Trainee Patent Attorney - Life Sciences

Start date: Flexible with any date before September 2023

We are looking for individuals who enjoy learning about cutting-edge biotech research and who want to apply their scientific knowledge to work outside of academia. At Appleyard Lees, you will be able to put your degree to use from day one, as you’ll be working with university clients, start-ups and SMEs to protect ground-breaking innovation. The job is intellectually challenging, as you will work on brand new innovation before anyone else hears about it, but it is also rewarding.

The Role
You will be trained by our partners and patent attorneys, and from your first day you will be working on real work for our clients. You will be able to join meetings with inventors, watch our qualified attorneys when they participate in hearings, and learn from our talented paralegals. As our clients file patent applications in the UK and Europe, you will gain real experience that is directly relevant to the professional exams you will undertake. Our trainees are given all the support they need to qualify as UK and European patent attorneys. We combine in-house exam-specific tutorials with external courses, to help our trainees to obtain the knowledge and skills they need to qualify. Trainees are also supervised on their day-to-day work by our experienced and knowledgeable attorneys. Alongside the exam-specific training, we also provide trainees with personal development training in areas such as business skills, effective communication and presentation skills.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
*A minimum requirement of a 2:1 degree (or predicted) in a life sciences subject such as biochemistry, genetics, immunology, plant biology, biotechnology or similar
*A PhD is highly desirable but not essential
*Ability to take on large amounts of information and think logically
*Commitment to meeting client expectations
*Willingness and ability to take on responsibly at an early stage
*Good communicator both written and verbally with the ability to communicate at all levels

We will also consider applications from anyone who is currently working as a trainee patent attorney with some industry knowledge.

Why choose us?
We pride ourselves on being small and friendly enough for you to get to know everyone – but big enough to offer you great career prospects. We will assign you with a mentor who will be able to provide professional and personal support throughout your training contract. Providing people with a mentor is a critical part of enabling development and knowing if individuals are ‘on track’ in terms of their career path and progression, it also helps with improving knowledge and skills.

Aside from this, we will fund all of your training including memberships, exams, courses and conferences. We also encourage our trainees to write articles for our Greenshoots platform and take part in podcasts, more information on this can be found here - Trainee blog | Greenshoots by Appleyard Lees (appleyardleesgreenshoots.com)

Other benefits we offer include:
*34 hour working week
*Agile working - 2 days in the office
*Annual salary review
*25 days annual leave + bank holidays
*Life assurance
*Healthcare cash plan
*Social outings - summer parties, AL Junior events, Christmas party and more
*A voucher on your birthday
*Charity events - games nights and fuddles
*A friendly and inclusive place to work and learn

About Appleyard Lees
Appleyard Lees is a leading intellectual property law firm with over fifty patent and trade mark attorneys and litigators across offices in Halifax, Leeds, Manchester and Cambridge.

We provide a full range of intellectual property (IP) services covering patents, trade marks, designs and copyright in the UK, Europe and worldwide. We use our technical and legal skills, and many years of experience, to identify and protect IP assets and to uncover and eliminate the risks posed by other people’s IP rights.

Who we are, and what we do – but also, how we do it – makes us distinctive.

Our clients include some of the world’s most exciting innovators, largest companies and household names, with a number of clients obtaining Fortune 500, Fortune Global 2000, FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and Forbes Global 2000 status. Our clients operate across a diverse collection of industries, including chemicals, retail, consumer goods, electronics, software, bio and life sciences, pharmaceuticals, metals and heavy industry, higher education and hospitality, leisure and tourism.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) has always been part of the core values of Appleyard Lees. This isn’t just about the partners, or how we do things at Appleyard Lees, this is about everyone. Appleyard Lees offer a career path within a structure that encourages development for everyone.

We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.

Application Instructions: 
Application Closing Date: 
3 February 2023