Associate

PQE: 4-6
Term: Permanent
Working hours: Full-time
Department: Employment
Location: Manchester
The firm

Lewis Silkin works with leading businesses to protect and enhance their most important assets - their ideas, their people, their brand and their future. We call it: Ideas. People. Possibilities.

With offices in London, Oxford, Manchester, Cardiff, Belfast, Dublin and Hong Kong, we are recognised by clients and industry alike as being distinct for our unique culture, market-leading practice areas, sector focused approach and for providing solutions to complex, multijurisdictional business challenges, with a pragmatic and human touch. We have two things at our core: people — both ours and our clients’— and a focus on creative, tech and innovative businesses.

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 Employment, Immigration and Reward division is one of the leading employment law practices in the UK, with 34 employment and immigration Partners and around 110 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, Manchester, Cardiff, Belfast, 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.

Responsibilities

The role is based in our newly established Manchester office and 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. These senior associates and partners will, primarily, be based in the Manchester office but the Associate will also be involved in working for lawyers across our other offices, as required. 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 have between 4 to 6 years’ PQE 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.

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.