Corporate & Commercial Solicitors circa 6 years+ PQE

Job Description:

Key Responsibilities

This is a great opportunity for a corporate / commercial solicitor who is looking to work with a wide variety of businesses generally in the region of £5 million value. You will need to have circa 10 years PQE in order to be considered.

This is a hybrid role based in Moorgate 3 days per week and 2 days from home.

You will be working directly with clients and other members of the team across a range of business-to-business practice areas and sectors.

The heart of the role is corporate restructuring and M&A: mergers and acquisitions, share and asset sales and purchases, management buy-outs, group reorganisations and demergers, share buybacks, joint ventures, and shareholders’, LLP and partnership agreements.

Alongside the corporate work you will handle general commercial matters, including business terms and conditions and the full range of commercial contracts, non-contentious intellectual property, and non-contentious employment (contracts, policies, TUPE on transactions, incentives and share schemes, settlement agreements), with support on property and finance from colleagues in those teams.

Much of the restructuring work runs alongside the tax team’s planning, so you will need to be genuinely comfortable with the corporate side of family investment companies, freezer and growth share structures, share-for-share exchanges and section 77 relief, and the everyday tax reliefs a restructuring solicitor is expected to know. You do not need to be a tax lawyer, but you do need to hold your own with one.

This is a senior role within the corporate and M&A team, with a clear path to partnership for the right person. You will run your own files with minimal supervision and manage and delegate to a small team of junior lawyers. Experience acting on nursery, care home or dental transactions is a real advantage, though it is not essential.

The role will require you to supervise other members of the team with their client matters in all aspects of the corporate and commercial work.

You will be experienced in the following:

• Running share and asset sales and purchases end to end: taking instructions, drafting and negotiating the SPA and ancillary documents, leading due diligence and disclosure, and seeing the deal through to completion and post-completion.
• Leading group restructurings and reorganisations, often alongside the tax team: share-for-share exchanges, insertion of new holding companies, demergers, hive-ups and hive-downs, and the introduction of family investment companies, freezer and growth share structures for founders and the next generation.
• Drafting and negotiating shareholders’ agreements, articles, joint venture and partnership agreements, and the full range of commercial contracts (supply, distribution, services, NDAs), together with non-contentious intellectual property (assignments, licences, IP schedules on deals) and non-contentious employment work (contracts, policies, consultancy and IR35, TUPE, incentives and settlement agreements).
• Giving clients clear, commercial advice on terms, risk and what to push back on, and telling them what you would do, not just listing the options.
• Supervising and delegating to junior solicitors and paralegals: allocating work, reviewing drafts, and keeping matters moving to deadline.
• Taking on a proactive role in the negotiation of key documents and project management of the above types of work (direct client contact will be involved).
• Creating and maintaining client and referral relationships (attending meetings and calls).
• Assisting with the generation of new client work.
• Attending events such as firm socials, trade shows and other opportunities.
• Supporting other members of the team with training and mentorship with professional development.
• Using your initiative with self-development, training and development.

The Package

• Competitive base salary, plus a flat 20% bonus for net billings in excess of three times base salary and an additional 5% bonus for net billings on all matters for the first 12 months in respect of new clients you introduce to the firm.
• Private medical insurance.
• Group life insurance at three times base salary.
• An additional day off for your Birthday every year.
• Tailored training and development plans for every employee.
• Participation in the law team’s incentive program.
• Hybrid working – 2 days per week from home, 3 in the office in Moorgate.