Associate

PQE: NQ - 2 Term: Permanent Working hours: Full-time Reports to: Head of the Dispute Resolution LPG Department: Dispute Resolution Location: London The firm Lewis Silkin works with leading businesses to protect and enhance their most important assets - their ideas, their people, their brand and their future. We call it: Ideas. People. Possibilities. With offices in London, Oxford, Manchester, Cardiff, Belfast, Dublin and Hong Kong, we are recognised by clients and industry alike as being distinct for our unique culture, market-leading practice areas, sector focused approach and for providing solutions to complex, multijurisdictional business challenges, with a pragmatic and human touch. We have two things at our core: people - both ours and our clients'- and a focus on creative, tech and innovative businesses. Our culture is encapsulated by an ethos of bravery and kindness, guided by our values of Integrity, Clarity, Unity and Excellence (our 'I-CUE'). We aim to provide a supportive environment for our people, clients and wider community and embrace diversity & inclusion, ensuring people are able to bring their full selves to work. The department The Creators, Makers and Innovators division is made up of leading advisers for creative, innovative and brand-focused businesses, offering a deep understanding of the industry sectors in which the firm's clients operate, combined with significant expertise across a wide range of legal services. The Creators, Makers and Innovators division comprises 41 partners and around 80 other specialist lawyers. The division's lawyers have decades of experience, both within the creative industries and as legal advisers with in depth knowledge and experience of the many sectors that make up the creative world, including advertising and marketing, entertainment and media, fashion, hospitality, technology, retail and sports. THE TEAM Our Dispute Resolution Practice Group supports the wider firm's clients with a range of disputes. The Group is looking to recruit a NQ- 2 PQE associate to join its commercial disputes team. The team is an energetic and informal group with an impressive client base. It litigates high value and complex claims at all levels before the English Courts. It regularly collaborates with lawyers internationally to resolve cross-border disputes. It handles major domestic and international arbitrations (ICC, LCIA, specialist tribunals and ad hoc) and makes effective use of all forms of ADR. The team has the capacity and experience to handle heavy claims and it consistently achieves excellent results, often against much larger firms. The team is highly regarded and consistently ranked in both Chambers (UK and Europe editions) and Legal 500. TRAINING The Dispute Resolution team's training programme includes seminars and workshops given by external speakers and by our own internal experts. We have dedicated Practice Development Lawyers who are responsible for maintaining know-how and precedents across the team, as well as the Lewis Silkin Business School which provides our Associates with the tools and skills necessary to develop. The successful candidate will be allocated a Career Development Partner (CDP) who will have an overview of their long-term career aspirations and progression. We have an excellent track-record of developing our Associates. Organic growth and a strong team culture is at the heart of our success. Responsibilities Our preferred candidate will have spent time within the Dispute Resolution group of a medium or large private practice law firm or an in-house litigation team, where they developed strong technical legal skills and gained experience of commercial disputes. The role will involve working alongside market leading Partners and Managing Associates within the team, handling a variety of commercial disputes. Typically, our work involves contractual disputes, professional negligence, tort claims, director and shareholder disputes, partnership disputes and insolvency issues. Whilst the team's work is primarily litigation-focused, it also handles arbitrations, ADR and a variety of disciplinary, regulatory and statutory tribunals. We welcome candidates with strong commercial acumen. This should manifest itself both in their advice to clients and their efforts seeking out business development opportunities. Academic rigour is an important component of this position together with technical excellence. The ideal candidate will have excellent drafting, analytical and communication skills and be able to run their own files with minimal supervision where appropriate. They will report to partners/managing and senior associates within the team in respect of individual assignments. Our associates have a high level of direct contact with clients and are encouraged to take responsibility from the outset. They are also expected to play an active role in business development through writing articles, client guides, organising and presenting at seminars and participating at client social events. We are looking for a team player who will participate fully in all aspects of the life of this strong and growing group. The successful individual will be a key part of a hard-working, friendly and supportive team; therefore, the ideal candidate must be a strong team player and have experience working in a high performing and collaborative environment. Knowledge of retail, leisure, technology, automotive, financial services, marketing and/or media sectors would be advantageous. IT SKILLS REQUIRED: Competency in MS Office suite. EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED: Current practicing certificate or due to qualify by March 2023 Excellent academics Additional information At Lewis Silkin our ethos is simple. We strive to do the best for our clients, our people and the communities in which we operate. We recognise that an inclusive workplace allows for all kinds of ideas and thoughts, a variety of points of view that can trigger discussions or deliver innovative results, and a wide range of versatile skills and expertise. We are proud of the diversity within Lewis Silkin and of our culture that allows people to be themselves at work, ensuring we provide the best possible service to our clients. We are committed to finding the right person for this role and are open to discussing flexible working patterns and office location.