Intellectual Property Associate

PQE: 4 years +
Term: Permanent
Working hours: Full-time
Department: Brands & Intellectual Property
Location: Belfast
The firm

The expert tech law team formerly known as Forde Campbell has merged with Jones Cassidy Brett and the international London based firm Lewis Silkin, to form Lewis Silkin NI.

The merger has taken the IT, IP and data protection law expertise of the Forde Campbell team, recognised in Chambers and Legal 500 as Northern Irish market leaders with top tier sector experts, and combined it with the Creators, Makers and Innovators teams in Lewis Silkin’s offices in London, Oxford, Manchester, Cardiff, Dublin and Hong Kong. Lewis Silkin NI now has access to tech and commercial transactions on a global basis, while still retaining its Irish client base and its roots in the Belfast start-up hub scene.

The merger has given the Northern Irish firm access to support and resources to allow it to provide unparalleled employment opportunities to Northern Irish tech lawyers, including lawyers returning home after working in Ireland or Great Britain.

The firm offers the chance to work with a quality client base to structure a career in all aspects of tech commercial law, with particular opportunities in the creation of an all-Ireland business law service to target the US and Chinese tech markets.  Our lawyers are in daily contact with colleagues in the other Lewis Silkin offices, sharing expertise and partaking in the wider firm’s superb training and business development opportunities. Finally, the quality of life at Lewis Silkin is literally award-winning, with the firm consistently being recognised as one of Britain’s best employers by the Sunday Times’ esteemed 100 Best Companies to Work For survey.


Our culture is encapsulated by an ethos of bravery and kindness, guided by our values of Integrity, Clarity, Unity and Excellence (our ‘I-CUE’). We aim to provide a supportive environment for our people, clients and wider community and embrace diversity & inclusion, ensuring people are able to bring their full selves to work.

The department

The team advise on a broad range of commercial clients on a variety of contentious commercial issues; including general commercial contractual disputes, protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights, defending against infringement actions, managing reputations, take-downs and dealing with contentious employment issues among other areas. The team has a particular specialisation in the area of injunctive remedies, disclosure and search orders.

We typically advise on disputes before the High Court, industrial tribunals, UKIPO and EUIPO tribunals. It also advises on alternative dispute resolution processes, whether through arbitration or mediation.

Responsibilities

We are looking for an experienced Commercial Litigation lawyer to join us, we are ideally looking for someone who is 4 PQE+ and qualified to practice in Northern Ireland with Commercial Litigation experience.

Specifically, we are seeking an associate with hands on experience of conducting cases before the High Courts and day to day running of complex commercial litigation matters. A good working knowledge of intellectual property law is essential.

The successful candidate will often be the lead associate on a variety of high-end work, working closely with directors.

The candidate will need to have a good working knowledge of the High Court (Commercial Court) Rules, UK and European statutes and case law relevant to the legal fields identified above and be prepared to share legal knowledge with the team as part of the firm’s internal professional development and learning programmes.

Additional information

At Lewis Silkin our ethos is simple. We strive to do the best for our clients, our people and the communities in which we operate. We recognise that an inclusive workplace allows for all kinds of ideas and thoughts, a variety of points of view that can trigger discussions or deliver innovative results, and a wide range of versatile skills and expertise. We are proud of the diversity within Lewis Silkin and of our culture that allows people to be themselves at work, ensuring we provide the best possible service to our clients. We are committed to finding the right person for this role and are open to discussing flexible working patterns and office location.