Associate / Senior Associate

Here at HCR Hewitsons we are looking for an Associate or Senior Associate to join our Agriculture and Estates Team. The team is widely recognised as market leading and acts for farmers, landowners and estates in Northamptonshire and wider afield.

We are looking for someone who is 5 to 7 years PQE to join our established 10 person strong team in Northampton. We can offer good quality work in all types of transactional matters including sales, purchases, and mortgages. We also advise clients on estate management, agricultural tenancies and tax and succession planning. We work closely with our Private Client team to provide a wraparound services for our clients as well as advising on the cutting edge of conservation management and natural capital projects. We act for some of the largest landowners in the country, 4 of our clients being within the top 50 landowners in the UK. We are leading the way putting in place agreements to unlock Biodiversity Net Gain. Our land owning clients have renewable energy schemes and strategic land sales with values in excess of £100m.

You will be part of the market leading Agriculture and Estates team of HCR Hewitsons which has consistently been top ranked in Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. Beyond this team, we have 54 fee earners across the firm working closely with the industry making us one of the largest agricultural teams in the country.

We are committed to the rural industry; we have been on the NFU Legal panel since 2009 and have close links to the CLA, with team members sitting on County committees. The team are active members of the Agricultural Law Association, with the Director of Education, Committee members, and 4 Fellows of the Agricultural Law Association currently within our ranks. We actively support and encourage engaging with industry groups and other professionals to enable individuals to develop their own network and practice.

We are looking for a person with a passion for the agricultural industry to join our Central England team based in Northampton. You will be supported to develop your career, whilst also supervising and developing junior members of staff. You will ideally have worked in rural property previously and with some experience of succession planning and/or partnerships. However, applications from candidates with mixed property experience are welcomed.

• 5-7 years PQE
• Able to work collaboratively with colleagues and successfully manage client relationships
• Excellent technical ability and drafting skills
• Can demonstrate teamwork and relationship building skills
• Strong commercial acumen
• Proactive, ambitious and organised with a keen eye for detail

Benefits of working with us:

• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Sight tests / Glasses discounts
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme
• 27 days annual leave (plus public holidays)
• Happy People / Perks at Work benefits portal
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Life Assurance
• 1/3 gym membership contribution
• Flu vaccinations
• Smart working

HCR suits people who love a challenge and want to work in an environment where careers thrive on the back of hard work and personal merit. Our people enjoy feeling part of something bigger than themselves, and whilst our clients drive our development, it is our people who bring their energy, enthusiasm, and entrepreneurial mindsets together to solve problems and help our clients succeed.

Our people tell us they enjoy working on good quality, interesting matters from a wide variety of our clients, because they get the experience they want to develop their careers. We will give you responsibility early, the mandate to make things happen and we’ll back your good ideas. Our “Passion for People” lives and breathes every day throughout the firm as our peoples’ energy and sense of fun create a warm environment in which to thrive.

HCR’s growth constantly creates opportunities for people who want to go places and make a difference, your career plan can become part of our growth plan. At HCR you can expect to work with friendly, energetic, ambitious people, who love getting stuck into a client problem, and enjoy celebrating a good outcome. Our people value the sense of community provided by the individual personality of each office and the collegiate approach across all our service and sector teams.

As a Times Best Law firm, among the UK Top 60, we provide the full range of services that you would expect to organisations, business leaders and individuals. However, in our mission to give everyone the opportunity to experience a different kind of legal service we take an entrepreneurial approach. We’re flexible and responsive to the needs of our clients, delivering the best outcomes for them. We have more than 800 lawyers and support staff, including more than 150 partners, and have been awarded the Law Society’s Lexcel quality mark in recognition of our compliance and client care standards.

With ten offices in England and Wales our well-established presence stretches from west to east, ensuring clients can access a full-service legal offering no matter where they’re located. We’ve expanded significantly in Birmingham, Cardiff and the Thames Valley, and our merger with Hewitsons resulted in a full service regional hub being established in the heart of the Waterside innovation area centre of Northampton. Our London and Cambridge continue to grow apace.

With solid connections in the communities we work in, and a track record of delivering legal advice to businesses and individuals throughout the areas we base ourselves in, our clients continue to value our approach to providing legal advice, in the way they need, when they need it.