Main Responsibilities
Your key responsibilities will include:
- Leading matter management on smaller or less complex matters with limited partner supervision.
- Working alongside partners and managing associates on more complex matters.
- Preparing and drafting legal documentation clearly, accurately and effectively.
- Conducting legal research using internal and external knowledge resources.
- Liaising directly with clients under the supervision of a partner or senior lawyer.
- Supporting partners with matter management, budgeting and financial administration.
- Supervising and mentoring junior associates, trainees and solicitor apprentices.
- Developing and maintaining internal and external professional networks.
- Building strong working relationships with clients and colleagues across the firm.
- Participating in business development, marketing, networking, and recruitment activities, including client events, industry seminars and graduate recruitment initiatives.
Attributes & Skills Required
The ideal candidate will be a UK-qualified lawyer with demonstrable mid-level experience gained within a leading private practice law firm. A strong academic record is expected.
The successful candidate will be a proactive, collaborative and self-motivated lawyer with a genuine interest in developing expertise across both projects and construction work. As careers progress, lawyers typically develop a greater focus on either projects or construction, depending on their experience and interests.
Strong technical ability, commercial awareness, and excellent attention to detail are essential. Candidates should have experience in at least some of the following areas:
Construction
- Commercial real estate development projects.
- Working knowledge of standard construction contracts, including JCT (essential), with familiarity of forms such as NEC, FIDIC, MF/1 and IChemE considered advantageous.
- Drafting and negotiating bespoke consultancy appointments.
- Experience with bespoke contractual arrangements, including construction management agreements and development management agreements, is highly desirable.
- Familiarity with the non-contentious construction aspects of real estate and finance transactions, including agreements for lease, sale and purchase agreements, development funding arrangements, forward funding structures, development finance, and refinancing transactions involving real estate assets.
Projects
Desirable experience includes:
- PFI and PPP projects.
- Greenfield developments.
- Operational asset management and project variations.
- Sale and acquisition of operational projects.
- Construction and facilities management arrangements.
Additional requirements include:
- Ability to independently manage straightforward transactional construction matters with limited supervision.
- Experience delivering commercially focused and pragmatic advice that considers construction risk within the context of the wider transaction.
- Strong interest in legal technology and artificial intelligence, with enthusiasm for adopting innovative tools to enhance efficiency and client service while maintaining high legal standards.
- Ability to acquire, maintain, and apply current legal and commercial knowledge. Fee earners are expected to take responsibility for keeping abreast of relevant legal and market developments.
- Excellent organisational skills and the ability to prioritise competing deadlines effectively, escalating issues where appropriate.
- Strong file management and administrative practices.
- Accurate and timely time recording.
- Resilience and the ability to perform effectively under pressure.
- Understanding of the firm’s market position and the factors that differentiate its services from those of competitors.