EPI Solicitor / Associate Solicitor

About your new role

Our market leading Employment, Pensions and Immigration team are seeking experienced employment lawyers in both London and Leeds. We advise employers across the UK and our clients are some of the UK's largest and best known employers. We believe that the quality of our clients and strength of our relationships with our clients speaks volumes about the quality of the service we provide.

The successful candidates will be based at our Leeds and London offices, which currently consist of six Partners, two Legal Directors, two Principal Associates, four Associates and two Trainees. Our teams are highly ranked in the Legal Directories and have ambitions to grow further.

This is a great opportunity to play an integral role in growing the London and Leeds teams, working alongside Partners to drive the practice forward, with significant scope for career development. You will manage a mixed caseload of employment work and will be responsible for:

• Advising clients in a range of sectors on the full range of employment law issues, including redundancy, disciplinary matters, grievances, whistleblowing, discrimination and detriment claims.
• Responsibility for defending Employment Tribunal claims
• Corporate / transactional support
• Advising in relation to change projects, changing terms and conditions and consultation requirements
• Industrial relations advice
• Assisting other members of the team with their caseloads as appropriate
• Drafting tribunal responses, bundles, witness statements and reports
• Drafting articles and legal updates
• Assisting with business development initiatives including training and networking
• Working in accordance with client and internal SLAs
• Working in accordance with Weightmans’ values and procedures
• Contributing to set team financial and utilisation targets

This list is not intended to be exhaustive and you will have other duties and responsibilities that fall within the remit of the role.

About You

We are open to considering a range of PQE.

Previous experience of managing your own caseload.

Excellent team work skills.

Attention to detail.

Strong technical knowledge.

Good communication skills.

Good time management and organisation skills.

Why work for us

Weightmans is a Top 40 law firm with offices throughout the UK. Having been recognised as the leading legal employer and 10th overall employer at the annual Britain's Top Employers awards 2024 and achieved record rankings in Chambers UK.

We are proud to be an accredited living wage employer.

The independent research showed "Weightmans provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout all levels of the organisation."

We are truly committed to fostering a culture of equality and diversity, where everyone in the firm is respected and recognised on merit for the work that they do.

We strongly encourage applications from people of all ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and disabilities. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustment at any stage of the application process.

Please feel free to note your preferred pronouns in your application.

Work for a firm where people matter – work for Weightmans – We See the possibility in you.

As well as being immensely proud of the work we carry out for our clients and the culture we provide to our people we offer a wide range of benefits including;

• 28 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rated for part time)
• Hybrid working including provision of home office equipment*
• Healthcare cover/ Medicash
• Pension plan
• Life Insurance 4 x salary
• Interest free travel loan scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme including counselling, legal and consumer advice service
• Discounted gym membership
• Discounted dental scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Offers & discounts
• Great reward and recognition scheme

Please note

• We encourage candidates to speak to us direct/apply direct for the opportunities we have available.
• Any reference to experience or PQE in our adverts or job descriptions is to be used as a guideline only. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and with different levels of experience who can demonstrate that they fulfil the requirements of the role.
• The successful candidate appointed to this role will be subject to our standard background checking process, and any offer of employment made is conditional upon successful completion of those checks. Further details can be obtained from the Recruitment team.
• We are open to part time/job share applicants.

Recruitment agencies (PSL /non-PSL)

Weightmans operates a strict 'preferred supplier list' (PSL) and is committed to working closely with the recruitment agencies that feature on that list. As such, Weightmans does not accept speculative or unsolicited CVs, profiles or any other introductions from both our PSL and non-PSL agencies.

Eligibility to work in the UK

Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process. All candidates must either already have a right to work in the UK before commencing employment, or meet the Home Office criteria for Visa sponsorship. Candidates who require sponsorship should evaluate the Home Office eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker visa before applying.