Legal Assistant in Sheffield

The Environmental Law Team at Freeths LLP is looking for a new Legal Assistant to start immediately. The Environmental Law team is a close-knit national team spread across a number of different offices at Freeths. As a Legal Assistant in our Environmental Team, you’ll be involved in an exceptionally broad range of work across the full spectrum of environmental law. Our team is recognised for its leading practices in wildlife, natural capital, and environmental regulatory and compliance law, giving you the opportunity to develop experience across multiple specialist areas.

The successful candidate will be based within the Environment Law Team in Freeths’ Sheffield or Bristol office but will assist other members of the team located elsewhere in the country too, since we work together as one cohesive team. With environmental legislation and policy constantly evolving, the role is fast-paced and research-heavy. You’ll contribute to legal research, drafting and matter management, all while learning directly from recognised leaders in the field of environmental law. Our Legal Assistant Programme allows you to gain grass roots experience of working in a legal environment alongside our talented lawyers. We trust our people to work flexibly in the way that works best for them, their teams and our clients. Our firm is set up to ensure everyone’s voice is heard, and mutual respect is shown by all.

Legal Assistant positions are initially for 9 months. We review performance at 3 monthly intervals. At the 9-month stage we make a decision on whether to offer funding for the Solicitor Qualifying Examinations. Please note that non-law graduates and those without a qualifying law degree or conversion will need to have completed the PGDL before applying. Candidates should only submit their applications for this opportunity if they are immediately available.

• To provide legal support to Trainees, Lawyers, and Partners, which means that you get a true picture of what a career in law could offer you in the long term.
• To carry out any other such reasonable tasks that may be required from time to time. From a wildlife perspective, you’ll support projects ranging from Development Consent Orders for nationally significant infrastructure projects to highly specialised issues involved protected species and habitats. Our ‘Dangerous and Dirty’ practice focuses on regulatory compliance across contaminated land, waste management, and wider environmental regulations. The team also work closely with Corporate and Real Estate teams, assisting with environmental due diligence for transactional matters.

• To have excellent academics and first-class organisation skills.
• Keenness to be thorough and accurate in research and written work.
• To be able to build lasting relationships and have a flexible, can-do attitude to contribute and succeed with Freeths.
• To have excellent communication skills and be a real team player with a flexible and professional approach to work.
• Good IT skills, experience, and confidence with using Microsoft packages.
• To be able to consistently demonstrate and embody the firm’s values.

Become part of the team at Freeths. We are committed to sourcing candidates directly where possible. For particular roles, we may work with preferred suppliers who will be invited by our resourcing team to support us. We may also agree to accept CVs from other suppliers on an ad hoc basis (to be agreed in writing). We will not be responsible for fees in relation to CVs or profiles submitted directly to our partners or other employees or for any applications not submitted via our portal. Agencies should contact our recruitment team before submitting unsolicited applications.