Private Client Senior Associate

• per annum + Excellent BenefitsBirmingham, West MidlandsPermanentPrivate Client Senior Associate | 5 Years PQE | International Firm | BirminghamA rare chance to be a senior figure in a small, bespoke Private Client team while standing on the platform of a large international firm. The team is deliberately compact, which means visibility, ownership and a realistic route upwards rather than a queue of senior lawyers ahead of you. Clients are high net worth and ultra high net worth, and the work carries a genuine international dimension.The FirmThis is a large international firm with a substantial UK presence and an established Birmingham office. Private Client sits within that wider platform, which means access to corporate, real estate and tax colleagues when matters demand it.What makes this role unusual is the shape of the team. Private Client here is a specialist, boutique style practice operating inside a firm of significant scale. Most private client lawyers face a choice between the two: the autonomy and visibility of a small team, or the clients and resources of a large one. This is both. You will not be one senior associate among twenty, and your contribution will be obvious to the people who decide on promotions.The firm's international network brings a dimension that most regional private client practices cannot match. Expect cross border estates, internationally mobile families and wealth structuring with a European element, alongside a strong domestic caseload. Prior international experience is welcome but not a prerequisite.The RoleYou will advise high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals, families and business owners on estate planning, succession and wealth preservation, taking strategic ownership of your matters from the outset. At five years PQE in a team of this size, that responsibility arrives immediately rather than in stages.Much of the work is collaborative. You will coordinate with accountants, tax advisers, trustees and HMRC to deliver joined up advice, and you will have real scope to develop your own client relationships and profile in the Birmingham market. Supervising and mentoring junior lawyers forms part of the role, as does contributing to the direction the practice takes as it grows.The caseload spans the full breadth of private wealth work:Will drafting where trusts and business assets are in playLong term succession and wealth preservation strategy for families with substantial holdingsEstate administration, from the straightforward through to complex, high value mattersTax planning across inheritance tax, capital gains and structured lifetime giftingTrust creation, administration and restructuring, alongside advising trustees on their dutiesFamily investment companies and other wealth holding vehiclesLifetime planning, including Lasting Powers of AttorneyCourt of Protection work, covering deputyship applications and the ongoing administration that followsMatters carrying a cross border dimensionRequirementsQualified Solicitor at around five years PQE with a strong private client backgroundTrack record advising HNW and UHNW individuals, families and business ownersSolid technical grounding across succession and will drafting, trusts, estate administration, inheritance tax, LPAs and Court of Protection workExposure to complex estates where business, agricultural, investment or property assets are involvedCommercially minded, and comfortable holding client relationships directlyAble to run a busy and varied caseload without letting standards slipWilling to take on the development of junior lawyersAmbitious, with partnership in view over the longer termSTEP qualification welcome but not a requirementWhat's on OfferSeniority in a small, specialist team with a large international firm behind itDirect visibility with the people who decide on progressionA realistic route towards partnership rather than a distant oneInternational work through the firm's wider networkRoom to build your own following and profile across the Birmingham marketSupervisory responsibility and a say in how the team developsCompetitive salary and excellent benefitsHybrid workingTo find out more, contact Joe Bryant at or call

Full job description from WhatJobs. Apply for this role →