Solicitor/Associate

Birketts LLP; Norwich; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Long Service holiday award

Private Healthcare with BUPA

Staff Profit Share and Individual Per­

Salary sacrifice (Pensions)

Life Assurance - 4 x salary

Job summary

Birketts invites applications for a Property Disputes role within its team serving Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge, Chelmsford and surrounding areas. The role involves drafting tenancy agreements, advising on occupancy, serving notices and handling possession options within the private rented sector.

The successful candidate will manage a residential letting caseload under supervision, perform time recording, and contribute to client service with strong research and communication skills.

Qualifications

• Law degree or equivalent experience.
• Interest in residential lettings/private rented sector.
• Ability to undertake legal work requiring technical and procedural understanding.
• Competence in accurately recording time and understanding chargeable work.
• Strong legal research and investigative skills.
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to analyse information and present findings clearly and precisely.
• Strong attention to detail to produce work documentation of consistently high standard.
• Professional integrity and commitment to client service.
• Competence in using Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and digital dictation.

Responsibilities

• Drafting and reviewing tenancy agreements and advising on occupational arrangements.
• Drafting, reviewing and serving notices.
• Advising on possession options and relevant legislation to the private rented sector.
• Preparing and reviewing pleadings, witness statements, and settlement documents.
• Preparing instructions to Counsel and conducting legal research.
• Keeping up to date with legislative changes in the sector.
• Attending court hearings, mediations, and negotiations as appropriate.
• Manage a caseload of residential letting matters under supervision.
• Attending appropriate business development opportunities.
• Working to deadlines and maintaining accurate time-costing procedures.

Skills

Legal research

Time recording

Attention to detail

Written communication

Verbal communication

Residential lettings

Case management

Organisational skills

Professional integrity

MS Office (Word, Excel)

Education

Law degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Outlook

Case management software

Digital dictation

Time recording software

Job description

Property Disputes, Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Sevenoaks

Main information

Term type:

Permanent

Department:

Property Disputes

Location:

About us

Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals and over 600 staff based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.

We are defined by our Next Level Law proposition. We work with our clients as a proactive partner, horizon scanning and thinking ahead to the changes, challenges or opportunities that they may face.

Next Level Law is also applied to our people. Our collegiate culture means everyone is encouraged to achieve their next level in everything they do. RollOnFriday recently ranked us as the 6th best law firm to work at in 2026.

With our ambition to succeed, comes a strong desire to make a positive contribution to the communities we serve, and we are committed to delivering the objectives set out in our ESG strategy. Diversity plays an integral part in all that we do, with female partners comprising 45% of our partnership.

The team you will join

Our Property Disputes Team sits within our wider Dispute Resolution Division and acts for a wide range of clients including private individuals, partnerships, trusts, registered social landlords and corporate clients in both the public and private sectors.

The work you will be doing

• Drafting and reviewing tenancy agreements and advising on occupational arrangements
• Drafting, reviewing and serving notices
• Advising on possession options and implications of relevant legislation to the private rented sector
• Preparing and reviewing pleadings, witness statements, and settlement documents.
• Preparing instructions to Counsel
• Conducting legal research and preparing clear, concise advice notes for clients and senior team members
• Keeping up to date with legislative changes in the sector
• Attending court hearings, mediations, and negotiations as appropriate.
• Manage a caseload of residential letting matters, working under supervision of experienced solicitors
• Attending appropriate business development opportunities
• Working to deadlines
• Maintaining accurate time-costing procedures
• Ensuring compliance with file management
• Proactively support other members of the team and to provide cover as and when necessary

Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.

What we are looking for

• Law degree or equivalent experience
• Demonstrable interest in and/or knowledge of relevant law and legal procedure relating to residential lettings/private rented sector
• Ability to undertake legal work requiring technical and procedural understanding
• Competence in accurately recording time and understanding chargeable work
• Strong legal research and investigative skills
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to analyse information and present findings clearly and precisely
• Strong attention to detail to produce work documentation which is consistently of a high standard
• Professional integrity and a commitment to providing excellent client service
• To be competent in using Microsoft Word, Excel, time recording software, case management, Outlook and digital dictation

Hybrid Working

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. This role attracts a split of 60% office days and 40% working from home days per week.

We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and part-time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application.

As a Birketts colleague, you will be eligible to receive a wide range of benefits:

• Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme
• Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance

Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or sexual orientation.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates, and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.