The role
We have an exciting opportunity for a talented Restructuring Associate to join our national Restructuring team, based in our Leeds office. This role is ideal for lawyers with 3–6 years’ post-qualification experience who have already developed a strong foundation in restructuring and are ready to take the next step in their career.
Gateley’s Restructuring team was recently crowned Legal Advisor of the Year 2025 at the annual IFT Awards, after winning the award in 2022 as well. The judges noted Gateley’s commitment to the regional mid-market.
You’ll work closely with Matthew Brown and Matt Leech, our Leeds partners, and the Leeds team, and collaborate with over 30 colleagues across the country, including Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, London and Reading. We’re looking for individuals who are team players, ambitious, commercially minded, and committed to delivering exceptional client service.
This is a fantastic opportunity to grow your career within a high-performing team doing cutting edge work for great clients.
If you're ready to accelerate your career and make a meaningful impact, we’d love to hear from you.
Our Clients
The breadth of our Restructuring client base sets us apart from our competitors. You will be working for:
- All of the largest insolvency practices in the country as well as regional boutique and independent firms.
- The largest LPA receivership practices in the country.
- Turnaround specialists and interim advisors.
- Debt providers from the largest high street lenders to independent debt funds, including specialist funders such as asset and invoice financiers and surety providers.
- Investors in stressed and distressed businesses.
- The boards of large and small companies, assisting them to navigate challenging times.
The successful candidate will apply their experience within a leading national team, interacting effectively with colleagues and clients at every level and driving business development initiatives.
The team
Our Restructuring team includes specialists in restructuring, transactional solutions, corporate work out and contentious insolvency. We provide advice on financial and organisational restructuring, spanning issues across the full spectrum including solvent or insolvent business sales and exits; distressed M&A; dispute resolution; antecedent transactions; asset recovery; disputes; financial and operational change; enforcement; stakeholder management and turnaround; financial restructuring; debt trading; directors’ duties and corporate governance.
Our lawyers play an active part in industry organisations such as the Institute for Turnaround (IFT), Turnaround Management Association (TMA), the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3), the Insolvency Lawyer’s Association and the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). Colleagues take part in and chair various central and regional committees.
Our Restructuring team sits within the Corporate Platform at Gateley and is closely aligned to our colleagues in Dispute Resolution and Complex International Recoveries.
We invest in our people, recruiting and retaining the best in the market. We work hard in creating an enjoyable workplace culture that encourages the sharing of knowledge and experience. The Restructuring team provide a nurturing and supportive environment. There is a clear and defined pathway for long term progression for the successful candidate, including to partnership where appropriate.
The person
The ideal candidate will have a real passion for restructuring, solid experience, and keen to cement their place as a leading advisor in the market. We will build upon your existing experience in the following key areas with the ambition for you to stand out in the market and be named as a leading individual in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners:
- Advising insolvency practitioners on their route to office and negotiating pre-packaged sales and/or unlocking disputes.
- Project managing a variety of projects and distressed works-outs.
- Transactional and/or contentious stakeholder resolution.
- Negotiating multi stakeholder and unlocking entrenched (or contentious) positions to deliver on financial and operational restructurings.
- Providing director duty advice in the board room and working alongside the wider turnaround advisor community.
Candidates will also have the following:
- Ambition to strengthen your existing network of clients.
- Confidence to shape business development initiatives with colleagues and to take ownership and drive those initiatives.
- Equipped to balance the needs of a busy case load and a variety of instructions in any given week.
- Excellent inter-personal skills and a confident manner in engaging with clients.
- Experienced in supervising junior colleagues.
- Team player who works collaboratively with colleagues, including those in our non-legal complementary businesses.
- A strong team work ethic and the ability to work effectively under pressure.
- Drive, commitment, self-motivation and a "can do" attitude.
- The ability to always exercise discretion and professionalism.
- Exceptional attention to detail.