in accordance with the associate’s own skills, aptitude and preferences and according to the needs of clients and the division.

Candidate profile 

The successful candidate is likely to be nearing qualification and gained the benefit of training and development in a well-respected employment team.

The candidate must have comprehensive employment law knowledge, a strong analytical ability and a clear communication style (both spoken and written). They must have a commercial approach to client service, enjoy and be comfortable doing business development and, above all, must be a team player.

IT skills required:

• Proficient IT skills - Office 365, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Skype for Business, DocsCorp PDF Docs, Word Compare (DocsCorp CompareDocs), Document Management System (Netdocs), although full in house training will be provided.

• Time recording (Intapp TIME)