Education Lawyer

An exceptional role for an education lawyer at a top-ranked practice! Here at VWV, we're committed to advising and representing education providers, and this role sees us looking to expand our thriving and profitable regulatory compliance practice with a bright and pragmatic lawyer, most likely at around the associate or senior associate level. With regulatory compliance work being "core" to our firm's success, this is a chance to work at the very "engine" of the firm.

About us

We're a Top 100, full-service UK law firm with just over 500 employees. With 4 offices in London, Watford, Bristol and Birmingham, you'll be struck by our close-knit and friendly culture. We believe in integrity and authenticity - in each one of us being ourselves, both in our interactions with each other and with our clients. With a reputation not just for the quality of our work, but also for the qualities of our people, we strive to recruit individuals who are proactive and passionate about what they do and who are able to demonstrate humour and humility in equal measure.

Our Regulatory Compliance practice

Here at VWV, we have a specialist regulatory compliance team - a team of lawyers who guide our clients, in particular education and health and social care providers, through their regulatory frameworks and help to manage the legal challenges that they face. Many of our clients are nationally-renowned providers and much of our work is driven by legal and political developments in our key sectors, which makes for a constantly evolving and dynamic practice.

Clients seek our services knowing that our specialist sector knowledge, coupled with our high service level standards and range of pricing options, set us apart. Our work is recognised in the legal directories (we are tier 1 for our practice with a number of leading individuals in the field) and by the sector press/associations.

Headed by Partner, Tabitha Cave, this team comprises 5 partners, 21 lawyers and 4 support colleagues.

The role

If you're an experienced education lawyer, specialising in parent and student matters as well as compliance with regulatory frameworks specific to independent schools, this opportunity could be for you. Ideally, you will have broad expertise across both contentious and non-contentious aspects of the work and will be experienced in advising independent schools, school groups, and governing bodies on a wide range of legal issues.

Working closely with our team lead for independent school practice, you'll play a key role in supervising the work of the team and helping to deliver our strategy in this dynamic and evolving sector. Your caseload will likely include advising on admissions and exclusions (including appeals), managing student behaviour and disciplinary issues, safeguarding, special educational needs (SEN) and equality matters, handling complaints and claims (including tribunal work), and guiding schools through inspections and regulatory compliance.

You will also provide critical incident management and reputation protection services—key areas for independent schools. Familiarity with issues such as fee disputes, parental complaints, and safeguarding obligations unique to the independent sector would be highly valuable. Experience in handling sensitive cases discreetly and efficiently, with a focus on preserving school reputation, is essential.

At a time of political and regulatory change, this role offers a unique opportunity to support independent schools as they navigate evolving challenges and continue to thrive.

Where will I be working?

As regards location, we're open-minded. We have a truly unique and engaging culture that we hold dear: we work hard but we also love to have fun and we recognise that it's the social interaction between us that really shapes our culture. The team and firm work to a hybrid model of office and remote working, and we would ideally like you to be based from one of our office locations for at least part of each week. In this way, you'll benefit first-hand from our warm and friendly culture, and facilitate cross referral opportunities. We are of course happy to discuss any specific requirements of hybrid working with candidates on an individual basis.

How to apply?

Whilst we're renowned for our transparent and welcoming culture, we know that making the next career move can be daunting. We've all been there! To help you to get more of a flavour for life at VWV and to find out what our own people say about us, we invite you to watch this short video on the right hand side. If you feel ready to apply, then please click on the red "Apply Now" button at the foot of the advert. We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. If you require any special adjustments to be made in order to be considered for this role, then please do call us (see contact details in the "How to Apply" section below), as we will be happy to do so.

If you have any questions on the role or firm before you decide whether or not to apply, please contact me, Emma Latchem-Hughes, Talent Acquisition Advisor, ELatchem-Hughes@vwv.co.uk or call me in complete confidence on 07340 632798.

Recruitment Agencies

We are in a period of exclusive direct sourcing for this role and are not accepting applications from agencies. We politely request therefore that you do not send candidates through. Any named or anonymised profile or CV sent to us will be deemed an unsolicited approach and deleted.