Real Estate Lawyer (Private Development Team)

Winckworth Sherwood is one of the UK’s leading property law firms. We act for ultra-high net worth investors/family offices, major property companies, the Country's top developers and funders and major corporate occupiers across a full range of real estate transactions, in all the major property sectors. Real Estate is the core of the Firm and drives business across a number of practice areas. 

Our Private Developer Team focus on acting for private residential developers, (a key component of the real estate client base) and as a result, you will have exposure to working for some of the largest property developers in the UK. The Real Estate team consists of 13 partners, a practice development lawyer, with additional support provided by a further 20 additional fee-earners, trainees and a paralegal. The Private Developer Team sits within Real Estate. 

The role would see you working across:

• Site acquisition work
• Disposal work
• Management work (assisting members of the team with ad hoc enquiries from existing clients technical
• and management teams).

The role would also see you:

• Liaising with tax, corporate, planning, construction, and litigation lawyers as required.
• Have regular client contact.

If you have:

• Experience working as a Solicitor/Associate in a reputable real estate team
• Some experience and/or an understanding of private development work (which would be desirable) and
• A willingness to learn and grab opportunities as they arise, we would love to hear from you!

You should also thrive on solving complex problems and balancing multiple tasks at once, whilst leaning into your team for support and guidance. In return, you will have the opportunity to work on large scale London/national housing developments and learn from a group of highly experienced senior lawyers and partners who are recognised within the private housing development sector for their expertise.

Winckworth Sherwood is an exciting, diverse, and growing business. We are a full-service law firm with an unusually wide client base, that prides itself on providing market-leading  advice across a broad range of sectors and markets. We have particular market leading profile and expertise in various real estate markets, clients orientated around social enterprise and private wealth. Delivering a first-class service is key to everything we do.

Our clients range from some of the UK’s largest businesses and institutions, housebuilders and developers through to investors, professional partnerships, family offices, the government, not for profit organisations and private individuals – all of which benefit from the flexible, practical approach of our lawyers.

Our people are fundamental to our success and we are committed to their development and well-being. We encourage a healthy work-life balance and flexibility, keeping our people motivated and stimulated to deliver great things.

Application review

Your profile will be screened by a member of the WS recruitment team. If you CV is shortlisted, you will be invited to have a short call with our Recruitment Manager, Ash Evans, to discuss your interest in the vacancy. No AI is used in our application screening process! Every candidate who applies to this role will be told if they have been successful or not in moving to the next stage.

1st interview (via Teams/in person at our London office)

This will be with two of the teams Partners, who will discuss your interest in the role, what you are looking for professionally, and ask some competency/behavioural questions that relate to the key skills/behaviours needed for this position.

Every candidate who reaches this stage will be offered the chance to have a feedback call with our Recruitment Manager to understand why they weren't progressed to the next interview stage, so that you can use this feedback to help with other job applications.

2nd interview (in person at our London office)

At this stage, you will sit a 30 minute technical assessment, which you will then discuss with two more partners from the team. They will discuss your technical experience in more detail, discuss some of the real estate property transactions you have been involved in and provide addtional insight the type of work the private development team carry out. This is also a good opportunity to ask any final role/firm specific questions.

Every candidate who reaches this stage will be offered the chance to have a feedback call with our Recruitment Manager to understand why they weren't offered the position, so that you can use this feedback to help with other job applications.

Offer of employment

If you are successful and accept our offer of employment, we will submit your details to our background screening company (Giant), who will conduct a series of background checks. Once these have been completed and we have separately validated your proof of right to work in the UK, a start date can be agreed, and your onboarding schedule can be planned.