Opportunities for lawyers

If you are interested in applying for a position at Sackers, please send your CV to careers@sackers.com indicating the role in which you are interested.

It is important to us that we select people who want to build a long term career with us. Our selection process generally involves two interviews covering not only your reasons for wishing to join Sackers but also your technical knowledge and understanding of the law. As part of the selection process you will also have the opportunity to meet other associates at Sackers to find out first hand what a career at Sackers is like. Further information about our selection process will be available if you are invited for interview.

Extensive training programme

Pensions is a complex area of law and it is important that all our lawyers maintain a high level of knowledge and skills. There is a comprehensive range of internal training which includes weekly lunchtime training sessions for all lawyers, a monthly “bundle” meeting for associates and a junior lawyers’ training programme. General skills training covers topics such as delegation, presentation skills, pitch training, financial management, business development skills etc. There are bespoke development programmes within different specialties and for lawyers at all levels.

Work allocation and the matrix system

We have what we call the “matrix” system of work allocation at Sackers. This means that associates can work for anyone in the firm, rather than being divided into fixed work groups. The matrix system allows for greater flexibility and gives you the benefit of working for a range of partners, on different client teams in different industry sectors. This gives you a breadth of experience to draw on as you develop your own career.

Group leader system

The firm is divided into seven groups, each led by a group leader. The function of the group leader is to monitor workflow ensuring that lawyers are neither overloaded nor too quiet. You will meet with your Group Leader on a monthly basis to discuss your overall work-levels and also your diet of work. The chargeable hours target is 1400 hours per annum and monitoring of workloads by the Group Leaders enables work to be allocated where there is capacity.

Mentoring

All lawyers are assigned a mentor on joining the firm. Your mentor will be a more senior associate who will assist in your orientation, and provide general support and guidance on issues relating to your work and career progression.

What do we look for in a lawyer?

Pensions law is a technically demanding area of law so we set considerable store by a good academic track record. Generally we would require good A level grades, a 2.1 degree from a good university, and sound grades in your GDL/LPC.

As a specialist pensions practice we do not run our own trainee solicitor programme and are therefore interested in NQ candidates who have completed their training contract at a quality firm where they will have gained good training and experience in a broad range of commercial disciplines.

For vacancies at a more senior level we would look for pension experience gained at a good pensions practice.

We also look for the following personal qualities:

• enthusiasm for pensions law
• commercial approach
• eye for detail
• clear and logical thinking
• flexibility to suggest novel approaches
• confidence to interact with clients
• good team players.

Benefits package

We have a competitive benefits package:

• salaries comparable to top City firms
• competitive bonus payments
• 30 days holiday per annum
• private medical insurance
• pension arrangements (6% matching employer contributions)
• life assurance of 4 x salary
• permanent Health Insurance
• worldwide travel insurance
• interest free season ticket loans
• subsidised gym membership
• Employee Assistance Programme.

You will also have:

• a good work life balance. There is no long hours culture, although sometines you may need to work outside core working hours in order to meet urgent client or other business needs as in any City law firm
• a social committee organises a range of social events for all staff throughout the year. These include drinks, bowling, curry nights, cinema and theatre trips, summer and Christmas parties, wine tasting and sporting events
• the opportunity to get involved with a range of CSR activities that the firm supports or sponsors.

Our recruitment process

If you are interested in applying for a position at Sackers, please send your CV to careers@sackers.com indicating the role in which you are interested.

Our selection process generally involves two interviews covering not only your reasons for wishing to join Sackers but also your knowledge, skills and experience in your chosen field. Further information about our selection process will be available if you are invited for interview.