Are you an experienced private client lawyer with a love of challenging and rewarding Estates, Tax and Trust work? Are you ready to make an impact on the future of a fast-paced, dynamic and thriving Private Client team? This is a fantastic role for you to enjoy the best of all worlds: doing the work you love, as part of leading Legal 500 acclaimed team, within a forward-thinking firm that is renowned for its supportive culture.

About us

We're a Top 100 full-service UK law firm with just over 600 employees. With four offices in Bristol, London, Birmingham and Watford you'll be struck by our close-knit and friendly culture. We're just not like other firms! We believe in integrity and authenticity - in each one of us being ourselves both in our interactions with each other as well as with our clients.

We enjoy a reputation not just for the quality of our work but also for the qualities of our people. We strive to recruit people who are proactive and passionate about what they do and able to demonstrate humour and humility in equal measure.

About you

As a private client lawyer, you'll join our Estates, Tax and Trusts team (ETT) within our Bristol office. You're likely to be working at or around Associate level and are now looking to join a team with a broad range of work on offer. Ideally, you'll have strong advisory expertise for HNW private clients, and have a strong platform in wills, estate administration and planning and trusts.  It's likely you'll feel more comfortable in one or two of these areas than others and that's fine; we can be flexible for the right candidate.

You may already have some supervisory experience, or you may be ready to step into this as your next development area. We're looking for someone dependable who can play a key role in the team, with clear progression opportunities to Senior Associate for the right person.

Wherever your expertise lies, you'll have strong relationship management skills as well as a clear and eloquent style of communication that ensures our clients feel supported with their endeavours.

Our reputation

Our exceptional team is headed up by Chambers and Legal 500 acclaimed Partners, Michelle Rose and Leila Goodarzi, and enjoys an enviable reputation across the regions. With private client work being undertaken at almost all small to large law firms nationwide, it's a testament to our ability in this field that each one of our ETT teams is featured in the Legal 500 - a great demonstration of strength and depth within a department with every client knowing they will receive the same quality of service regardless of where they live.

Where will I be working? 

At VWV we have a truly unique and engaging culture that we hold dear. We work hard but we also love to have fun and we recognise that it's the social interaction between us that really shapes our culture. Whilst we work to a hybrid model, for this role we would like you to work from our newly refurbished Bristol office for 3 or more days of the week. In this way, you'll benefit first-hand from our warm and friendly culture as well as facilitate cross referral opportunities from your colleagues in other teams. We are of course happy to discuss any specific requirements of hybrid working with candidates on an individual basis.

Why choose us?

There are so many reasons to stop and explore VWV further. We're known for our friendly and welcoming culture where teamwork and collaboration are key. There's no pigeon-holing or glass ceilings here, just a professional yet relaxed culture where you can finally be yourself. 

At VWV, we're committed to your growth with our bespoke Learning Academy, offering structured career-level programs across core business areas to prepare you for promotion opportunities and career advancement - join us to unlock your full potential.

We're striving to be an inclusive employer of choice, to create a workplace environment that promotes and values diversity, where everyone, regardless of background, can reach their full potential. During the assessment process we've supported a range of reasonable adjustments in the past though we continue to learn and evolve to create the best possible candidate experience for everyone. If you'd like to discuss what's possible — even if you're not sure what you might need — please reach out to our recruiter, who'll be happy to talk through options and share what's worked well for others.

Not sure whether to apply?

Making the next career move is one that can feel immensely daunting and we've all been there! It's more than likely you'll have one or two questions on the role or firm before you feel happy to apply. If so, please contact me, Emma Latchem-Hughes, Talent Acquisition Advisor (Lawyers) in complete confidence on elatchem-hughes@vwv.co.uk or 07340 632798 and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Ready to join us?

Whilst we're renowned for our transparent and welcoming culture, we know that making the next career move can be daunting. To help you to get more of a flavour for life at VWV and to find out what our own people say about us, we invite you to watch this short video on the right hand side. If you feel ready to apply, then please click on the red "Apply Now" button at the foot of the advert.

Research shows that people from diverse backgrounds sometimes hesitate to apply unless they meet every requirement. At VWV, we believe potential and attitude are just as important as experience so if you're enthusiastic about this role, we'd love to hear from you.

Recruitment agencies

We're in a period of exclusive direct sourcing for this role and are not accepting applications from agencies. We politely request therefore that you do not send candidates through. Any named or anonymised profile or CV sent to us will be deemed an unsolicited approach and deleted.