Associate / Senior 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 42% of our partnership.

The team you will join

Our Commercial Dispute Resolution (CDR) team works closely with clients to prevent disputes wherever possible; where disputes arise, we provide clear, pragmatic advice and pursue the best outcome as efficiently as the circumstances allow. We act for a broad client base, from owner-managed businesses to listed companies and multinational groups, often on matters with significant strategic or reputational impact.

We routinely conduct litigation in the High Court and the Court of Appeal, as well as domestic and international arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. The team also advises on cross-border dispute strategy, including jurisdiction and service issues, parallel proceedings, interim remedies, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments and awards.

The work you will be doing

We are seeking a talented Associate/Senior Associate to join our Commercial Dispute Resolution team at a leading national firm. You will work on complex, high-value disputes with both UK and international dimensions, supporting clients through strategically significant and often time-sensitive litigation, arbitration and ADR.

You’ll advise on disputes across a wide range of sectors (including manufacturing, technology, retail, professional services and financial services), acting for owner-managed businesses through to listed companies and multinational groups. The work includes High Court litigation and domestic and international arbitration, with a strong focus on early case assessment, dispute-avoidance strategy and delivering commercial outcomes.

You will be responsible for:

• Managing a caseload of complex commercial disputes with appropriate supervision, taking ownership of day-to-day strategy, deadlines and deliverables.

• Advising on a broad range of contentious matters, including contractual and supply chain disputes, shareholder and partnership disputes, professional negligence, contentious insolvency interfaces and other general commercial litigation.
• Drafting statements of case, witness statements, applications, instructions to counsel, and settlement/ADR documentation to a consistently high standard.
• Handling High Court and County Court matters, including pleadings, case management, interim applications and trial preparation.
• Supporting on domestic and international arbitration and other ADR processes, including mediations and without prejudice negotiations.
• Advising on cross-border dispute strategy where relevant, including jurisdiction and service issues, parallel proceedings, and recognition and enforcement considerations.
• Managing complex disclosure (including eDisclosure), working with platforms/providers as required and ensuring proportionality and compliance.
• Working closely with counsel and experts (including selection, briefing and review), and supporting partners on multi-party, high-value and/or reputationally sensitive disputes.
• Building strong client relationships, contributing to clear and pragmatic client reporting, and supporting matter budgeting and cost management.
• Contributing to business development and profile-raising, and supervising junior team members as appropriate (including delegation, feedback and knowledge-sharing).

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

• A strong disputes lawyer (ideally 3+ years PQE, but flexible depending on experience) with training and/or post-qualification experience in commercial litigation and/or arbitration.
• Experience of running complex matters with appropriate supervision, including managing case strategy, deadlines, stakeholder expectations and competing priorities.
• Sound working knowledge of the CPR and litigation process, including pleadings, disclosure, witness evidence, interim applications and trial preparation.
• Strong drafting skills across statements of case, applications, witness statements and advice notes; confident briefing counsel and preparing instructions.
• Experience of (or clear aptitude for) complex disclosure/eDisclosure and managing disclosure exercises proportionately and efficiently.

• Commercial judgement and a solutions-focused approach, including confidence advising on risk, quantum, settlement strategy and ADR options.
• Excellent client-handling skills, with a commitment to responsive, high-quality service and clear communication.
• For Senior Associate level: experience supervising and developing junior lawyers, delegating effectively, and contributing to team know-how/training.
• Evidence of contributing to business development (e.g., pitches, networking, client training, publications/articles or internal profile-raising).
• Comfortable with practice technology, including document management, case management, time recording, eDisclosure tools, Microsoft Office and Outlook.

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.