Associate / Senior Associate / Legal Director

Associate / Senior Associate / Legal Director

Social Housing, Bristol

Main information

Term type:

Permanent

Department:

Social Housing

Location:

Bristol

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

Our Social Housing team sits within our wider Real Estate Division and advises registered providers, local authorities, housebuilders and public sector bodies on the full lifecycle of affordable housing. The team is recognised nationally for its depth of expertise and its market leading presence across the Eastern Region, London and the South East.

The team provides a fully integrated service covering affordable housing development, regeneration and acquisitions, housing management and litigation, asset and leasehold management, shared ownership and Right to Buy. Clients receive seamless support across planning, construction, employment, corporate, funding and public sector work, enabling the team to handle complex and high value projects efficiently and commercially.

With over 50 dedicated fee earners, including specialist partners and legal directors, the team acts for more than 100 registered provider clients and 30 local authorities, as well as many of the UK’s leading housebuilders. The team is known for handling sensitive and high-risk matters, including disrepair, building safety, anti-social behaviour and fire safety issues, alongside large-scale development and regeneration schemes.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a highly regarded and collaborative team that works with a broad range of housing providers, local authorities and other public sector organisations on matters that make a genuine impact on communities across the UK

The work you will be doing

As part of our continued growth strategy, we are looking to strengthen our Social Housing team in Bristol and are keen to hear from talented lawyers across a variety of levels, from Associate through to Legal Director.

Depending on your level of experience, you will have the opportunity to:

• Advise housing association and registered provider clients on a broad range of social housing matters, specifically defending disrepair claims, progressing possession and injunction proceedings for breach of tenancy and dealing with service charge disputes in the First-Tier Tribunal.
• Manage your own caseload and client relationships.
• Support complex and strategic projects within the sector.
• Work closely with colleagues across our various teams and sector groups.
• Play an active role in business development and client engagement initiatives.
• Contribute to mentoring and developing junior members of the team.
• Help shape the continued growth and success of our Bristol practice.

If you are looking to join a leading Social Housing team and help shape the future of our Bristol practice, we would love to hear from you.

What we are looking for

We are interested in hearing from qualified solicitors who have experience in social housing or related practice areas and who are looking for their next career step.

You will ideally demonstrate:

• Strong technical and commercial legal skills.
• Experience advising clients within the social housing sector.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building abilities.
• A proactive and collaborative approach to client service.
• Strong organisational and matter management skills.
• A genuine interest in the challenges and opportunities facing the housing sector.
• For more senior candidates, experience of developing client relationships, supervising junior lawyers and contributing to business development activities will be advantageous.

Hybrid Working

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. This role attracts a split of 60% office days and 40% working from home days per week.

We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and part-time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application.

As a Birketts colleague, you will be eligible to receive a wide range of benefits:

• Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme
• Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance

At Birketts, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth.

Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or sexual orientation.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates, and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI)

At Birketts, we recognise the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal profession and recruitment. We welcome innovation and understand that candidates may use AI tools to support their job applications. However, we expect all applicants to use AI responsibly and ethically.

Our expectations regarding AI use in applications:

• Your application should reflect your own voice, experiences, and insights. AI may assist in structuring or refining your responses, but it must not replace your personal input.
• Do not use AI to misrepresent your qualifications, experiences, or skills. Any form of exaggeration or fabrication may result in rejection from the process.
• If you have used AI tools to assist with your application, be prepared to discuss how and why you used them during the interview process.
• Do not submit content generated by AI tools that may include personal or sensitive data not intended for public disclosure.
• AI-generated content should be reviewed and edited by you to ensure accuracy, relevance, and alignment with the role and our firm’s values.

We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment practices. The use of AI should enhance, not compromise, your application. We encourage candidates to demonstrate critical thinking, commercial awareness, and a genuine interest in our firm.

If you have any questions about our expectations or the use of AI in your application, please contact our Talent Acquisition Team via

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