Associate

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

This role sits in the Corporate Team within the Corporate Services Division.

The Corporate Team is a nationally recognised and highly regarded team which includes over 60 fee earners, and 19 partners, many of whom are recommended in the latest Legal 500 rankings, often in the Hall of Fame category. The Team is enjoying substantial growth, resulting in the need for extra resource to take forward ambitious plans for the future.

The Team’s size and expertise mean we advise entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital funds, financial institutions, owner-managed and privately owned businesses, as well as international investors and public companies, all at different stages of the business life-cycle from start-ups through to mergers and acquisitions, buy-outs and buy-ins, development capital fundraisings, EOT transactions, institutional sales/purchases, and management buyouts, to refinancing and exits. We are also highly experienced in international corporate transactions and work with a range of overseas law firms on cross-border transactions.

The Corporate Team includes specialist private equity, venture capital, reorganisations, capital markets and incentives/EOT sub teams, and also benefits from working closely with other service lines in the Corporate Services Division, such as the Banking & Finance, Corporate Tax, Company Secretarial and Commercial and Technology teams.

The Team enjoys the resources of two dedicated professional support lawyers, as well as know-how resources such as FromCounsel and Practical Law, and document automation products such as Clarilis. The Team has a Corporate Innovation Group, evaluating and developing innovation ideas and the adoption of new technologies, including AI, to improve efficiencies and the client experience.

We play a leading role in several firm wide sector specialisms, including our Energy and Infrastructure Team, Food and Beverages Team, Independent Healthcare Team, Private Equity Team, Hospitality & Leisure Team, Transport & Logistics Team, and Automotive Team, amongst others.

The work you will be doing

You will assist the team to advise clients on acquisitions, mergers and disposals of companies and businesses (including international transactions), investments, joint ventures and restructurings as well as shareholder agreements and general corporate governance. You will be assisting with the drafting and review of legal documents, preparing corporate ancillary documents and undertaking, co-ordinating and reviewing due diligence exercises.

As such, your work would include:

• drafting, negotiating and agreeing primary and ancillary documentation for corporate transactions


• undertaking legal research


• providing support to the fee earners in the Corporate Team


• managing your own transactions and files


• liaising with other Team members on larger and more complex transactions


• liaising with members of other teams in the firm, on due diligence and other aspects of transactions


• interacting directly with clients


• attending and participating in meetings with clients, intermediaries and other law firms


• attending business development events


• providing an efficient, professional and friendly service to clients.

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

We are seeking a corporate solicitor, with experience of working on corporate transactions, ideally within a regional, national or City corporate team.

Candidates will need to have:

• a good knowledge of Company law, and the ability to use precedents and know-how resources


• experience of corporate transactions


• strong attention to detail to produce documentation which is consistently of a high standard


• commercial awareness


• a flexible approach to work to ensure client deadlines are always met


• the ability to communicate regularly with clients and intermediaries


• the ability to work with other team members, and to delegate to, and supervise trainees and junior team members


• the ability to record time promptly and accurately


• ownership of personal financial performance, demonstrating accountability and a commercial mindset


• awareness of, and attention to, regulatory requirements such as client onboarding requirements and anti-money laundering requirements


• a willingness to adopt and explore AI and technology innovation in line with the Team’s technology strategy


• an interest in and an aptitude towards business development

Prior experience and/or knowledge of any of the firm’s sector specialisms, or the Corporate Team’s specialist practice areas, such as private equity, venture capital, capital markets and reorganisations is beneficial, but not a requirement.

Birketts has designed a 'Talent Management Framework' which provides a career structure that will help us develop, retain and reward talented people. As an Associate, we typically expect candidates to have between 3-6 years PQE.

• Applies strong legal and commercial judgement, researches precedents effectively, and drafts complex documents with appropriate senior guidance


• Manages time recording, billing support and workload efficiently to meet financial targets and maximise fee recoveryAct

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