Associate

Join our leading London employment team to deliver high-quality, commercial advice for leading clients and shape a fast‑evolving practice.

The role involves joining the NSL in our London office as an employment law solicitor. You will undertake a broad mix of contentious and non‑contentious work for our commercial clients, which include Olympus, Mitsubishi Electric and Redgate Software. Our client base includes start‑ups up to listed clients. You would also help other areas of the London office and wider firm on corporate support and outsourcing.

The Employment team in London has forged a compelling reputation and has a track record of handling many complex employment cases, many of which are high value, across a range of sectors. The team is recognised in Legal 500 for its work with technology, life science and mid‑market businesses.

At this level, you will be expected to perform as follows:

• Client service

• Deliver outstanding client service to both internal and external clients to encourage client retention and referrals.
• Have a sound understanding of clients' legal, commercial and service requirements.
• Have effective client relationship and client service skills.

• Have strong technical competence and legal knowledge in employment law.
• Deliver high quality and commercially focussed advice.
• Conduct advocacy.
• Deliver training to clients and target clients.

The team is part of the cross‑office Employment, Pensions and Immigration NSL of circa 100 lawyers (which is headed by David Mills and supported by four professional support lawyers and an in‑house barrister). There are monthly cross‑office NSL training sessions delivered by our professional support lawyers, together with cross‑office and sector away days. In joining our London offering, you will be part of a fast‑growing team that continues to develop. You will have the opportunity to work alongside our London partner, Andrew Secker (who is also head of the London office), Principal Associate Remziye Ozcan and the team and be part of our exciting growth plans. Our city practice has a particular focus in technology, life sciences, insurance, private wealth and real‑estate investment.

The person we are looking for will have 2 or more years' employment experience gained in a reputable firm with a substantive employment law practice.

Skills and attributes

Given the nature of this role, it is likely that your background and experience will include the following:

• Essential

• Degree and A levels or equivalents.
• Clear enthusiasm for employment law.
• Excellent written drafting skill.
• Excellent presentational skills.
• Self‑starting with common sense and initiative, and ability to work as a team‑player working on complex matters.
• Very good time and documentation management skills.
• Keen attention to detail.
• Ability to lead on Employment Tribunal matters and run matters with minimal supervision.
• Ability to supervise and assist more junior lawyers.
• Ability to build very good relationships with clients, potential clients and multipliers.
• Very good research skills, including an ability to use online information sources.
• Excellent interpersonal and team skills, including ability to work with others, influence and persuade.
• Keen interest in developing client training skills.
• High level of IT skills.
• Marketing and business development skills.

• Experience of advising on restrictive covenant disputes and team moves.
• A track record of building a network of contacts with clients and other multipliers (such as participation in an ongoing network or group).
• Language skills (Spanish, French, German or Japanese).

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

The benefits

As you'd expect, we offer a competitive salary and a wide range of benefits.

Pre-employment screening

If we offer you a role, we will conduct comprehensive pre‑employment screening. This screening will include, but is not limited to, a basic DBS, verification of your right to work, a three‑year employment history and a self‑declaration to assess your character and suitability for the role. Full details of our pre‑screening employment process are available upon request.

The firm

Mills & Reeve is centred on achieving more for clients, their businesses and the wider communities we serve. Our clients and their industries benefit from our knowledge and learning, and receive consistent experiences with no surprises. We tell them what they need to know when they need to know it. We build personal relationships, with advice individually tailored to individual need. And if clients need things we don't offer, we draw on our network to give recommendations. Our 1,450 plus people and over 850 lawyers share one vision – achieving more for clients. By joining Mills & Reeve, you'll have the chance to build your skills and experience within a firm that's not only ranked in the top 50 UK law firms, but also one that truly values their people. We're also ranked in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work list, and have been awarded Platinum Investors in People. Our mantra is “Achieve more. Together.”, which we feel embodies our purpose and is more than just a catchphrase!

Values

• We're ambitious - We aim high, we embrace new ideas and we're passionate about our work.
• We're open - We communicate openly and honestly to build trust, and we do what's right.
• We care - We're committed to each other, our clients, our communities and the planet.
• We collaborate - We're easy to work with, we offer help willingly and we get things done – together.

And finally, everyone at Mills & Reeve brings a unique perspective and ideas to the team and we do everything we can to help each person to thrive. We're committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment, are happy to consider flexible working arrangements, and want to achieve the right balance for both our people and the firm. We encourage everyone to ask if they feel they need any workplace adjustments, and will do our best to support with these.