Immigration Associate

Job Summary

We are a “top 100”, London-based law firm with around 200 highly regarded specialist solicitors and lawyers.  We advise a mix of commercial, not-for-profit, regulatory and private clients.
Our immigration team has a need for a c.3 year PQE immigration solicitor to advise on a broad mix of business immigration and private client immigration matters.

Immigration specialism

Our immigration team has been legal directory rated for more than 10 years and advises on almost all areas of UK immigration law as it relates to businesses and individuals, including advising on:
•    Sponsorship based visa applications
•    Licensing as a sponsor with the Home Office and ongoing compliance with the sponsorship regime
•    Immigration routes by which entrepreneurs and business people can establish UK companies and secure residence in the UK
•    Immigration compliance audits
•    British citizenship and indefinite leave to remain/settlement applications
•    Family and dependency based visa applications
•    Challenging unlawful Home Office decisions
•    Immigration issues arising from corporate transactions and administrations
•    Immigration issues arising from adoption and surrogacy 
•    Visitor visas

Career development

This is a rare opportunity for an enthusiastic junior associate who wants to step up to a collegiate and friendly team in which they:
•    Will be given significant client facing and hands on responsibility from the offset
•    Will be trusted to “run with” their own cases, with only as much supervision as is required depending on their ability and experience etc
•    Can make a real impact within an established and ranked team
•    Will be given a good platform on which to progress their careers and profiles
This role also offers (in time) good potential for a junior associate to become legal directory noted and/or ranked in their own right and to occasionally travel to business development related events held outside the UK.   
All our lawyers benefit from our career development programme. We understand the importance of building an internal network and have developed a cohort program to help our lawyers to work together across practice areas and share their knowledge, experiences and networks.

Desired technical skills and expertise

We are looking for an immigration lawyer with the following skills/experience:
•    c.3 years’ experience of advising both businesses (including large multinationals) and individuals on the full range of UK immigration law and someone who is strong in both areas and keen to continue advising on both 
•    Experience of working (for at least 2 - 3 years) within a leading legal directory rated immigration team that is noted for both business and personal immigration work
•    Experience of supporting other law firms and their clients with immigration matters
•    Self-starter and strong internal drive 
•    Proactive and sophisticated management of a mixed caseload to make the legal advice process as smooth and seamless as possible for clients and referrers
•    Sophisticated client service delivery 
•    Keen to take an active role in marketing and business development
•    Friendly and collegiate personality
•    Ability to “run with” large business and complex individual immigration matters with minimal supervision
•    Maintains good relationships with other team members
•    Strong intellect
•    Past supervision experience would be a bonus, e.g. supervising trainees and/or paralegals
•    Strong billing history and financial management skills, including regularly billing their own files
•    First rate accuracy, technical and legal drafting skills 

Qualifications

UK qualified solicitor.
Strong academics are essential, including at least a 2:1 degree from a Russell Group or other leading university, a commendation on the LPC (and if applicable a law conversion) or equivalent and at least A, A, B (or close) grades at A’ Level or equivalent.
Agile working
Our team is based in the Putney office and our firm has an agile working policy, under which (currently) the equivalent of two days a week can be spent working at home subject to client/department needs etc.

Your career development

Russell-Cooke’s lawyers are rounded professional advisers with strong commercial awareness and a commitment to exceeding client expectations. All our lawyers benefit from our cohort based career development programme. We understand the importance of building an internal network and have developed this excellent cohort programme to allow our lawyers to work together across practice areas and share their knowledge, experiences and networks.
At each stage of your career, and as you move through the cohorts, a bespoke training programme will be provided to support you with your development and progression.

Salary and benefits

We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits.
For more information or to apply (hyperlink to portal).

We welcome direct applications. If you would like any further information about the firm please contact a member of the HR team.
We have a diverse workforce and aim to attract high calibre applicants that reflect the demography of our geographical location and client base. Individuals will be employed solely on merit and the requirement of the position. No applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of sex, race, marital status, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender Identity or religion. Reasonable adjustments will be made to eliminate or reduce disadvantage.