Senior Associate/ Principal Associate - Insurance

Mills & Reeve; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Mills & Reeve in Birmingham seeks a Senior Associate/Principal Associate to join its Insurance Disputes team, handling day-to-day complex insurance disputes with a focus on professional indemnity, coverage and regulatory defence.

You will work closely with partners, take ownership of key workstreams, supervise junior lawyers, and maintain direct client contact, with clear opportunities for business development.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' PQE in a leading insurance law firm
• Strong expertise in insurance coverage
• Experience in liability defence (including professional indemnity) is helpful
• Experience acting for insurers/reinsurers
• Ability to run matters with appropriate supervision and confidence
• Experience supervising and developing junior lawyers
• Strong communication skills and commercial judgment
• Proactive approach with a focus on client development

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of matters and client relationships
• Supervise and develop junior lawyers
• Contribute to business development and client engagement
• Build your profile within a national disputes team
• Manage insurance disputes and high‑value matters

Skills

Insurance law

Professional indemnity

Coverage disputes

Client relationship management

Supervising juniors

Business development

Commercial judgment

Proactive client development

Job description

Senior Associate/ Principal Associate - Insurance (0644)

We are looking to recruit an insurance disputes lawyer to join our Insurance Disputes team as a Senior or Principal Associate.

The role

You will be involved in the day‑to‑day delivery of complex insurance dispute advice, with a primary (but not exclusive) focus on professional indemnity, professional discipline and coverage work. Matters often involve multi‑party and high value claims.

You will work closely with partners, but with real autonomy — taking ownership of key workstreams, managing associates, and maintaining direct client contact. Your work is likely to span:

• Policy interpretation and complex coverage disputes across a range of classes
• Liability defence work including professional indemnity
• Professional regulatory defence

This is a genuinely senior role. You will be expected to:

• Take ownership of matters and client relationships
• Supervise and develop junior lawyers
• Strongly contribute to business development and client engagement
• Build your profile within a significant and well respected national team

The person

• 5+ years' PQE (or equivalent experience) at a leading insurance law firm
• Strong technical expertise in insurance coverage.
• Experience of liability defence (including professional indemnity) is helpful but not essential
• Experience acting for insurers and/or reinsurers
• The ability to run matters with appropriate supervision and confidence
• Experience supervising and developing junior lawyers
• Strong communication skills and commercial judgment
• A proactive approach, with an interest in client development

We are particularly interested in candidates who bring deep expertise in at least one core coverage area, alongside the flexibility to support across others as required.

The activities

This role offers genuine scope to take ownership within an established and well regarded disputes practice that is seeing increasing instructions on complex and high‑value matters.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Work directly with leading insurer and reinsurer clients
• Build your profile within the Market
• Play a meaningful role in the growth of the practice
• Develop your career over time

There is also scope for the right candidate to contribute to the development of new or adjacent lines of business over time.

The benefits

As you'd expect, we offer a competitive salary and a wide range of benefits.

If we offer you a role, we will conduct comprehensive pre-employment screening. This screening will include, but is not limited to, a basic DBS, verification of your right to work, a three year employment history and a self-declaration to assess your character and suitability for the role. Full details of our pre-screening employment process are available upon request.

Use of AI during the recruitment process

Technology is changing rapidly and we are all increasingly using AI software in our day to day lives, as well as using it to support our learning and professional development.

Here at Mills & Reeve, we embrace the use of technology and AI and we recognise that candidates may use AI tools to support their applications. As a regulated industry, we expect candidates to use such tools responsibly, honestly and in a manner that allows us to make a fair and accurate assessment of their individual skills, experience and suitability for the role.

The firm

At Mills & Reeve, our 1,450 plus people and over 850 lawyers share one vision – achieve more together. It's a state of mind in every client relationship we start and every choice we make. And it's what clients consistently say distinguishes us from your average law firm.

You can expect a close and attentive working relationship with a team that's responsive when you need them. You'll receive advice tailored to your individual needs. Wherever in the world you or your business needs support, we'll draw on our network to give recommendations.

We're driven by our values – we're ambitious, we're open, we care and we collaborate. We embrace new ideas, communicate honestly and are easy to work with. We're committed to you, our planet, our communities and each other.

We've been listed in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work list as one of the best big organisations, and we've recently been reaccredited Platinum Investors in People status – a standard achieved by only 8% of assessed organisations.

And finally

Everyone at Mills & Reeve brings a unique perspective and ideas to the team and we do everything we can to help each person to thrive. We're committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment, are happy to consider flexible working arrangements, and want to achieve the right balance for both our people and the firm. We encourage everyone to ask if they feel they need any workplace adjustments, and will do our best to support with these.

Office:

Birmingham, Leeds, London, Manchester, Norwich