Solicitor

It’s the people at Shakespeare Martineau that make us so special. By understanding what our people want, giving them the support they need, recognising everyone’s contribution and realising the unique power of teams, together we win.   As a firm we are focused on proactively building and developing diverse teams, bringing different backgrounds, personalities and perspectives together. We play to our strengths, pushing ourselves to be consistently better than yesterday and deliver amazing solutions for our clients. We empower our teams with a high degree of individual responsibility; we self-manage and encourage everyone to be responsible for their own learning, knowing it makes us even better at what we do!    

We believe in trusting our people to make the right decisions for themselves, from when and where you work, to how you dress; we focus on outputs.  

Want to find more about our amazing benefits?

Our Social Housing Sales team is one of the largest in the Midlands specialising in all aspects of property acquisition and disposal for more than 60 Registered Providers across the country. We lead our competitors in the delivery of extracare housing for people over the age of 55. In the last 12 months, we have disposed of more than 250 void residential dwellings, 450 extracare properties and 300 shared ownership units.

We are looking for an NQ-2yr PQE Solicitor to join our vibrant and growing Later Living offering, as part of our Social Housing team.

You will be working predominantly in the later living sector team providing high quality services to a varied portfolio of clients. You will be working closely with charity housing providers to make a real difference.

This is a truly excellent opportunity for an enthusiastic and driven individual looking to join a thriving team who are leaders in the later living sector. The team can offer support to help you advance your career in a new sector area of the firm, with huge potential to grow and develop.

Your key duties will be:

• liaising with clients in a professional manner
• work with a team of experienced lawyers on a broad range of disposal work; including:
  • dealing with market sales
  • disposal of freehold reversions
  • surrenders of leases
  • general lease enquires
  • lease extensions
  • re-sales
  • technical property transactions e.g. Deeds of Release
  • Deeds of Variation
  • site set up
  • bespoke lease drafting
• assisting on large complex deals with appropriate supervision, and also building up your own caseload of straightforward matters
• liaising with sector clients and providing practical advice in a timely and confident manner whilst knowing their business and customer needs
• handling enquiries efficiently
• working to strict deadlines

Skills and experience you will have:

• experience working on real estate matters, ideally with leasehold and freehold transactions or a residential conveyancing background (for Newly Qualified candidates, relevant experience gained during your training contract is essential)
• previous experience in managing own caseload
• strong IT skills, usage of HIQ Portals is advantageous but not essential
• the ability to manage files effectively
• an appreciation of good financial hygiene

Key competencies you will need:

• a desire to specialise in this growing area of law
• a desire to enhance client relationships through day-to-day activity
• excellent communication skills
• a high degree of initiative and the ability to cope in a demanding environment
• excellent organisational and prioritising skills
• the ability to work in a busy team

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work.

We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it.

We have hubs in Birmingham, Leicester, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon and Sheffield. This role will can be based from any of our Midlands office hubs.

Please be aware, for some vacancies, where we receive high numbers of applications we may need to bring the close date forward.

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.