Associate & Senior Associate & Special Counsel - Class Actions

Sydney | 4+ Years PAE

Our client is an established national plaintiff law firm with a significant reputation across complex litigation, class actions and personal injury law.

The firm has represented Australians for more than 35 years and has developed a dedicated class actions practice focused on holding major corporations and institutions accountable where their conduct has affected large groups of people.

Its class action work spans areas including consumer claims, defective products and medical devices, financial products, environmental matters and other forms of corporate and institutional wrongdoing.

The practice conducts substantial Federal Court litigation and works alongside leading counsel, experts and specialist advisers on complex and high-profile proceedings.

For lawyers who enjoy sophisticated litigation but also want their work to have a clear plaintiff-side purpose, this represents an opportunity to combine both.

The firm is looking to appoint a Class Actions Lawyer at Associate, Senior Associate or Special Counsel level to join its Sydney litigation team.

The level of appointment will depend on your experience, technical capability and ability to take responsibility for significant aspects of complex litigation.

You will work closely with experienced senior class action practitioners and have meaningful involvement in the conduct and strategy of one or more substantial class actions.

This is complex litigation rather than volume plaintiff work.

Depending on your level, your responsibilities will include:

• Taking carriage of significant aspects of Federal Court class action proceedings;
  

• Investigating potential claims and analysing causes of action, liability and damages;
  

• Conducting detailed factual and legal analysis across complex and document-heavy matters;
  

• Drafting pleadings, affidavits, submissions and other court documents;
  

• Managing discovery and substantial documentary evidence;
  

• Preparing evidence from lead applicants, group members and other witnesses;
  

• Identifying and developing common issues across group claims;
  

• Briefing and working closely with senior and junior counsel;
  

• Engaging and instructing technical, medical, economic and other expert witnesses;
  

• Analysing expert evidence and contributing to litigation strategy;
  

• Conducting legal research across novel and developing areas of law;
  

• Managing interlocutory and procedural aspects of proceedings;
  

• Preparing matters for mediation and settlement negotiations;
  

• Contributing to damages analysis and settlement methodology;
  

• Communicating with lead applicants and group members;
  

• Working with litigation funders and other external stakeholders where relevant; and
  

• Contributing to the investigation and assessment of prospective new class actions.
  

At Senior Associate level, you will take greater responsibility for major workstreams within proceedings, supervise junior lawyers and contribute more substantially to case strategy.

At Special Counsel level, you will be expected to operate with a high degree of autonomy, take a leading role in the conduct and strategic direction of significant matters, provide technical leadership to the team and contribute to the development of the broader class actions practice.

The firm is open to lawyers from both class actions and commercial litigation backgrounds.

Previous class action experience will be highly regarded, but it is not essential, particularly for candidates with strong experience in complex commercial litigation.

You may currently be:

• A Class Actions Lawyer looking to join a larger or more active plaintiff litigation practice;
  

• A Commercial Litigation Associate, Senior Associate or Special Counsel looking to transition into class actions;
  

• A Complex Litigation Lawyer with strong Federal Court or superior court experience; or
  

• A Plaintiff Litigator with experience in sophisticated, large-scale or strategically complex disputes.
  

Ideally, you will have at least 4 years' post-admission experience and bring:

• Strong commercial or class action litigation experience;
  

• Excellent legal research and analytical skills;
  

• High-level drafting ability;
  

• Experience working with complex factual and evidentiary material;
  

• Exposure to Federal Court or superior court proceedings;
  

• Strong strategic judgement and problem-solving ability;
  

• Experience working with counsel, experts and other senior stakeholders;
  

• The ability to manage competing priorities across substantial litigation;
  

• Strong communication, negotiation and relationship management skills; and
  

• An interest in class actions, access to justice and plaintiff-side litigation.
  

For candidates at Special Counsel level, the firm will also value:

• Significant experience managing complex litigation with a high degree of autonomy;
  

• The ability to lead substantial workstreams or proceedings;
  

• Strong technical leadership and mentoring capability;
  

• Confidence contributing to overall case strategy; and
  

• The ability to manage senior stakeholder relationships across counsel, experts, funders and clients.
  

For commercial litigators, the key requirement is not prior class action experience but a strong foundation in complex litigation, technical legal analysis, evidence and court procedure, together with a genuine interest in moving into large-scale plaintiff litigation.

The firm offers:

• Exposure to major Australian class action proceedings;
  

• The opportunity to work on litigation involving major corporations and institutions;
  

• Sophisticated Federal Court work and complex legal issues;
  

• A genuine pathway for commercial litigators to transition into class actions;
  

• Meaningful involvement in litigation strategy rather than narrowly defined support work;
  

• Exposure to leading counsel, experts and specialist advisers;
  

• The opportunity to develop specialist expertise in one of the most technically demanding areas of litigation;
  

• Significant responsibility across Associate, Senior Associate and Special Counsel levels;
  

• Leadership and mentoring opportunities for senior practitioners;
  

• Opportunities to participate in the investigation and development of new class actions;
  

• A collaborative national litigation team;
  

• Hybrid working arrangements and genuine flexibility; and
  

• Strong longer-term career development opportunities.
  

This is a rare opportunity for an experienced class actions lawyer or accomplished commercial litigator looking to work on complex, high-impact plaintiff litigation on a national scale, with scope to join at a level that properly reflects their experience and capability.