Employment Department – Senior Associate

The Firm

Payne Hicks Beach is a 45 partner firm of solicitors based in offices at 10 New Square, Lincoln’s Inn.  In total the firm comprises approximately 218 staff.  The firm provides specialist legal services to private and commercial clients.  We are best known for our family and private client work and are widely regarded as one of the very best of the small number of firms in the UK who provide these specialist services at the highest level.  We also have an excellent reputation in many other areas of law (rated in both Chambers and Legal 500).

Our offices are located in one of the finest squares in London, a building which the firm has occupied since 1770.

More information about the departments and the work of the firm may be found on our website, the address of which is www.phb.co.uk

The Team

The Employment Law Department currently consists of 3 Partners, 1 Legal Director, 4 Associates, 1 Legal Assistant and 1 Trainee Solicitor, as well as other support staff.

The Role

The role will be focused on advising on a wide range of employment issues, and undertaking a variety of contentious and non-contentious work including:

• Reorganisations ;
• Disciplinaries and grievances ;
• M&A transactional work, due diligence and corporate support;
• Drafting employment contracts, staff handbooks, consultancy agreements, NDAs, settlement agreements etc;
• TUPE;
• Employment status;
• Day to day advice on employment law issues; and
• Tribunal / Court work
• Some experience of Employment Tribunal process.
• A focus on having had experience in advising employer clients is essential.  Some experience in having advised individual clients would be helpful.
• Someone who is able to make decisions, advise clients and act with a degree of autonomy (with appropriate support).

The Individual

• Will possess 6-8 years’ PQE in employment law.
• Will have both contentious and non-contentious experience and ideally will have acted for both employers and senior employees.
• Will have strong academics
• Will have high quality training and experience
• Will be ambitious, technically strong, hard working, and a good team player.
• Will be confident and sociable as well as discrete when dealing directly with clients.

Personal skills

• Self motivated
• Strong communication skills
• Team player
• Ability to be proactive and reactive in addressing clients’ affairs and requirements
• Ability to help build upon the firm’s existing business
• Ability to get on well with the clients who cover a broad spectrum
• Achieve minimum time targets and billing requirements
• Ability to keep abreast with changes in legislation and market developments
• A practical working knowledge of IT
• Flexibility, dedication and ambition are essential attributes.