"Osborne Clarke has a genuinely national and international practice."– Chambers & Partners

We have an exciting new opportunity for an Associate to join our Commercial Disputes team in Bristol, rated by Chambers & Partners as a national leader outside London.

Whilst we encourage our Associates to maintain a broad focus of work, we are seeking candidates with an interest in the areas of technology and IP disputes.

Our Commercial Disputes practice

Our broader commercial disputes team has for many years worked on large national and international disputes, often with our colleagues in our overseas offices.  In the UK we work as one team across our London, Thames Valley & Bristol offices and get involved at all stages of a dispute, from the very early phases  – to help resolve issues commercially – through to heavyweight and strategic litigation.  This recruitment is to our Bristol office and in particular to the part of the team which has a focus on technology and IP disputes.

To give a flavour of the work our broader team handles, we are well known for dealing with disputes in a number of specialist areas including technology and telecoms, IP and brand protection, disputes arising from corporate and M&A transactions, banking and finance disputes, energy and natural resources disputes and international arbitration. 

We are prominent in disputes in our core sectors of Technology & Digital Business, Energy & Natural Resources, Transport and Automotive and Financial Services. This fantastic sector knowledge adds considerable value to our clients’ work. We have an 'A list' client base and are trusted to deal with significant disputes by many household names.

Find more about our commercial litigation practice using this link:

http://www.osborneclarke.com/services/disputes-resolution/commercial-litigation/    

The role

Whilst you will be flexible and relish the prospect of handling a varied caseload, we are looking for someone who has a genuine interest in being involved in technology and intellectual property issues, which are core to all our clients' businesses.  Experience in these areas would be welcome but is not essential.  A desire and drive to become involved and learn is however a pre-requisite!

You will work closely with partners and senior lawyers who will support and encourage your development.  We enjoy giving our Associates responsibility and facilitate this whilst at the same time ensuring that there is proper and positive supervision.

As part of our lawyer career development, at the appropriate time we encourage our Associates to focus on sectors which interest them.  This strengthens your ability to provide commercially focused advice to our clients and helps you form productive links with OC colleagues in other practice areas who are also involved in the relevant sector.

The team

Led by Chambers rated Tom Ellis (Partner), the UK team is made up of over 50 lawyers in total. In Bristol the team comprises 5 further Partners, 1 Legal Director, 1 Associate Director, 6 Senior Associates, 3 Associates and 1 Trainee Solicitor.  The line manager for this role is Clare Robinson, another of our Chambers and Legal 500 top band rated partners.

Technical skills and experience

Due to the nature of the practice, we are looking for evidence of a strong academic record and training ideally gained within a large regional or City Firm. As a guide, due to the nature of the work and the structure of the team, we are looking to appoint an Associate, although we will consider candidates with more or less experience.

Your career development

Like all our lawyers, you will benefit from our multi-award winning career development programme. At each stage of your career this provides you with:

• clear expectations of your role and what it takes to progress;
  • high quality clients and work, with responsibility and client exposure;
  • support and individual feedback from a range of experienced colleagues;
  • robust technical training with early skills based development, increasingly tailored to you; and
  • reward for your contribution, progression and potential, rather than PQE or tenure.

Salary and benefits

We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits.

For more information or to apply

At Osborne Clarke we welcome direct applications - if you would like any further information about the role, or the firm, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact, in complete confidence, Emily Webb in the Recruitment team on 0117 917 3072 or email [email protected].

At Osborne Clarke, we are known for our open and inclusive culture. We believe that by investing in the diversity and wellbeing of our people, we create an environment where everyone can thrive to be the best that they can be. This means recognising that our people have lives and commitments outside of work. We have invested in connected working for our people and, where possible, we will accommodate flexible working for all our roles.