Employment Associate / Senior Associate Solicitor

We’re a national law firm with a local reach. Our philosophy is ‘we're legal and financial experts that care’ – something you’ll find in the way we work with our clients and how we support our teams. But we’re more than just a law firm – we’re a team of people working together to help individuals and businesses navigate life’s ups and downs. Working here you’ll feel a part of our friendly and inclusive environment.

We’ll value you for who you are and what you bring. We support each other and push boundaries to achieve incredible things and make a real difference to our clients and communities.

We're always looking to support our colleagues to work in a way that works best for them and everyone else, including our clients, the business and the regulators. Please speak to a member of our Recruitment and Onboarding team for more information.

We are looking for an Associate or Senior Associate to join our Southern Employment team in either Southampton, Gatwick or Brighton.. The Southern Employment team is led by Partner Sybille Steiner. They advise on the full range of contentious and non-contentious aspects of employment law. Clients are predominately employers as well as some high net worth individuals. The team acts for a wide range of UK and international businesses from small organisations, start-ups and SMEs to PLCs. The clients are from a variety of sectors including (but not limited to) retail, technology, education, aviation, hospitality and sport.

Your Role and What You'll Be Doing

Working in our Southern Employment team is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in challenging and complex cases, whilst learning from the very best. Your role will focus on the full range of employment issues advising on matters including employment tribunal claims, redundancy, capability and misconduct procedures, employment documentation, and the employment aspects of corporate transactions working with UK-based and international businesses, including medium, large and listed companies and clients in the education sector. You will gain plenty of hands on experience from the outset with support from senior members of the team to further your development.

The team also run a popular programme of events throughout the year and you would have ample opportunity to support these events and gain experience in presenting at the same and contributing to the success of the Team’s business development efforts.

About You

• Experience advising Respondents on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters
• An enthusiasm for advising on a varied range of employment law issues and taking on new challenges
• The ability to manage a busy and varied workload
• An interest in business development
• Experience in the education sector or with international clients would be helpful but not essential

We’re proud of our values, and we’re looking for people who share them:

• To be pioneering with an imaginative outlook
• To be approachable and caring
• To be tenacious in the pursuit of our objectives
• To be efficient in the provision of our services
• To work with a foundation of integrity.

If this sounds like you, we’d love to receive your application.

Our Benefits - What We Can Offer You

• 25 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays - You can ‘buy’ up to 35hrs of extra holiday too.
• Generous and flexible pension schemes.
• Volunteering days – Two days of volunteering every year for a cause of your choice (fully paid)
• Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside our Aviva Digital GP services.

We also offer a wide range of well-being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace and to make sure you’re fully supported. This includes our Flexible by Choice programme which gives our colleagues more choice over a hybrid way of working subject to role, team and client requirements.

We have been ranked in the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing for Large Organisations for 2024!

Our responsible business programmes are fundamental to who we are and our purpose. We’re committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where our colleagues can flourish, and we have established a number of inclusion network groups across our business to support this aim.

Our commitment to Social Responsibility, community investment activity and tackling climate change is a fundamental part of who we are. It’s made up of four strands: Our People, Our Community, Our Environment and Our Pro Bono.

Additional Information

As part of the Irwin Mitchell Group’s on-boarding process all successful applicants are required to complete the group’s employment screening process. This process helps to ensure that all new employees meet our standards in relation to honesty and integrity therefore protecting the interests of the Group, colleagues, clients, partners and other stakeholders.

We carry out pre-employment screening to establish your eligibility to work in the UK, criminal record and financial checks ­with our trusted 3rd parties.

The employment screening process will fully comply with Data Protection and other applicable laws.

Irwin Mitchell LLP is an equal opportunity employer.