Employment Senior Associate / Legal Director

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.

Our vibrant, energetic Employment Team boasts some of the best lawyers in the business specialising in all aspects of employment law facing a company's board or the HR professional.

The team currently comprises nearly 40 specialist qualified employment law solicitors, including 10 partners working across six offices, making us one of the larger employment teams in the country.

We have the strength and depth of expertise to ensure we deliver the service you would expect in respect of technical quality, practical approach, and timeliness of advice.

Birketts employment law team has experience in all areas of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters, representing clients from a broad range of public and private organisations as well as individuals and senior executives.

Purpose of job

Our office in Ipswich has a highly experienced and dynamic employment team and due to growth, we are now recruiting for a Senior Associate/Legal Director to join the department.

Sectors in which we work include education, financial services, construction, transport and private client/agriculture, charities and public sector.

• General employment issues ranging from maternity rights to general contractual issues.
• Drafting service agreements, contracts of employment and staff handbooks
• Drafting and reviewing employment policies ranging from performance, sickness, and misconduct procedures to maternity and parental leave schemes.
• Transactional corporate support work
• Wrongful and unfair dismissal
• Restrictive covenant enforcement and defence
• Advice to Executives on joining and exiting appointments
• Redundancy and restructuring
• Transfer of Undertakings
• Awareness of boardroom disputes and severance claims
• Employment litigation in the employment tribunal
• Discrimination (including sex, race, disability and age)
• Trade union work for employers.
• Professional Discipline and conduct, including advising professional conduct/fitness to practice panels

The candidate

We are looking to recruit an individual who has the drive and commitment to assist Birketts’ in the continued growth and development of our Employment practice and to become an essential core member of our team.

• Interest in and aptitude for business development and growth opportunities.
• A strong drive to produce work/documentation which is consistently of a high standard.
• To have a flexible approach to work to ensure client deadlines are always met and clients are communicated with on a consistent and regular basis.
• Knowledge of clientele within Suffolk/East Anglia and the surrounding areas, as well nationally is advantageous.

Equal opportunities

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working.

We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and part-time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application.

Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential.