Solicitor - Asbestos and Occupational Disease Team (6270)

IRWIN MITCHELL; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday allowance

Pension schemes

Volunteering days

Westfield Health

Job summary

Irwin Mitchell seeks a passionate Solicitor (1–5 years PQE) to join the Asbestos and Occupational Disease Team in Manchester or Sheffield. You will work on a high quality caseload, collaborating with colleagues across our Newcastle and Leeds offices with support from regional partners.

This role involves handling asbestos-related and respiratory conditions, taking ownership of litigated matters, and assisting senior colleagues on high-value cases while delivering exceptional client service

Qualifications

• 1–5 years’ PQE with asbestos/occupational disease experience.
• The ability to work with empathy and integrity.
• Experience managing your own caseload while assisting Partners on high-value cases.
• An enthusiastic commitment to this area of law and achieving the best outcomes for clients.
• An aptitude for business development and building strong client and referrer relationships.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including high‑quality drafting and detailed legal research.

Responsibilities

• Work on a high quality and rewarding caseload, collaborating with colleagues across offices.

Skills

Empathy & integrity

Caseload management

Business development

Communication

Drafting

Legal research

Client relationships

Job description

Overview

We’re a national law firm with a local reach. Our legal experts are here for you. We understand that everyone’s situation is different, and we’re more than just a law firm—we’re a team helping individuals and businesses navigate life’s ups and downs. Working here you’ll feel part of a friendly and inclusive environment. We value you for who you are and what you bring, support each other, and push boundaries to achieve incredible things and make a real difference to our clients and communities. We’re committed to supporting colleagues to work in a way that works best for them and everyone else, including clients, the business and regulators. For more information, please speak to a member of our Recruitment and Onboarding team.

Your Role and What You\'ll Be Doing

We have an exciting opportunity for a passionate Solicitor (1–5 years PQE) to join our Asbestos and Occupational Disease Team in Sheffield or Manchester. In this role you will work on a high quality and rewarding caseload, collaborating closely with colleagues across our Newcastle and Leeds offices with support from regional partners. You’ll join a highly respected specialist disease practice working with clients diagnosed with a wide spectrum of asbestos-related and non-asbestos respiratory conditions, including mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, pleural thickening, occupational asthma, silicosis and other workplace-related respiratory illnesses.

This is an exciting opportunity to enhance your litigation skills while taking ownership of your own litigated caseload, as well as assisting senior colleagues on high-value or complex matters. You’ll work closely with clients and their families at difficult moments in their lives, ensuring they receive exceptional advice and the highest standard of support throughout their claim.

About You

You will work closely with clients, providing exceptional legal advice to achieve the best possible outcomes. You will have the opportunity to manage a varied and interesting caseload and will play a key role in securing justice for clients and making a meaningful difference in their lives. You will have the confidence to hit the ground running and the ability to manage litigated cases independently.

• 1–5 years’ PQE with some Asbestos and Occupational Disease experience
• The ability to work with empathy and integrity
• Experience managing your own caseload, while also assisting Partners and senior team members on high-value cases
• An enthusiastic commitment to this area of law and achieving the best outcomes for clients
• An aptitude for business development and a passion for building strong client and referrer relationships
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including high-quality drafting and detailed legal research

Our Benefits

• 25 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays — you can buy up to 35 hours of extra holiday
• Generous and flexible pension schemes
• Volunteering days – Two days of volunteering every year for a cause of your choice (fully paid)
• Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside Aviva Digital GP services

We also offer a wide range of well-being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace and to provide support. This includes our Flexible by Choice programme which gives colleagues more choice over a hybrid way of working, subject to role, team and client requirements.

We have been ranked in the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing for Large Organisations for 2024.

Additional Information

As part of the Irwin Mitchell Group’s onboarding process, all successful applicants are required to complete the group’s employment screening process to ensure applicants meet our standards in relation to honesty and integrity, protecting the interests of the Group, colleagues, clients, partners and other stakeholders. We carry out pre-employment screening to establish eligibility to work in the UK, criminal records and financial checks with trusted third parties. The employment screening process will fully comply with Data Protection and other applicable laws. Irwin Mitchell LLP is an equal opportunity employer.