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⚡ Source: ReedRef: 42594739

Private Client Solicitor 2-4 YRS PQE

Reed·Colchester, Essex·Posted 61 months ago
💰 £38-42k/year
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Job description

Original text imported from Reed

Private Client Solicitor/Lawyer - Braintree. Are you looking for a firm that will support you with further training and specialist courses? Looking to take more responsibility or just progress your career? I am pleased to be working with large, agile and long established firm who have an opportunity in their Family Team. Experience required:

  • Dealing with all matters of Private Client, predominately
  • Wills - from basic to extremely complex
  • Lasting Power of Attorneys
  • Probates
  • STEP qualification would be advantageous but not essential
  • Supervisory experience also would be an advantage

Please apply with a current CV, I look forward to your application.

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Key skills

AI-extracted from the job advert

Must-have skills
Private Client law (Wills, LPA, Probate)Wills drafting — basic to complexLasting Power of Attorney drafting and registrationProbate administration2-4 years PQE as a qualified Solicitor
Nice-to-have
STEP qualificationSupervisory experienceEstate planning and Inheritance Tax adviceTrust drafting
Soft skills
Client-facing communicationAttention to detailInitiativeAutonomyMentoring
SpeedCV AI

Application advice

5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.

1

⭐ Lead your CV personal statement with your Private Client specialism — the advert explicitly seeks someone handling Wills, LPAs and Probate, so name all three in your opening profile.

2

📊 Quantify your caseload: e.g. 'Managed a caseload of 80+ active Private Client matters including complex multi-jurisdiction Wills and LPA applications'.

3

🎯 If you hold or are studying toward STEP, place it prominently in your qualifications section — the advert flags it as advantageous, so it will differentiate you from other 2-4 PQE candidates.

4

🤝 Highlight any supervisory or mentoring experience explicitly — even informal supervision of paralegals or trainees counts, as the advert lists this as a desirable attribute.

5

🌐 Tailor your CV to the Braintree/Essex market by referencing experience with regional clients or high-net-worth individuals in similar practice settings, demonstrating cultural fit with a long-established local firm.

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Suggested CV bullets

3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.

How to tailor your CV

Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:

  • Managed a caseload of 75 active Private Client matters simultaneously, including 20+ complex Wills involving discretionary trusts and Inheritance Tax mitigation strategies.
  • Drafted and registered 40 Lasting Powers of Attorney per quarter with zero OPG rejections, reducing average registration turnaround by 3 weeks through process improvements.
  • Supervised 2 paralegals on Probate files totalling £4.2M in estate assets, ensuring compliance with SRA standards and delivering all matters within agreed client timescales.

Free to copy — tailoring requires a 30-sec CV upload.

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Letter preview — tailored to Reed

Dear Hiring Manager,

Private Client law, specifically the drafting of complex Wills and the administration of Probate matters, is where I have focused my practice since qualification — which is precisely why this Solicitor role at your Braintree firm caught my attention. With 3 years of post-qualification experience handling LPA registrations, multi-asset estate administrations and Inheritance Tax planning, I am confident I can contribute meaningfully from day one.

My background in Private Client work spans a broad caseload of individual and high-net-worth clients, including complex testamentary instructions involving discretionary trusts and blended family arrangements. I have also taken on informal supervisory responsibilities for paralegals, reviewing file progress and providing guidance on procedural matters, and I am keen to formalise that aspect of my role.

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Interview questions

10 questions generated from this advert.

Technical

  • Walk me through how you would handle a complex Will instruction involving a blended family and potential Inheritance Tax planning.
  • What is the process you follow when registering a Lasting Power of Attorney with the Office of the Public Guardian?
  • How do you approach a contentious Probate matter where a beneficiary disputes the validity of a Will?
  • What are the key considerations when advising a client on a Discretionary Trust within their estate plan?
  • How does STEP membership or qualification influence best practice in Private Client work?

Behavioural

  • Tell me about a time you managed a particularly complex or sensitive client matter from instruction through to completion.
  • Describe a situation where you had to supervise or guide a junior colleague on a Private Client file — how did you approach it?
  • Give an example of when you identified an issue on a client's estate plan that the client had not anticipated — how did you handle it?
  • Tell me about a time you had to manage competing deadlines across a high-volume Private Client caseload.
  • Describe a situation where you had to deliver difficult news to a client regarding their estate or a Probate matter.
SpeedCV AINEW

STAR answer examples

Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.

1Question

Tell me about a time you managed a particularly complex or sensitive client matter from instruction through to completion.

Situation: A client came to me following the sudden death of her husband, whose estate included a property portfolio worth £1.8M and no existing Will. Task: I needed to guide her through an intestacy administration while managing her emotional distress and the competing interests of two adult stepchildren. Action: I mapped the full estate within the first week, instructed a specialist valuer, and held fortnightly update calls to keep the client informed. I also drafted a deed of variation to redirect part of the estate and reduce the Inheritance Tax liability. Result: The estate was administered in full within 11 months — 4 months ahead of the client's expectation — and the deed of variation saved approximately £42,000 in tax.
2Question

Describe a situation where you had to supervise or guide a junior colleague on a Private Client file — how did you approach it?

Situation: A paralegal in my team was handling her first standalone Probate file — a straightforward estate of £320,000 — but had stalled on the HMRC IHT205 submission due to uncertainty about exempt assets. Task: I needed to unblock the matter without simply doing it for her, as her development was important. Action: I sat with her for 30 minutes, walked through the IHT205 line by line, and explained the exemptions applicable to the jointly held savings accounts. I then asked her to redraft the form and reviewed her work before submission. Result: The form was submitted correctly first time, the Grant of Probate issued within 6 weeks, and the paralegal subsequently handled 3 further Probate files independently.

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