We are recruiting for a senior Commercial Disputes Knowledge Lawyer, who will also head up our Disputes & Risk Knowledge Team.
Knowledge is at the heart of Osborne Clarke's strategy, and you will play the leading role in continuing to build out this key function within D&R, as well as being a senior member of our innovative and market-leading Firm-wide Knowledge Team.
The existing D&R Knowledge Team consists (in addition to this role) of a Property Disputes Knowledge Lawyer, an IP Disputes Knowledge Lawyer, a Regulatory Disputes Knowledge Lawyer and a Knowledge Paralegal. These roles report to the Head of D&R Knowledge.
Once appointed, the Head of D&R Knowledge will take the lead, working with D&R management and the Director of Knowledge, in assessing the future knowledge needs of D&R and leading further recruitments.
The D&R Knowledge Team is one of our four Practice Group Knowledge Teams.
The Practice Group Knowledge Teams are supported by two dedicated Senior PAs and a dedicated Training Administrator.
This is a permanent role, based out of either our London or Bristol office, ideally being recruited on a full time basis, but we are happy to consider applicants looking to work four days a week.
Our D&R Practice Group
The UK D&R Practice Group consists of 44 partners and approximately 160 other fee earners across our Bristol, London and Thames Valley offices.
Within D&R are the following service lines and specialist areas.
- Commercial Litigation
- International Arbitration
- Property Litigation
- Business Crime
- Contentious Financial Regulation
- Competition disputes
- Regulatory Disputes (including regulated procurement, health & safety, product and consumer regulation, food law, sustainability and compliance)
- Construction Disputes
- Intellectual Property disputes
- Restructuring and Insolvency (including insolvency disputes)
- Crisis and Reputation Management (including data protection, cyber security, and defamation)
- Mediation
- Investigations
Key responsibilities
- Leading the development of the D&R Knowledge strategy.
- Building technical excellence and driving best practice professional support in the D&R Knowledge Team.
- Keeping the D&R lawyer team abreast of relevant legal and regulatory change; preparing and distributing reader-friendly and relevant internal updates and client publications.
- Organising knowledge sharing, including collecting and storing external and internal knowledge.
- Developing and helping deliver the D&R team's legal training programme.
- Developing and maintaining an up-to-date and technically excellent collection of D&R precedent documents.
- Dealing with queries from lawyers across D&R, the wider Firm and clients regarding current law and practice.
- Assisting in the preparation of client seminars and client training sessions and speaking at such seminars and sessions.
- Working alongside others to support innovation in the delivery of legal services.
What we're looking for
- Strong theoretical, practical and up-to-date knowledge of Commercial Disputes law and regulation.
- We expect the individual to be or to have recently been an experienced professional support lawyer in a commercial law firm. However, we will consider exceptional candidates who have no previous professional support experience, provided that they have a demonstrable existing interest in knowledge best practice.
- A client-orientated approach with a good understanding of the use of knowledge to develop and support business development activities, preferably with prior experience of presenting to both individual client teams and at seminars and roundtables.
- Experience of managing a small team within a fast-paced and changing professional services environment is desirable but not essential; support on team management will be available to the individual.
- Demonstrable behaviour expected of a manager and team player, including pro-active leadership and the ability to generate enthusiasm with direct reports, and proficiency in generating the confidence of others, particularly at partner and senior Business Services level.
- Proven problem-solving ability on own initiative, together with the ability to make decisions and progress work and projects quickly without undue process or over-complication; confidence in own expertise; and a strong appreciation of fee earner needs and constraints.
- A good understanding of how technology, including products currently used by large law firms, can be used to drive productivity gains and cost efficiencies; and the importance of promoting efficient working processes.
- Strong oral and written communication skills, enthusiasm for presenting technical legal and regulatory issues in a clear, approachable and professional way and a good understanding of how knowledge is acquired by the lawyer and client audience.