Associate / Senior Associate - Disputes Litigation

The firm

Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.

The department

Advice, disputes and claims involving public bodies:

Procurement

• Acting for private providers, corporates, individuals against public bodies
• Advising public bodies on challenges to their procurements.

Judicial Review/Dispute

• Advising in Planning Matters
• Acting for Developers and Local Authorities
• Litigation support to planning team

Commercial

• Acting for clients challenging Government decisions eg HMRC Policies and Procedures
• Advising on Disputes with Rural Payment Agency

Local Authority Disputes/Parish Council Disputes

• Investigations

Civil Regulatory Disputes

• Care Home Disputes - fee/authorisation disputes
• CQC Issues
• Health Disputes

Purpose of job

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a dynamic market leading and growing team dealing with prestigious clients and high quality work with significant regional, London and national profile; we act in some of the leading reported Procurement and Judicial Review cases and are at the cutting edge of public sector and education disputes work, advising on novel and innovative issues and disputes.

Accountabilities

We are looking for an experienced Associate/Senior Associate to work in the above areas majoring in the Public Law issues especially Procurement Disputes and Judicial Reviews.

They should ideally cover a broad range of work across the Administrative and Public Law Disputes team, contributing in their own right, supervising more junior fee earners and providing assistance to the entire team.

In terms of wider team contribution and particularly as to Business Development and growth, the individual will work with and support the team in its wider BD who in turn will support and work with you to grow your practice.

Responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Running and managing files and delegating to and supervising junior lawyers, trainees and paralegals as appropriate.
• High Court Litigation as well as Mediation.
• Advocacy, where appropriate.
• Providing strategic, practical and commercial advice.
• Supporting the Team on larger and more complex matters.
• Interacting directly with clients and managing their expectations.
• Managing Budgets and Fees.
• Business Development, Marketing and Networking.

Qualifications/Experience

• An Associate/Senior Associate of around 5 - 8 years PQE + gained within a strong regional or City firm or specialist/niche practice.

Benefits

At Birketts, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth. Alongside a flexible and inclusive work environment, we offer the following core benefits:

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays
• Long Service holiday award - 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service

https://www.birketts.co.uk/recognition-reward-benefits/