Join us

Our business is growing and we are looking for people who want a legal career with a positive purpose.

Employee ownership is setting the pace for how businesses are making themselves fit for the needs of our fast changing society and economy.

If you are interested in helping businesses become more resilient, better performing, accountable and overall great places to work through employee-ownership, we want to hear from you.

We offer genuine flexible working, a collaborative culture and the opportunity to become a co-owner.

We are particularly interested if you have experience of employee ownership, employee share schemes, tax or corporate law. Or if you are looking for your first job in a law firm and are engaged by what we do, we’d also like to hear from you.

Current role we are hiring for:

Corporate/Employee Ownership Lawyer

The role

Do you have corporate law experience and are you looking for a legal career in a business with a strong and transformative purpose? If yes, then we may have the role for you.
We are looking for a corporate lawyer who wishes to work on the redesign of business ownership to create better performing, sustainable businesses which place a high value on their employees and widely share the rewards of enterprise.

This will be a full-time role with flexibility and some remote working.

The person in this role will help deliver on all aspects of our work, grow into the role and develop into a project leader.

Initially this is likely to involve participating in:
• The design and implementation of changes in business ownership involving employee ownership trusts and individual shares
• Advice employee share schemes (for example, share options and share incentive plans)

We are looking for someone wishing to:
• Develop their career in a new role
• Grow their knowledge and capabilities with appropriate training and mentoring
• Build on their corporate law experience, to extend to taxation advice on employee ownership, project leadership, client relations and business development.

Do you have these qualities and skills?
• Corporate law experience involving company purchases and sales,
• Engaged by our work, its purpose and impact,
• Places high value on working with people and in a team,
• Strong communication skills,
• A quick learner,
• Enthusiastic about working in a collaborative and supportive culture,
• Knowledge of employee share schemes and employee trusts will be welcome but is not expected.

The sector we work in
Employee ownership in business is a key element in our evolving economy and society. Postlethwaite Solicitors has become one of the UK’s leading law firms specialising in employee ownership and share incentive schemes. As a boutique practice, we work throughout the UK and sometimes overseas to help our clients design and implement new forms of ownership in which employees have a significant stake.

We don’t just advise our clients on how they can extend or transfer ownership to their employees, we are also 100% employee owned ourselves and we are therefore not a traditional partnership but a company, in which ownership is widely shared and not limited to our senior lawyers.

Demand for employee ownership work is growing quickly and we are looking to increase the size of our legal team to meet growing need.
We have advised over 100 companies across a range of sectors on becoming employee owned and are passionate about the work we do. No two companies are ever the same and we tailor our work to meet the clients’ needs. Our clients span a wide range of sectors, including engineering, the media and creative industries, architects, fintech and law firms.

There are now over 1300 business in the UK that are employee owned, with the sector more than doubling in the last few years alone.
Employee ownership’s time has come, and we offer a strong and genuine opportunity for you to forge and develop a long-term career as we move into a major and exciting phase in the development of our practice.

About us
Our mission – To help our clients build a successful, world-class and sustainable businesses through employee ownership and engagement in success, and to do the same in our own company.

• We are a 100% employee owned boutique legal practice specialising in employee ownership since 2003, with offices in London and Leeds.
• The firm and its lawyers are top ranked in their area of expertise by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500.
• We have recently been shortlisted in The Lawyer Awards 2023, boutique firm category.
• We are specialist advisers to the Employee Ownership Association (EOA), a UK not for profit and politically independent organisation that represents organisations which are employee owned or transitioning to employee ownership.
• Our founder and Managing Director, Robert Postlethwaite is a published author of the ‘Employee Ownership Manual’ and sits on the EOA’s membership council.
• We believe in a healthy work/life balance. We offer a generous holiday allowance, work flexibility and remote working when required.
• We’re a small but sociable bunch and often take part in charity initiatives as a team, in volunteering days and have even started our own Postlethwaite book club.

Salary and profit share will largely depend on your experience and potential. Location is flexible.

If this sounds like it could be the ideal role for you and we are the type of company you’d like to be a part of, please apply with your CV and a covering note saying why you are interested in this role and your relevant experience.