Solicitor / Associate

Shakespeare Martineau is a leading law firm that combines creativity, commerciality and clarity. We work with blue-chip companies, leading organisations, high street brands and individuals across the country.

Our multi-disciplinary team delivers a broad range of specialist legal services, and particularly stands out for its expertise across sectors including, but not limited to: energy, education, banking and financial services, investment funds, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. 

We’re proud of our people’s varied backgrounds and expertise. Our different qualities stand out and make us interesting to our clients.

We firmly believe in working hard and being ambitious. We look to recruit and develop talented people to achieve their potential - and who will contribute to achieving ours too.

Here you can fulfil your ambitions, whatever they are and however rapidly you want to achieve them. Together, and individually, we create exceptional results.

Our Litigation & Dispute Resolution group has a long-standing experience of working with some of the most successful and influential businesses in the UK and also internationally. Our specialist teams combine expertise with a sound understanding of the commercial landscape to provide exceptional solutions for every aspect of our clients’ corporate requirements.

Our Dispute Resolution and Professional Negligence team deals with a wider range of disputes than traditional commercial litigation to include professional negligence claims across a broad range of sectors, particularly claims against solicitors, accountants and financial advisors, and acting on behalf of private individuals as well as corporate and business clients. 

We are regularly instructed in complex and high value commercial and contractual litigation, as well as corporate disputes, partnership disputes, transactional claims and injunctive proceedings. We pride ourselves on our technical expertise and resources to deliver the best possible solutions for our clients, ranging from large household names and multi-million pound turnover companies to small owner managed businesses.

The role:

We are looking for a Solicitor / Associate to join our Dispute Resolution & Professional Negligence team, part of the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution group. We will consider applications from candidates who wish to work primarily in either our Nottingham or Leicester offices, although there may be times when you will need to work in the other office. 

The role is primarily to support the growth of our claimant professional negligence practice, with some support being provided to commercial disputes.

Your key duties will include:

• to assist a legal director on a broad range of claimant professional negligence disputes
• as required to assist other senior team members with commercial disputes including warranty claims, IT disputes, procurement issues, shareholder and director disputes and disputed significant debt recovery cases
• running cases efficiently and cost effectively and within strict service level agreements as required by the client
• advising clients about the strengths and weaknesses of their cases
• handling a caseload of complex and less-complex matters
• active involvement in business development activities, both individually and as part of a team
• attending and conducting client meetings
• drafting and preparing court documents in a time sensitive manner

Skills and experience you will have:

• up to 5 years’ dispute resolution experience working within a law firm (for Newly Qualified candidates, relevant experience gained during your training contract is essential), including experience of handling claimant professional negligence claims
• knowledge and ideally experience of contingent and conditional funding arrangements for professional negligence claims
• some evidence of business development activities within the professional negligence sector or proven ability to engage in this type of activity
• experience in dealing with lay and commercial clients on a day to day basis
• strong IT skills
• a proven ability to be flexible in your approach in finding practical and innovative solutions to a range of problems

Key competencies you will need:

• a high degree of initiative and the ability to cope in a demanding environment
• the ability to be proactive and effectively manage your own workload
• to be resilient, confident and calm under pressure
• exceptional attention to detail and accuracy
• an entrepreneurial nature and an outgoing manner
• excellent organisational, prioritising and time management skills
• strong negotiation and communication skills

About you – you will be:

• highly enthusiastic, willing to the extra mile and be happy to go beyond the job description
• highly ambitious, hardworking with an excellent work ethic, taking pride in all you do
• respectful towards others and have a positive, willing and ‘can do’ attitude

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.