Manager, Corporate, ALT at Herbert Smith Freehills

Job description

Applicants for Manager roles in relation to corporate will be experienced corporate practitioners who are capable of delivering excellence in relation to project management, quality processes, pricing (including billing, where required) and technology.

Our corporate practice includes, but is not limited to, all aspects of M&A, capital markets, investment funds, commercial contracts, corporate restructurings and regulatory matters. Candidates are likely to have developed as a specialist in a particular area of corporate, or commercial legal practice, with a solid general corporate legal foundation, ideally at a private practice law firm. Experience in mergers and acquisitions and/or capital markets transactions is particularly desirable. Our corporate team offers a wide variety of product offerings to both internal clients and directly to external clients. Such offerings are constantly evolving as our alternative legal services business grows. Our products and services include due diligence, negotiation and drafting of large volumes of commercial contracts, regulatory change projects/implementation, prospectus drafting, supporting in-house legal teams on their business-as-usual work, project management, general transaction support, etc.

You will be comfortable applying what you know to creative and varied projects. This role requires an entrepreneurial mind-set and a flexible and responsive approach. You will scope and set-up new matters and conduct fee earning work directly as well as supervising teams. You are also likely to be asked to assist in preparing pitch documents and attend client presentations.

Key responsibilities

• Escalating project-specific issues appropriately to the relevant Senior Manager/Head of Corporate.
• Supervising Senior Lawyers, Lawyers, Trainees and Legal Analysts (sitting within your local offices and within the wider Alternative Legal Services offices, where required) conducting fee earning projects and carrying out "first-level review" on projects where necessary.
• Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of relevant areas of law to the local office's practice generally, and as an "expert" in relation to specialist areas of practice.
• Responsible for supporting, as required by the Senior Manager/ Head of Corporate, on drafting, updating and revising all of our internal processes relating to our corporate practice including making recommendations for improvements in the quality of service delivery.
• Assisting with written material or cost models for pitches and marketing initiatives if required.
• Project managing the local office's team on individual matters, including:
• Dealing with complex issues on individual matters that are escalated by the Senior Lawyers, Lawyers, Trainees and Legal Analysts.
• Primary responsibility for communication with the internal client (partner/managing associate) on individual matters.
• Ensuring that relevant legal issues are fully understood by the local office team working on an individual matter on an on-going basis and raising any training issues with the Head of Corporate.
• Managing resources, who may sit within your office, or remotely in other offices, e.g. Belfast, Melbourne, Shanghai) on individual matters effectively and in line with agreed timetables on projects.
• Conducting quality control (e.g. to check all fee earning work is being conducted accurately), as directed by the Head of Corporate.
• Liaising with teams elsewhere in the firm (e.g. London) as required on fee-earning or other projects.
• Promotes and sells the services of the Alternative Legal Services offering to internal clients, including by the delivery of consistently high-quality work and a positive approach to building internal relationships.
• Line management responsibility for Senior Lawyers, Lawyers, Trainees and Legal Analysts as direct reports.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience

• Admitted South African Attorney (other common law jurisdictions may also be considered).
• 5+ year's PQE in Corporate practice area
• High level of attention to detail, but can also step back from the detail and see problems, opportunities and trends.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to summarise complex issues succinctly verbally and in writing.
• Strong analytical ability, coupled with sound judgement to balance multiple factors and solve complex problems.
• Strong IT literacy, including an aptitude for learning (and becoming proficient in) the use of software and IT applications, for example using software tools intelligently to navigate large databases/document management systems.