Shape Your In‑House Career. On Your Terms.
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) is a leading international law firm known for combining legal excellence with a genuinely collaborative, client‑focused approach. Through WBD Advance InHouse, we provide high‑calibre lawyers to work directly within our clients’ legal teams, offering flexibility, variety and genuine in‑house experience backed by the strength of a top‑tier law firm.
At Womble Bond Dickinson, we’ve always believed great legal careers don’t follow a single path. That belief sits at the heart of WBD Advance InHouse — our flexible legal resourcing solution designed for lawyers who want high‑quality work, real variety and genuine balance.
There is no “one size fits all” approach at WBD Advance InHouse. You choose how you’d like to be engaged: as a permanent employee, on a fixed‑term contract, or on a consultancy basis.
Who We’re Looking For
We are growing our core permanent team of WBD Advance InHouse Lawyers and are also open to those who prefer the flexibility of a fixed‑term contract.
We’re keen to speak with Real Estate or Planning Lawyers with 3–8 years’ PQE, ideally with experience gained in‑house or through secondments, though we also welcome applications from private practice lawyers looking to broaden their experience in an in‑house environment.
You’ll bring strong technical expertise in real estate and/or planning matters, alongside a pragmatic, commercial mindset. The ability to quickly integrate into new environments and build strong relationships with stakeholders across our clients’ businesses is essential.
You’ll be curious, collaborative and comfortable representing WBD within client teams. Part of the role involves strengthening client relationships and working with relevant WBD Partners to identify opportunities for growth with the clients you support.
To Be Successful, You’ll Need:
- A minimum of 3 years’ PQE as a Solicitor qualified in England & Wales, Scotland or another common law jurisdiction
- Experience advising on real estate and/or planning matters, such as:
- Commercial property transactions
- Landlord and tenant matters
- Development and regeneration projects
- Planning applications, appeals and inquiries
- Infrastructure, energy or transport‑related planning work
- Experience working in‑house, on secondment, or advising in‑house teams from private practice
- A commercial, solutions‑focused approach and the ability to work autonomously within a client environment
- Strong communication skills and the ability to build trusted relationships quickly
Why WBD InHouse?
WBD InHouse offers something different. You’ll be embedded within our clients’ businesses, delivering practical, commercial advice while enjoying the support, resources and backing of a leading international law firm.
As a permanent WBD Advance InHouse employee, you’ll be consistently seconded to our clients’ legal teams, performing the role of an in‑house lawyer while remaining fully integrated into Womble Bond Dickinson, with access to the same resources, know‑how and training opportunities as our fee‑earners. This model offers both stability and variety, with secondments across a wide range of sectors.
Alternatively, joining us on a fixed‑term contract for the duration of a secondment offers flexibility between assignments while still benefiting from the same resources, know‑how and training as permanent team members.
What You’ll Get
- High‑quality, meaningful in‑house work with leading organisations
- Exposure to different sectors, teams and challenges
- Continued development of your technical and soft skills
- The backing, resources and support of Womble Bond Dickinson, plus the community of the WBD Advance InHouse team
- A culture that values collaboration, innovation and doing things the right way
- Flexibility — we support full‑time and part‑time working patterns, and most secondments are fully remote or hybrid
- Access to WBD’s employee benefits
If you’re a real estate or planning lawyer ready for your next chapter — or a private practice lawyer looking to gain high‑quality in‑house experience — we’d love to talk.
Discover how flexible in‑house law can really be with WBD Advance InHouse.
What makes it great to work here?
We continually work hard to create an open culture that sets us apart from other firms. Our culture gives us much more of a human feel, emphasising that we’re more than just suits!
As signatories to the Mindful Business Charter, it’s important to us that our people are able to maintain healthy and happy lives, both in and out of work. We have a number of resources and initiatives designed to support health and wellbeing and we’re very happy to talk flexible working.
Through our DEI initiatives we create an environment in which difference is valued. We have an Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group, led by our Board Sponsor, which works with our colleague networks (we currently have firm supported networks for race, ethnicity, and cultural heritage, LGBTQ+, disabilities, neurodiversity, families, and women’s career development and we’re in constant dialogue with our people about how we expand our networks to better support everybody). Find out more about DEI at WBD here. We encourage applicants from all social backgrounds, ethnicities, disabilities, gender identities and sexual orientations.
We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or long term condition and need us to make any adjustments to give you the best possible recruitment process, please let us know by contacting the recruiter on the right hand side of this page. Please also let us know if you need this job advert or the application form in a different format.
We will offer an interview to candidates with a disability or long‑term condition who meet the minimum criteria for this role. You can opt into this scheme within the application form. Your response to this question is only used for this purpose, is only visible to the recruitment team and is not used for data monitoring.
We are an in‑house recruitment team and will always aim to fill our roles directly in the first instance. If you’re an agency, please click here for ways that you can work with us.
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