Real Estate Litigation Principal Associate / Legal Director in Birmingham

We are looking to appoint a talented and commercially focused Real Estate Litigation Principal Associate or Legal Director to join Shoosmiths' market leading Real Estate Litigation team. This role offers the opportunity to play a key part in one of the UK's largest and most highly regarded specialist practices, advising an impressive client base on a broad range of complex and strategically significant property disputes.

As a Principal Associate or Legal Director, you will have the opportunity to work alongside exceptional colleagues and advise an impressive portfolio of high profile clients spanning the retail, leisure, development, investment and public sectors. You'll be trusted to provide strategic, commercially focused advice on a broad spectrum of complex and high value property disputes that shape real estate portfolios across the UK. This role offers the chance to lead on significant and challenging matters, including landlord and tenant disputes, investment and development disputes, and a range of specialist real estate contentious work.

Beyond managing complex cases, you'll build and strengthen key client relationships, mentor and develop talented junior lawyers, and contribute to the continued success and growth of the practice through business development, networking and thought leadership initiatives. At Shoosmiths, we combine first class legal expertise with a genuinely collaborative culture. We value initiative, innovation and teamwork, creating an environment where experienced litigators can make a real impact, develop their profile and thrive professionally.

The national Real Estate Litigation team is recognised as one of the largest, most experienced and most respected specialist teams in the UK. Working at the forefront of this complex and evolving area of law, we deliver strategic advice and practical solutions to a diverse client base ranging from household name retailers and leisure operators to investment landlords, developers, local authorities and public bodies.

The team advises across the full range of landlord and tenant litigation and real estate disputes including:

• Break notices
• Dilapidations
• Forfeiture
• Land registration issues
• Lease renewals
• Possession claims
• Rent recovery
• Rights to light disputes
• Service charge disputes
• Property related insolvency matters
• Restrictive covenants

We also provide specialist advice in niche and growing areas such as telecommunications, judicial review and agricultural law. Known for our strategic, commercially focused approach we help clients navigate and resolve some of the most challenging property disputes in the market. Equally importantly we invest heavily in our people offering a supportive and collaborative working environment, hands on experience, structured learning opportunities and a culture that recognises and rewards ambition, innovation and initiative.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a team that is genuinely shaping the future of property litigation while supporting your own professional growth and career progression.

Shoosmiths is the law firm clients choose for excellent service, incisive thinking and, above all, our ability to focus on what matters most. With offices across the UK and Brussels, we partner with some of the world's most exciting, innovative and ambitious organisations, helping clients make a meaningful impact in their industries and communities. Our people are empowered to bring their authentic selves to work, collaborate in high-performing teams and deliver exceptional results through a culture built on excellence, innovation and mutual support.

As the first Top 50 law firm to achieve the Investors in People Platinum Standard, our values are more than statements on a website. They are embedded in everything we do and form the foundation of our success. Alongside a competitive remuneration package we offer high quality work, a supportive environment and a comprehensive, flexible benefits programme designed to reward and support our people. We believe our success is driven by our employees and we are committed to recognising their contribution to the firm's continued growth and achievements.

Shoosmiths is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. Disability Confident is a government scheme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term conditions. We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to and usable by everyone. If you have a disability or long-term condition and would like to receive information in a different way, or need us to make any adjustments, changes or do anything differently during the recruitment process, please get in touch with the Talent Acquisition team.

Our approach to our people is underpinned by our approach to diversity, inclusion and well-being. Our ambition is to build a diverse and ambitious workforce that reflects all backgrounds and talents, and a workplace that is supportive and inclusive, recognises and nurtures talent, and has a strong sense of community between colleagues.