Associate - Real Estate Dispute Resolution

We have an exciting opportunity for an Associate to join our growing, collegiate, and highly regarded Real Estate Dispute Resolution team. The team advises a diverse client base including funders, landlords, tenants, developers, investors, high net worth individuals, hoteliers, and retailers on a wide range of commercial and residential property issues.

Our work is structured around four key workstreams:

• Development and Neighbourly Rights – including Building Safety, Party Wall etc. Act 1996, Rights of Light, Boundary disputes, Easements, Nuisance, and more.
• Residential – including enfranchisement, possession claims, service charge disputes, co-ownership, and tenancy enforcement.
• Commercial Asset Management – including lease renewals, forfeiture, dilapidations, break notices, rent reviews, and insolvency-related disputes.
• Property Contract Disputes – including specific performance, injunctions, building defects, professional negligence, and misrepresentation.

You will work closely with and support senior fee earners on complex matters across these workstreams, as well as managing your own cases independently. This is an excellent opportunity for those seeking continued career development with real opportunities for matter ownership and to build meaningful client relationships from day one.

Role responsibility

Ideally you will be able to demonstrate experience of:

• Assisting the team in responding to a wide range of urgent and time critical queries from clients;
• Assisting with all stages of the life-cycle of a contentious matter from the review of initial information upon first instruction to the conclusion of a matter, including the preparation of pre-action correspondence, issuing of court proceedings where necessary, preparation of witness evidence and all other work required on a matter to bring it to trial or to settlement;
• Instructing and liaising with Counsel and other experts where necessary;
• Undertaking advisory work and strategic advice;
• Attending meetings with clients, Counsel or opposing parties;
• Assisting with tasks relating to costs and fees, including preparing fee estimates for clients, preparing costs schedules during proceedings, and liaising with costs draftsmen and ATE insurers;
• Supervising and supporting trainees, and paralegals, providing guidance, feedback, and contributing to their development;
• Acting as a key point of contact for clients, providing strategic and commercial advice, and helping to build long-term relationships;
• Budgeting and providing fee estimates, including liaison with costs draftsmen and insurers.

About you

You will ideally demonstrate:

• Relevant post-qualified experience in Real Estate Dispute Resolution;
• Commercial acumen with a pragmatic and solution-focused approach to client issues;
• Strong communication skills and confidence in dealing with both internal and external stakeholders at all levels;
• Ability to build effective relationships with clients and colleagues at all levels;
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines;
• Collaborative mindset, contributing to a positive team culture and supporting firm-wide initiatives.

At Howard Kennedy we believe that everyone deserves the space to thrive. We’re committed to creating an inclusive recruitment experience that reflects the diversity of both our people and our clients. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and identities, and we’re committed to ensuring that our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and accessible to all.

We understand that every candidate’s needs are different. If there’s anything we can do to make your application journey more comfortable—whether for interviews, assessments, or onboarding—please let us know. We’ll work with you to remove any barriers and ensure our recruitment process is comfortable for you.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• 25 days annual holiday
• Permanent Health Insurance
• Life Assurance
• Interest free Season Ticket Loan
• Private Healthcare
• Pension Scheme
• Staff Introductory Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme

With almost 200 lawyers in one location, we ensure our clients have the right team to help them get from where they are to where they want to be. We advise major corporates and institutions as well as entrepreneurial, ambitious enterprises which are often privately or family owned, or private equity backed. As well as our significant business law capability, we are one of only a few London-based law firms with a large private wealth offering.

Whether you are an ambitious and talented individual wanting to hit the ground running from day one, or an established professional looking for a new opportunity, Howard Kennedy is the firm where you can really make it happen.

We have earned a strong reputation for our exceptional and uniquely talented people who between them deliver outstanding results for clients. In a firm of our size, our strong team dynamic creates a thriving culture of creativity and entrepreneurialism. Howard Kennedy is a pragmatic and non-hierarchical environment where success is shared, and you are proactively encouraged to thrive at your own pace.

Our distinctive culture is built on fairness and respect. Guided by the firm’s values of talk straight, think smart and be yourself, everyone in the firm holds equal value, and everyone plays their role in supporting, encouraging and inspiring colleagues to do their best work.

At the same time, we recognise and reward individualism, celebrating the diversity of our people and supporting them to grow their practice and drive their own career advancement. As well as client work, there is opportunity to broaden your horizons at the firm with fulfilling pro bono and charity projects. We have a regular social calendar full of wellbeing activities, charitable and social events too.