Senior Associate or Special Counsel (Employment Sydney)

Hall & Wilcox; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 360,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Flexible leave, up to 26 weeks Parenta

Career development programs

Wellbeing and diversity focus

Pro bono and community involvement

Free daily breakfast and office events

Job summary

Hall & Wilcox in Sydney is seeking a Senior Associate or Special Counsel to join our Employment team. The role involves advising national and international employers on employment and industrial relations matters, discrimination, WHS, immigration, and privacy.

You will learn from Partners and senior lawyers and handle complex matters, draft documents, and maintain client communications. Ideal candidate has 8+ years post‑admission in employment/IR, experience at a large firm or specialist

Qualifications

• 8+ years post-admission in employment/IR law.
• Experience at a large firm or specialist practice.
• Strong drafting and analytical skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.
• Organisational and prioritisation abilities.
• Experience mentoring junior lawyers.
• Client service focus and commercial approach.
• Proactive, autonomous and collaborative.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal support to Partners on employment and IR matters.
• Apply deep legal knowledge to solve client problems.
• Draft legal documents and advices; manage multiple matters.
• Maintain proactive client communications on matter progress.
• Collaborate on large complex litigation, incl. general protections and discrimination.

Skills

Employment law

Industrial relations

Legal drafting

Client service

Communication skills

Mentoring juniors

Job description

Senior Associate or Special Counsel (Employment Sydney)

• Our HW Evolve approach includes hybrid and flexible working. WFH and from modern, open plan offices. We will provide you with WFH IT equipment plus reimbursement of up to $500 for additional equipment
• Competitive remuneration and our Hallstar reward and recognition program
• Learning and career development programs for all roles and levels
• Flexible leave options, including up to 26 weeks paid parental leave
• Free daily breakfast and office social events
• Genuine commitment to diversity, inclusion and wellbeing, and pro bono and community

Make the smarter choice. Come thrive with us. Learn more about what Hall & Wilcox can offer you here.

About the roleand team

We have a rare and exciting opportunity for an experienced Senior Associate or Special Counsel to join our growing Employment team in Sydney.

Our highly regarded national employment team acts for medium to large national and international employers, advising on contentious and non-contentious employment and industrial relations matters, discrimination, WHS, immigration, and privacy.

This role will work closely with and learn from our experienced team of Employment Partners, Special Counsels, Senior Associates and Lawyers.

You will be responsible for:

• providing legal support to Partners on matters relating to employment law and industrial relation matters;
• demonstrating a thorough understanding of complex legal concepts, and creatively applying legal knowledge to client situations to provide solutions to problems;
• drafting legal documents, advices and handling multiple matters at any one time;
• maintaining high level of communication with clients regarding progress of matters;
• working as part of a talented team on large and complex litigation matters and industrial disputes including general protections, discrimination and unfair dismissal claims.

About you

You will ideally have the following skills and experience:

• minimum 8 years of post-admission experience, specifically in employment and industrial relations law;
• ideally your experience will come from a large national or international law firm, or a specialist employment law practice;
• excellent technical, analytical and drafting skills with a keen attention to detail;
• outstanding verbal and written communication skills;
• the ability to organise and prioritise effectively;
• experience supervising, mentoring and delegating to junior lawyers or paralegals;
• a strong commitment to client service, the ability to manage client relationships and a focus on achieving commercial solutions for our clients; and
• be proactive and able to work both autonomously and as part of a collaborative team.

About us

At Hall & Wilcox, we deliver outstanding legal services to corporate, public sector and private clients, both Australian-based and those offshore doing business in Australia. Our purpose is to enable our clients, our people and our communities to thrive.

We do great work, smarter. We’re passionate about the work we do and how it creates value for today and tomorrow. We’re known forSmarter Law: smarter thinking to create smarter solutions. We embrace innovative thinking and technology. We listen. We partner. We solve.

We are also known for having a great culture that values people and that lives our purpose and values - ourHallmarks.

Hall & Wilcox is a successful independent Australian law firm; a place to belong, with the freedom to learn and grow. We thrive together. We are diverse and inclusive - everyone is welcome and respected. We encourage applications from candidates of all cultural backgrounds (including First Nations), abilities, sexual orientation and gender identities.

Hear from our people about what it’s like to thrive at Hall & Wilcox: bit.ly/HWpeople

To learn more about Hall & Wilcox visit ourwebsite.

This vacancy is being managed directly by the Hall & Wilcox Talent Acquisition team. We will contact our preferred agency partners should we require any assistance.