Professional Support Lawyer, Private Client & Family
The role
We have an exciting opportunity for a Professional Support Lawyer (PSL) to join our highly rated and fast growing Private Client & Family (PC&F) department. Our PC&F Department "punches above its weight" among much larger peers in London. As a key part of the Firm's broader Private Wealth offering, we offer tailored services to HNW and UHNW individuals, whether domiciled in the UK or overseas. We are especially well known for our complex lifetime planning work with highly experienced STEP and CTA qualified practitioners and contentious trusts matters, as well as acting for high profile clients on prenups, divorces and private children related matters. Our clients also include family offices.
The department includes seven partners, five consultants and twelve other fee earners with this number expected to grow significantly in the next 12 to 18 months.
The PSL will provide support across the department in four key areas.
- Knowhow support
- Training
- Innovation / Business Efficiency improvements
- Business Development
Role responsibility
Know-How Support
- Supporting and encouraging a culture of know how sharing; this includes the preparation and editing of knowhow bulletins (internal and client facing if appropriate).
- Creating a repository of know how using existing systems and platforms e.g. RAVN and actively ensuring that proprietary knowledge is captured and kept up-to-date.
- Keeping the team abreast of legislative and other changes that might affect their clients/ the strategy applied to the matters on which they are working. This may include preparing updates for clients.
- Supporting the fee earners in their client work by responding to practical technical queries relating to matters.
- Assisting in raising the profile of the department with clients through the production of focussed content.
- Undertaking discrete fee earning tasks when required – chargeable research/ disclosure exercises.
Training
- Working with the PC&F department to identify priorities and develop a programme to create and maintain high a quality knowhow resource for the team.
- Developing a modular training programme for the department (aligned with identified development needs) – delivering content either yourself or via counsel and other providers. This may include designing and implementing trainee specific content.
Innovation/Business Efficiency Improvements
- Supporting consideration of processes to bring efficiencies whether by technology or non-technology solutions
- Supporting standardisation of documents via precedents (both maintaining existing precedents and expanding the department's suite of precedents) and consider use of clause banks; support document automation of chosen precedents.
- Helping to promote efficiencies within the department through the development of standard documents and precedents, practice notes and practical knowhow.
- Introducing and helping to promote best practice including through benchmarking with peer firms.
Business Development
- Work with the department to secure/exploit potential opportunities for business development whether by way of online or written content or commentary/specific client focussed workshops etc. including via the firm's sector-based approach, of which Private Wealth is key.
- Collaborating with intermediaries (private banks, asset managers, etc.) to leverage knowledge across a wider constituency.
- Collating market information as required to support other discrete initiatives.
- Assisting with legal directories submissions.
About you
Ideally you will be able to demonstrate;
- Up-to-date technical and working experience of Private Client and Family law, ideally gained within private practice.
- Interest in leveraging IT solutions to encourage efficiencies in working practice.
- Experience of working in a firm with an active knowledge infrastructure which includes PSLs.
- Experience of working with knowhow systems and technologies either as an end user or as an owner of content.
- Ability to work with individuals at all levels including in implementing change processes.
- Ability and desire to integrate into the PC&F department and develop a role as a knowledge leader and advocate in the team.
- Desire to share and develop skills and knowledge.
- Engaging and enthusiastic about to the department’s work.
- Organisational skills, with the ability to develop and work to a plan.
- Confidence to take a strong position on the development of knowhow in the team.
- Clear and confident communication skills relating to both technical and practical issues.
Benefits
- Competitive salary
- 25 days annual holiday
- Permanent Health Insurance
- Life Assurance
- Interest free Season Ticket Loan
- Private Healthcare
- Pension Scheme
- Staff Introductory Scheme
- Employee Assistance Programme
About us
We are a London based, full-service law firm, specialising in providing straightforward advice to entrepreneurial businesses and individuals on domestic and international matters.
We have grown substantially in recent years, including two mergers and an office move. We’ve also matured in terms of our approach to providing advice to our clients, seeking to simplify and improve the experience of working with a modern, independent law firm.
We’re proud of our journey. Without losing sight of where we’ve come from, we are focused on where we’re going. We are evolving and growing every day. And just like our clients, we are ambitious and moving forward. Many of our clients are entrepreneurial, ambitious enterprises who are often privately or family owned, or private equity backed. We are one of the only London based law firms with a large private wealth offering alongside significant business law capability.
The firm also advises major corporates on particular specialist legal matters who find our straightforward approach a compelling alternative to larger, less personal firms.