Solicitor - Police Employment in Leeds

Our market leading Employment, Pensions and Immigration team is seeking an employment lawyer with a focus on employment litigation and advisory work for various Police forces. We advise clients (and Police forces) across the UK including some of the UK's largest and best known employers. Our teams are highly ranked in the Legal Directories and have ambitions to grow further.

The position can be based from our Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester or Nottingham offices but working as part of our national Employment, Pensions and Immigration team (with a focus on police employment work) and subject to our hybrid working policy.

As a lawyer in our Employment, Pensions and Immigration team, this is a great opportunity to play an integral role in growing our business, working alongside Partners to drive the practice forward, with scope for career development. You will manage a mixed caseload of employment work and will be responsible for:

• Employment law advice to a wide range of Police force clients, including unfair dismissal, disciplinary, grievances, whistleblowing, discrimination, detriment claims and equal pay with a focus on running Employment Tribunal cases, including attendance (and advocacy if applicable) at preliminary or other interim hearings;
• Draft and prepare documents, tribunal responses, bundles, witness statements and reports etc;
• Assist with the supervision and management of members of the team with their caseloads as appropriate;
• Draft articles and legal updates;
• Assist with business development initiatives including training and networking;
• Work in accordance with client and internal SLAs;
• Work in accordance with Weightmans’ values and procedures;
• Achieve set financial and chargeable targets.

About You: Ideally you will have previous experience and a genuine and demonstrable interest in the above area of work (or similar areas). If you have no prior experience in Police employment matters we will consider applicants who have experience of running their own employment tribunal files for Respondent clients but who have a genuine interest in becoming involved in Police employment work.

We also require you to have/be:

• 4 + year PQE (although we will consider all candidates who have relevant experience);
• Experience of running your own employment tribunal files;
• Excellent team work skills;
• Attention to detail;
• Strong technical knowledge;
• Ability to multi-task, work to strict deadlines and targets;
• Excellent communication, time management and organisational skills;
• Flexible approach;
• Ideally previous experience of mentoring / supervising junior fee-earners.

Top 3 ideal candidate features/skills/experience (in order of importance):

• Experienced employment lawyer with either experience of Police employment work (or similar) or a keen interest in the same;
• Experience of advocacy in preliminary hearings preferred;
• Experience in advising clients on the full range of employment law issues.

If you meet our criteria and think this is a job where you could bring enthusiasm and an eagerness to learn, then we look forward to receiving your application.

Why work for us: Come and join our award-winning organisation and be part of a team where people truly matter. Weightmans is a Leading national law firm, with strong international capabilities. Weightmans has been recognised as a leading employer for the 19th consecutive year at Britain’s Top Employers awards, and ranking top 10 in the list, the firm has also secured top positions in Chambers UK. Join Weightmans as we continue our journey to becoming one of the UK’s top 30 law firms.