Legal Jobs in Kent, Surrey & Sussex

Kent, Surrey and Sussex are the counties south of London, and together they form one of the largest legal markets in the South East outside the capital. This page covers Kent, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex; the latest roles we hold in those four counties appear here, and our jobs search has the full list. The counties to the north and west of London — Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and their neighbours — have their own page: legal jobs in the Home Counties.

The three counties share a pattern: a handful of substantial regional firms headquartered in Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Guildford and Brighton, a strong second tier of multi-office independents, and a private client and property market fed by some of the highest house prices and largest concentrations of wealth in the country. Surrey in particular has a corporate and commercial market of its own around Guildford and Woking, and Gatwick has become a genuine hub for the national firms.

We place from paralegal and newly qualified through to Partner across all three counties, and many of our candidates weigh a move here against a London role; we handle both and will tell you plainly what each will cost you and pay you.

Kent

Kent's market is anchored in the west of the county. Brachers and Whitehead Monckton in Maidstone, and Thomson Snell & Passmore and Cripps in Tunbridge Wells, are top-200 firms that recruit across corporate, real estate, private client, family and litigation, and Cripps in particular has grown a national private wealth and real estate practice from its Kent base. In east Kent, Furley Page in Canterbury and Girlings in Canterbury anchor a good general practice market, and Ashford and Maidstone have active commercial property and construction teams serving the county's logistics economy.

Surrey

Guildford is among the most competitive legal markets in the South East. Stevens & Bolton, Charles Russell Speechlys, Penningtons Manches Cooper, Moore Barlow and Hart Brown all recruit there for corporate, commercial, employment and private client work, and salaries at the top end come close to London. Woking, Cobham (Mundays), Redhill and Epsom sustain strong private client and property practices, and Surrey's in-house market — pharmaceuticals, technology and professional services along the M25 and A3 — is the deepest south of the river.

East Sussex

Brighton and Hove is the Sussex legal capital. DMH Stallard, Mayo Wynne Baxter (Brighton, Lewes, Eastbourne and across the county) and Griffith Smith are the largest Sussex-based practices, and Eastbourne and Hastings carry a busy private client, residential property and family market serving a large retired population.

West Sussex

Crawley and Horsham are the commercial side of Sussex: DMH Stallard's Crawley and Horsham offices and Irwin Mitchell's substantial Gatwick office carry commercial, construction and employment work driven by the airport economy, while Chichester and Worthing are strong for private client and coastal residential property.