Senior Associate / Legal Director in Ipswich - Birketts LLP

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 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

The Birketts Commercial Real Estate Team is one of the best regarded and largest dedicated real estate teams within any firm outside of London, with over 200 lawyers across the firm as a whole. Our property lawyers are particularly experienced in dealing with development and investment, planning, secured lending and landlord and tenant matters. We are increasingly advising high value, high profile transactions and clients.

Our lawyers come from a range of backgrounds, including major City practices, other major national and regional firms, industry and local government and include individuals with construction, planning and commercial expertise. The depth and range of expertise means the team can work together in major and complex transactions and provide a sector based offering for our clients which offers true value for money.

Our Ipswich Commercial Real Estate Team  comprises around 25 colleagues with extensive combined experience.. It is a well established, collegiate team with an impressive client base at the heart of the firm, offering plenty of opportunity and support for career development.

The work you will be doing

The ideal candidate will possess experience in the following areas:

• Conditional and unconditional acquisitions and disposals
• Portfolio acquisitions, disposals and management
• Secured lending transactions for lenders and borrowers

Acting for landlords and tenants across multiple sectors in relation to:

• Leases
• Surrenders
• Conditional and unconditional agreements for lease
• Management matters such as licences to assign, alter etc
• Residential Development and Commercial Development work, including land assembly options and overage agreements.
• Supporting the firm’s corporate team with the real estate aspects of their share and asset sales and purchase

As a Senior Associate/Legal Director at Birketts, you will also be responsible for:

• Ensuring client needs are met with the highest standard of professionalism and efficiency
• Maintaining and growing client relationships and contributing to the strategic direction and success of the firm.
• Leading and mentoring junior lawyers, fostering a collaborative and supportive work environment.
• Participating in networking events, conferences and other business development activities to promote the firm’s services.
• Embracing and encouraging adoption of developing technology, including appropriate AI initiatives.

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

To join our Commercial Real Estate team, we are seeking a candidate who is a solicitor with ideally 7+ years’ PQE experience gained within a well-regarded city, regional or national firm with a well-developed knowledge in all areas of commercial real estate law. 

The successful candidate will have an excellent knowledge of the law yet be able to think commercially and analytically so as to provide accurate and practical advice tailored to the needs of our clients.

You will also be expected to play an active role in marketing and practice development as well as providing a high level of service to existing clients. 

Qualifications/Experience:

• Strong academic background
• 7 years’+ PQE gained within a strong regional, national or City firm
• A high attention to detail to produce work/ documentation which is consistently of a high standard
• A flexible approach to work to ensure client deadlines are always met and clients are communicated with on a consistent and regular basis.
• Interest in and aptitude for business development, including a sector based approach
• A potential client base or established network (together with a drive to explore those opportunities)
• A good understanding of the latest developments in technology and AI in the legal market and an aptitude for harnessing that potential

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.

Benefits

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

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays 
• Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme 
• Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
• Paid CSR Day
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Subsidised gym membership
• Electric car scheme
• Dress for your Day Policy

You can find out more on our website: https://recognition-reward-benefits/

Inclusivity and Culture

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 achi