Employment Associate / Senior Associate

Think Legal Recruitment; Bradford; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

No hourly targets

Bonus on collections

Hybrid working

Client exposure

Room to develop practice

Supportive environment

Job summary

Think Legal Recruitment in Leeds is seeking an Employment Solicitor with 4+ PQE to join a growing specialist employment practice. You'll work on a busy mix of respondent tribunal matters and advisory work, with genuine responsibility and direct client contact.

The role offers hybrid working with around two days in the Leeds office, a supportive team, and a clear path to develop your own client relationships. There is a generous bonus structure based on collections and no chargeable hours targets.

Qualifications

• 4+ years' PQE in employment law
• Strong respondent employment tribunal litigation background
• Comfortable with both contentious and advisory work
• Autonomy in a small, hands-on environment

Responsibilities

• Manage respondent employment tribunal claims and run your own caseload
• Provide day-to-day employment law advice to established commercial clients
• Advise on settlement agreements, policies and procedures
• Support clients with redundancy exercises and wider employment projects
• Develop relationships with existing clients and act as a key part of the legal team

Job description

Employment Associate / Senior Associate | 4+ PQE | Leeds

Good clients, quality employment work, genuine responsibility and the opportunity to build something of your own.

An opportunity for an experienced Employment Solicitor to join a growing specialist employment practice in Leeds.

This is a slightly different proposition to the usual move between larger law firms. You'll be joining a close-knit employment team with an established client base, plenty of work coming through the door and partners who are keen to give good lawyers the responsibility and opportunity to develop.

The firm has built some excellent client relationships, including a number of substantial national and international businesses. The work is varied, although there is a particularly strong respondent employment tribunal litigation offering for someone who enjoys getting stuck into contentious matters.

And importantly, this isn't a role where you'll be expected to sit behind the scenes doing the work while someone else manages the client relationship.

The work

There is a healthy flow of employment work across a broad client base, including:

• Managing respondent employment tribunal claims, with the opportunity to run your own caseload.

• Providing day-to-day employment law advice to established commercial clients.

• Advising on settlement agreements, policies and procedures.

• Supporting clients with redundancy exercises and wider employment projects.

• Developing relationships with existing clients and becoming an increasingly important part of their legal support.

You'll have access to good-quality clients and the opportunity to get involved in client calls, meetings and relationship management.

Why consider it?

There are a few things that make this opportunity worth a closer look.

• No hourly targets. The firm operates billing targets rather than the traditional chargeable hours model. There is no culture of presenteeism or chasing people to make up their hours.

• A genuinely attractive bonus structure. The bonus is based on collections, with 20% paid on fees billed and collected above your annual target.

• Good clients. An established portfolio of substantial businesses, with interesting and often high-volume employment work.

• Client exposure. You'll have the opportunity to work directly with clients, attend meetings and develop relationships rather than simply being the person doing the work in the background.

• Room to develop your own practice. The partners are supportive of people who want to build their own client following and develop their profile in the market.

• Real responsibility. The team is growing and the partners want to delegate more work to capable lawyers. There is scope to take ownership of matters and become a trusted part of the client team.

• A supportive environment. A relatively small team where people work closely together, share ideas and are encouraged to develop.

What are they looking for?

Ideally, you'll be an Employment Solicitor with around 4+ years' PQE, although the firm is more interested in the quality of your experience and what you can bring than an arbitrary PQE figure.

You’ll need a good grounding in respondent employment tribunal litigation and the confidence to manage your own matters, with support from experienced partners when needed.

Someone who enjoys the contentious side of employment law but is also happy getting involved in the wider advisory work would be particularly well suited.

You’ll also need to be comfortable working in a smaller, hands‑on environment. It's an opportunity for someone who values autonomy, responsibility and client contact rather than a large‑firm structure with layers of support.

The package and working environment

• Competitive salary, depending on experience.

• 20% bonus on collections above realistic and achievable annual billing target.

• No chargeable hours targets.

• Hybrid working, with an expectation of around two days a week in the Leeds office.

• Genuine scope to develop your own client relationships and practice.