About us
At Swinburne Maddison LLP, we’ve been setting the standard for legal excellence for over 25 years. Situated on the outskirts of Durham City Centre, our award-winning North East law firm boasts an impressive roster of clients and a prestigious history that dates back to the merger of two distinguished firms in 1998. Today, we’re proud to be recognised as a leading law firm within the region having been named as a leading firm by The Legal 500 for seven consecutive years.
Our journey has been remarkable, evolving from a team of 15 solicitors and 25 support staff to a formidable force of over 90 professionals. We’re not just another law firm - we’re a dynamic, agile, and approachable team committed to delivering the best possible legal solutions to our clients. Our core values of Trust, Care, Collaboration, and Agility guide everything we do, ensuring we build lasting relationships and deliver tailored, jargon-free advice.
Our Commercial Property Team
As our team continues to grow, a new vacancy has arisen and we are on the hunt for a New Build Conveyancer to join our talented team.
Our clients benefit from a high standard of work carried out by an experienced and qualified dedicated team. This has strengthened in numbers and depth of knowledge over several years working together. Led by Head of Commercial Property, Victoria Walton, there are a further four partners in the team, supported by a managing associate, four more solicitors, a CILEx Chartered Legal Executive, a CILEx Paralegal, a trainee solicitor, and a paralegal.
The core of our work comes from valued longstanding clients who have drawn on our expertise for many years. Our client base has grown in recent years with the addition of quality new work including numerous Housing Associations who benefit from the collaborative approach which is typical of our offering to our valued clients.
The role
We’re on the lookout for a talented New Build Conveyancer - someone with experience, initiative, and a passion for delivering high-quality legal work. If you're looking to join a busy, growing Commercial Property team and want to work with clients across the public and private sectors, this could be the perfect next step in your career.
From site set-ups to post-completion work, you’ll support developers, investors, and housing associations with a range of conveyancing matters. You’ll manage your own caseload, knowing that there is full support available, and contribute to the delivery of high-value projects, including infrastructure agreements, part exchanges, and large-scale plot sales.
At Swinburne Maddison, we don’t just get the deal done - we build long-term relationships and pride ourselves on being approachable, agile, and client-focused. Our team is tight-knit, ambitious, and committed to excellence. If that sounds like a culture you’d thrive in, let’s talk.
Required experience, skill & attributes
We’re looking for a confident and experienced Legal Executive, Licensed Conveyancer or Paralegal who can hit the ground running. You’ll be working within a supportive team but trusted to manage your own workload and deliver excellent outcomes for clients.
The ideal candidate will have:
- Experience managing freehold and leasehold transactions with a particular focus on new build housing developments
- A strong understanding of the UK Lenders' Handbook and mortgage lender requirements
- Familiarity with key sector issues such as leasehold reform and the Building Safety Act
- Knowledge of infrastructure agreements and transactional documents, such as licences and public open space transfers
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to prioritise and manage a busy caseload
- Excellent communication skills and a collaborative approach to working with colleagues and clients.
Benefits
Careers with Swinburne Maddison...
Swinburne Maddison wouldn’t be the firm it is today without our team. We are committed to providing opportunities for all employees, whether they’ve been with us since day one or are new to our exciting journey ahead. As we’ve grown, we have invested heavily in our team through comprehensive training and support, ensuring a safe and modern work environment. We offer detailed career paths for colleagues who wish to progress, whether they are lawyers or part of our dedicated support team.
Whilst we boast impressive accreditations such as Investors in People and Lexcel, we are constantly evolving to ensure that our culture ensures our firm remains a place colleagues can thrive and ensuring our team feel valued.
We offer a number of benefits for our team including:
- a competitive salary based on experience
- a published career path available for those looking to progress
- a hybrid-working and flexi-time scheme
- an attractive non-contractual bonus scheme
- pension and cycle-to-work salary sacrifice schemes
- additional holiday scheme for length of service
- additional holiday purchase scheme
- death in service benefit
- enhanced family leave pay
- health cashback plan
- a generous contribution to the staff pension scheme
- membership of Perkbox.
Awards and Recognition
At Swinburne Maddison, we’re proud of our achievements - but we let our work do the talking. In 2023, we were named Law Firm of the Year at the Northern Law Awards, with four teams ranked top-tier in The Legal 500 and 19 lawyers recognised.
We’ve been named a leading firm by The Legal 500 for seven years running, with our Commercial Property team ranked Tier One for the eighth consecutive year. Led by Partner Victoria Walton, the team continues to go from strength to strength, working on some of the most exciting development projects across the region.
Ready to make your move?
To apply for this role please attach a CV and a short covering letter ensuring to clearly detail how you meet our required experience, skills and attributes. We will be looking to interview on a rolling basis, so early applications are encouraged.
For any questions before applying, please contact hr@swinburnemaddison.co.uk.
Applications close at 5pm on Friday 30th May 2025.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Additional pay:
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Company events
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee discount
- Flexitime
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Life insurance
- Referral programme
- Store discount
Schedule:
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Durham DH1 5TS: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- Legal Executive, Licensed Conveyancer or Paralegal: 1 year (preferred)
Work Location: In person
