Real Estate Senior Associate (8+ years PQE)

Join a team that makes real changes

Bevan Brittan is a UK-Top 100 commercial law firm providing a comprehensive range of legal services from offices in Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, and London.

The firm advises businesses across construction, energy & resource management, higher education and financial services, complementing the firm's market leadership within housing, local government and health & social care.

We currently employ over 500 people, including over 80 Partners, and our award-winning teams provide construction, commercial, corporate, property, regulatory, employment and litigation (commercial and clinical negligence) legal advice.

Bevan Brittan is named among 'The Times Best Law Firms 2023' and has recently either won or been shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards.

We are driven by our 4 values: Relationships, Results, Reputation and Responsible. These give us a sense of purpose and ensure we always work collaboratively with clients and colleagues, continually improve, make the right choices and act with integrity.

Bevan Brittan is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds.

The Role

A vacancy has arisen within the Commercial Property team in our Leeds office. The role will involve working across various aspects of commercial property including investment, real estate finance, development and landlord & tenant, predominately in the private sector but with opportunity to work with the firms existing public sector clients.

The successful candidate will be an experienced commercial property solicitor able to take on and run an existing caseload with limited partner supervision. You would be joining a busy and expanding team and would have the chance to be part of, and help shape, our ambitious growth plans as a firm. There is significant potential for fast career development to partnership for the right candidate as part of the succession planning for an existing fee earner/s in the team.

This role will involve advising clients on the full range of commercial property matters, including:

• Acquisitions of residential and commercial development sites and overseeing any disposals from the post development phase
• Advising lenders in respect of real estate finance security work, undertaking property due diligence and feeding into banking CP lists
• Supporting our corporate team on property matters arising in corporate acquisitions and disposals and where necessary feeding into share purchase agreements and asset purchase agreements
• Sales and disposals of investment properties subject to leases
• Negotiation of commercial leases on behalf of institutional landlords and tenants

What we are looking for from you

The successful applicant will possess the following skills key to the role:

• Experience working across various types of commercial property work including investment, real estate finance, development and landlord & tenant
• This is a client facing role, therefore excellent communication skills with a professional approach to work is required
• Experience of working directly with clients and an ability to build strong interpersonal relationships
• Experience in bespoke drafting and legal analysis
• Enthusiastic outlook and a keenness to work collaboratively with colleagues at junior and senior levels
• Project management skills and the ability to work efficiently to meet deadlines
• A practical and commercial approach
• A genuine interest and experience in business development

Work-life Balance

We offer a substantial benefits package to all employees, which includes 25 days holiday (plus the option to buy up to an additional 5 days), a generous pension scheme and private medical insurance through Vitality (including "phone a GP service", discounted gym membership and 'Vitality' Partner discounts).

All of our people are entitled to a biennial private health assessment through Nuffield Health and are included in the group life assurance scheme. We also have an Employee Assistance Programme (free telephone support and counselling service) and a cycle scheme (Save Tax & NI on a bike for cycling to work).

Where possible, we want to offer all Bevan Brittan people flexibility to work their week in a way that suits them - we operate a hybrid working model based on the needs of our clients, teams and that of the individual. Our core business hours are 9am - 5:15pm Monday to Friday, however we are open to individuals working more flexibly around those times and would welcome a conversation with you if you have any questions.

Responsible Business

To us, being a responsible business is second nature; a core part of Bevan Brittan's identity, running through our culture and embodied by the clients we serve.

Bevan Brittan seeks to play an active role within its local office communities. Through regular fundraising events, support for local initiatives and annual charity donations at Christmas, we have established a culture of giving within the firm. In December 2021 we donated a total of £60,000 to our four regional office charities, with each charity receiving £15,000 to help fund their vital services.

Our current selected charity in Leeds is Maggie's Cancer Care.

We want to demonstrate our commitment to these causes through actions rather than words; colleagues from across the firm are already heavily involved, living and breathing the four pillars of our Responsible Business strategy:

• Community Engagement
• Environmental Sustainability
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
• Wellbeing

Collectively, these four pillars ensure we look after our colleagues' wellbeing; offer an environment in which all can progress on merit, regardless of personal circumstances or background; give something back to the communities in which we work; and protect the environment.

Bevan Brittan is proudly a carbon neutral firm. We have achieved the UN's Climate Neutral Now accreditation and our environmental sustainability plan is focussed on achieving our net zero carbon target.

Each lawyer has the opportunity to undertake pro bono legal work for local charities and not-for-profit organisations. This has seen colleagues support the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (Bristol), Moseley Road Swimming Baths (Birmingham), Yorkshire Cat Rescue (Leeds), Great Western Credit Union (London), and several others.