Contracts Lawyer – 12M FTC in Newcastle Emlyn

The Client Terms and Contracts Solutions Team, in which the Contracts Lawyer sits, forms part of the firm's General Counsel function providing crucial in‑house legal support to the firm's offices globally. The Team is primarily responsible for reviewing, negotiating and concluding contracts that the firm enters into with clients as well as suppliers of goods and services to the firm. The role sits within a busy, established Team responsible for ensuring that contracts concluded with suppliers and clients fall within the firm's risk policy and align with firm standards, practices and values.

Who you will work with

The Team works closely with the firm's Head of Legal, General Counsel, Director of Business Intake, the Chief Risk & Compliance Officer and the Procurement Director as well as the firm's partners, other lawyers, Pricing, and Client and Market Development ("CMD"), and other business professionals across a range of expert disciplines to ensure that contractual commitments are consistent with the firm's standards and practices. The Team comprises the Head of Client Terms and Contract Solutions (to which you will directly report) and two Contracts Executives. The Team ultimately reports to the firm's Head of Legal within the General Counsel's office. In this role, you will work closely with the firm's clients and perform the role of a trusted advisor to partners, lawyers and other business professionals within the firm.

What you will be responsible for

• Review and negotiate commercial contracts under which the firm, globally, acts for its clients, including client bids / RfPs, panel arrangements or specific matters.
• Deliver advice to the firm on a range of contractual issues including events and business development initiatives, secondment arrangements and NDAs.
• Review and provide input on the commercial contracts the firm enters into with its material suppliers (IT and non‑IT).
• Update terms associated with client use of legal technology tools and platforms made available by the firm, or technology platforms that clients may request the firm to interface with.
• Provide in‑house legal input to ad‑hoc firm projects and assist with updates to the firm's standard Terms of Business, templates, internal policies and processes.
• Supervise the Contracts Executives as and when needed.
• Drive efficiencies in the Team's knowledge management and processes, including leveraging technology where appropriate.

What you will do

• Review Framework Agreements, Outside Counsel Agreements, Policies and Codes, engagement letters, amendments to the firm's standard Terms of Business and similar documents received from clients ("Client Terms") to identify provisions that will require amendment / negotiation.
• Liaise with others within the firm on specialist topics such as IT security, data privacy, conflicts.
• Coordinate with the Pricing Team where pricing or other commercial issues are under discussion with the relevant client.
• Incorporate provisions the firm will want added to Client Terms.
• Prepare responses / mark‑ups to Client Terms and communicate the firm's position to clients internally (to relevant partners) and externally.
• Deal with requests from clients to amend the firm's Terms of Business.
• Update client terms and internal guidance documents to ensure adherence to those terms.
• Contribute to updates to the Terms of Use upon which the firm provides legal technology solutions to its clients.
• Assist the Procurement Team to develop, update and implement its suite of template contracts for supplying goods and services to the firm.
• Review requests for amendments to the Procurement Team's standard contracts and draft contracts received from suppliers for gaps, concerns and appropriate amendments.
• Prepare a risk summary considered before the firm enters into the contract.
• Assist Procurement to negotiate amendments to supplier contracts.
• Contribute to the provision of training to the broader Procurement Team to increase their skill set.
• Keep up‑to‑date with legal developments and consider whether amendments to the firm's Terms of Business are necessary.
• Prepare draft amendments to the Terms of Business and discuss those amendments with internal stakeholders.
• Review draft policies and procedures developed by other teams within the firm and provide feedback.
• Contribute to internal projects involving development and roll‑out of new technology relevant to the work of the Client Terms Team.

Skills

• You will be detail‑focused with strong drafting skills.
• You will have strong influencing and negotiation skills.
• Flexible to the demands of others and able to work under pressure and on your own initiative.
• The ability to plan and organise effectively to meet business priorities.
• Ability to adapt quickly to new processes and technology.
• Ability to form working relationships with others, both inside and outside the immediate team.
• Sound awareness of commercial issues and ability to resolve them pragmatically.
• Flexible and effective verbal and written communication skills and ability to build and maintain relationships with all members of the Firm.
• Commercially minded with strong analytical, organisational and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work both unsupervised and as part of a team.

Experience

• Prior experience as a practising lawyer.
• Experience reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts.
• Experience gathering and analysing information, using it to solve problems methodically and practically.
• Experience working within or alongside a Risk or Compliance function in a professional services firm would be beneficial but is not essential.

Qualifications

• A Law degree.

Benefits

When you join Clifford Chance, you will have access to a broad range of benefits to support you across many aspects of your personal and professional life including financial, wellbeing, lifestyle and family‑friendly benefits. For more information on what we offer you may visit the What We Offer page on our career site.

Equal opportunities

At Clifford Chance, we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and families, our firm and society. We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation or age. This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment. We have various employee networks that provide a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change where opportunities for improvement exist.