Wills, Trusts & Probate Associate/Senior Associate - Durham or Darlington
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
I’m currently working on an excellent opportunity for an experienced Wills, Trusts & Probate Solicitor to join a well-established and friendly regional law firm with a strong private client offering across the North East.
This is a fantastic opportunity for a 5+ PQE lawyer looking to join a supportive team with genuine scope to develop their practice and play a key role in the continued growth of the department.
The firm has offices across Darlington, Durham, Newcastle and Tynemouth, with this role based in either Durham or Darlington.
The role will involve:
- Managing a varied private client caseload
- Advising on wills, trusts, probate and estate administration matters
- Handling lasting powers of attorney and Court of Protection work
- Advising on trust creation, management and administration
- Supporting complex estate planning matters
- Building strong client relationships and acting as a trusted adviser
- Supporting business development across offices and practice areas
- Contributing to the continued growth of the Wills, Trusts & Probate team
- Be 5+ years PQE
- Have strong experience across wills, trusts and probate matters
- Have experience dealing with trust work (essential)
- Be confident managing their own caseload independently
- Ideally be STEP qualified or working towards STEP
- Be proactive, motivated and client-focused
- Have strong networking and relationship-building skills
- Be interested in contributing to business development strategy
- A competitive salary and benefits package
- Flexible and friendly working environment
- Strong career development and progression opportunities
- Private healthcare, pension and life assurance
- Annual leave including birthday day off and Christmas closure
- Bonus scheme and additional staff rewards
- A genuinely supportive regional team culture
Key skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Lead your CV personal statement with your PQE level and explicit mention of wills, trusts and probate experience, as the advert specifies 5+ PQE as a hard requirement.
📊 Quantify your caseload: e.g. 'Managed a caseload of 80+ active private client matters including complex multi-trust estates valued over £2M'.
🎯 Highlight any STEP qualification or progress towards it prominently — the advert flags this as a key differentiator and lists it as an ideal attribute.
🤝 Include a dedicated 'Business Development' section or bullet points showing networking activity, referral generation or cross-departmental collaboration, as the advert explicitly seeks someone to support BD strategy.
🌐 Reference Court of Protection and Lasting Powers of Attorney experience explicitly in your skills section, as these are called out as distinct responsibilities within the role.
Suggested CV bullets
3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.
Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:
- •Managed a caseload of 80+ private client matters concurrently, including complex multi-trust estates exceeding £3M in value, achieving a 96% client satisfaction rating across annual reviews.
- •Drafted and administered Lasting Powers of Attorney for 40+ clients per year, reducing average completion time from 14 to 9 weeks through streamlined client onboarding and OPG submission processes.
- •Led business development networking across 3 regional offices, establishing referral relationships with 12 IFA firms and generating £55,000 in new probate and trust instructions within 18 months.
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Dear Hiring Manager,
QED Legal's Wills, Trusts & Probate Associate role at this well-regarded North East regional firm is precisely the next step I have been seeking. With 5+ years PQE in private client law, I bring hands-on expertise in trust creation and administration, estate planning, Court of Protection applications and Lasting Powers of Attorney — the core competencies your advert identifies as essential.
My background in private client practice has seen me manage caseloads of over 75 active matters simultaneously, advising high-net-worth individuals on multi-trust estates and guiding families through complex probate processes. I am currently progressing towards my STEP qualification and have actively contributed to business development by building referral networks with local financial advisers, generating approximately £40,000 in new instructions over 12 months.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›How do you approach advising a client on the most appropriate trust structure for their estate planning needs?
- ›Can you walk us through your process for administering a complex estate involving multiple beneficiaries and contested assets?
- ›What experience do you have with Court of Protection applications, and how do you manage the procedural requirements?
- ›How do you ensure compliance with current HMRC inheritance tax rules when drafting wills and advising on estate planning?
- ›What does STEP membership mean to you in practice, and how has it influenced your approach to trust and probate work?
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time you managed a particularly complex probate matter — what challenges arose and how did you resolve them?
- ›Describe a situation where you had to build a client relationship from scratch and turn it into a long-term advisory relationship.
- ›Give an example of how you have contributed to business development at a previous firm — what was the outcome?
- ›Tell me about a time you had to manage competing deadlines across a large private client caseload independently.
- ›Describe a situation where you identified an opportunity to grow a department or practice area and what steps you took.
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Tell me about a time you managed a particularly complex probate matter — what challenges arose and how did you resolve them?
Give an example of how you have contributed to business development at a previous firm — what was the outcome?