Solicitor

We’re a national law firm with a local reach. Our philosophy is ‘we're legal and financial experts that care’ – something you’ll find in the way we work with our clients and how we support our teams. But we’re more than just a law firm – we’re a team of people working together to help individuals and businesses navigate life’s ups and downs. Working here you’ll feel a part of our friendly and inclusive environment.

We’ll value you for who you are and what you bring. We support each other and push boundaries to achieve incredible things and make a real difference to our clients and communities.

We're always looking to support our colleagues to work in a way that works best for them and everyone else, including our clients, the business and the regulators. Please speak to one of our Talent Acquisition team for more information.

Your Role and What You'll Be Doing

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Solicitor to join our Public Law and Human Rights department, working in our Civil Liberties special interest group. The successful candidate will have experience in civil liberties, public law, and human rights, with a particular focus on cases involving the protection of individual freedoms and rights.

We are seeking a solicitor to be based in any of our regional offices (Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Gatwick, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Southampton). We work as a national department collaboratively across all offices and can offer opportunities to relocate during your career.

We are ranked by the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners in Civil Liberties and Human Rights, Police Law (Claimant), and Administrative Law, and have a number of lawyers with individual rankings.

You will be a solicitor experienced in any area of Civil Liberties but in particular will have experience of bringing actions against the police, local authorities and inquests. You will run your own caseload and will be responsible for supervising junior colleagues. You will be commercially aware with an interest in business development and engaging with the media with the support of our press team where this is in the client’s interests.

Our Civil Liberties lawyers work closely with our public lawyers from other practice areas (health and social care, education, personal injury and court of protection) and have opportunities to bring human rights cases that arise within those. We offer clients a range of funding options including legal aid and conditional fee arrangements. We have the expertise to bring important and complex cases before the courts. Our lawyers are encouraged to develop their own areas of interest.

You’ll have the opportunity to get involved in an interesting and diverse caseload, right from the beginning you’ll play a key part in securing justice for our clients and making a real difference in their lives. You’ll have the confidence to hit the ground running and have the ability to work independently. Given the nature of the work, you’ll work with vulnerable clients, and your role will be highly rewarding, but you’ll have to be resilient and calm whilst also putting your client’s needs first at all times.

• Manage own caseload, while also assisting the partners and senior team members on High Value cases.
• Supervising junior colleagues and other potential management responsibilities.
• Developing relationships with appropriate groups and organisations to provide an exceptional client experience and generate new cases.
• Review cases and other relevant matters with supervisor to ensure quality legal advice is provided.

About You

• Ideally 4 - 8 years PQE with significant experience in public law and human rights, although we will consider applicants with 2 or 3 years PQE.
• Meet the requirements of a LAA CAPA contract supervisor (desirable)
• Proven experience of handling your own cases.
• A clear enthusiasm for this area of law and a commitment to securing the best outcomes for your clients whilst working under pressure.
• Operate independently and as part of a team to deliver the best outcomes for our clients and develop other team members.
• An ability to work with empathy and integrity.

Our Benefits - What We Can Offer You

• 25 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays - You can ‘buy’ up to 35hrs of extra holiday too.
• 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 our 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 make sure you’re fully supported. This includes our Flexible by Choice programme which gives our 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!

Our responsible business programmes are fundamental to who we are and our purpose. We’re committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where our colleagues can flourish, and we have established a number of inclusion network groups across our business to support this aim.

Our commitment to Social Responsibility, community investment activity and tackling climate change is a fundamental part of who we are. It’s made up of four strands: Our People, Our Community, Our Environment and Our Pro Bono.

Additional Information

As part of the Irwin Mitchell Group’s on-boarding process all successful applicants are required to complete the group’s employment screening process. This process helps to ensure that all new employees meet our standards in relation to honesty and integrity therefore protecting the interests of the Group, colleagues, clients, partners and other stakeholders.

We carry out pre employment screening to establish your eligibility to work in the UK, criminal record and financial checks ­with our trusted 3rd parties.

The employment screening process will fully comply with Data Protection and other applicable laws.

Irwin Mitchell LLP is an equal opportunity employer.