Your Role
and What You'll Be Doing
We’re looking for a talented Family Practice Development Lawyer (PDL) to support our national Family team. This is a pivotal role focused on knowledge management, training delivery, innovation, contributing to business development activity and providing expert support to fee-earners across all our offices. Depending on your experience, we’re open to appointing at Practice Development Lawyer or Senior Practice Development Lawyer level.
Our national Family team acts on complex and high‑value family law matters, including divorce, financial remedies, private children disputes, cohabitee disputes and nuptial agreements, often involving significant assets, international issues and challenging personal circumstances. We pride ourselves on delivering clear, strategic advice with empathy, integrity and impact.
In this role, you’ll work alongside our highly collaborative wider Practice Development team of 16 PDLs to:
1. Drive Practice Development initiatives, ensuring our colleagues in the Family team have access to accurate, up-to-date legal resources and guidance to support day-to-day work, strengthen client relationships, and contribute to business development.
2. Play an active part in firm-wide knowledge projects, representing the Family practice, shaping processes and services, and helping implement our Practice Development strategy.
3. Deliver training and innovation that empowers our lawyers and enhances client service, including helping embed our AI tools into our ways of working.
4. Horizon-scan legal and market developments, as well as new innovations, helping our fee earners to stay on top of legal change, reduce risk, and work efficiently.
5. Support with legal content creation and awards submissions.
We offer flexibility on location, with travel to our offices as needed. Full-time is preferred, but we welcome part-time applications.
About You
6. An experienced PDL or a fee-earner seeking a first move into a PDL role
7. Have a strong background in Family law
8. Proactive in handling technical, legal queries
9. Have a keen interest in knowledge management, technology, and innovation, including AI
10. Experienced in arranging and delivering technical training and helping to draft articles and communications to be shared with clients and the wider market
11. Proven experience in effectively communicating and collaborating with a diverse range of people and job functions
12. Excellent verbal, written and listening skills and the ability to articulate positions/opinions clearly, effectively and objectively
Given the nature of the role, it’s essential that you hold a current practising certificate.
Our Benefits - What We Can Offer You
13. 25 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays - You can ‘buy’ up to 35hrs of extra holiday too.
14. Generous and flexible pension schemes.
15. Volunteering days – Two days of volunteering every year for a cause of your choice (fully paid)
16. Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside our Aviva Digital GP services.
We also offer a wide range of well-being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace and to make sure you’re fully supported. This includes our Flexible by Choice programme which gives our colleagues more choice over a hybrid way of working subject to role, team and client requirements.
We have been ranked in the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing for Large Organisations for 2024!
Our responsible business programmes are fundamental to who we are and our purpose. We’re committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where our colleagues can flourish, and we have established a number of inclusion network groups across our business to support this aim.
Our commitment to Social Responsibility, community investment activity and tackling climate change is a fundamental part of who we are. It’s made up of four strands: Our People, Our Community, Our Environment and Our Pro Bono.