Corporate Lawyer: Specialist M&A Advisory in Bristol

Haggerty Jaques is delighted to be retained on a sole agency basis to recruit an experienced Corporate/Corporate Finance lawyer into this unique in-house role.

This brand new opportunity is unlike any other available to Corporate lawyers across the market. We are retained to recruit an experienced Corporate M&A lawyer to join our national client in-house in a unique role that affords a very high degree of autonomy and flexibility. For lawyers considering a career beyond traditional private practice, this role offers a rare opportunity to remain deeply involved in M&A transactions whilst building a more commercial, entrepreneurial and autonomous career.

Importantly, this is not a move away from M&A. You will continue to use the technical expertise you have built throughout your career, but in a different way with greater commercial ownership, autonomy and direct client engagement. You will have the opportunity to build your own profile and regional M&A offering, developing senior relationships and creating something of your own with the backing and resources of an established international business.

This fantastic role will include:

• Reviewing M&A transaction documents and due diligence to identify and assess legal and transactional risks, helping clients protect themselves.
• Recommending commercial risk solutions in the context of M&A transactions and negotiating those solutions on behalf of clients.
• Regional ownership: being our client’s sole representative for M&A activity in your region – whether that be Bristol or Birmingham.
• Remaining closely involved in live M&A transactions, analysing transaction structures, SPAs, disclosure exercises and due diligence findings to identify and develop solutions to risks arising on deals.
• Building a regional pipeline through an existing and expanding network of corporate lawyers, corporate finance advisers, private equity contacts and other deal professionals.
• Maintaining and continually developing technical knowledge of the M&A sector and transactional risk solutions.
• Being available throughout the deal completion process and on hand to amend transactional documents as required.
• Advising and working alongside corporate lawyers, corporate finance advisers and private equity professionals.
• Greater variety and autonomy.
• A more predictable working day, with ultimate control over your diary, allowing for a better work/life balance.
• Business development: regular time off-site developing relationships across your regional M&A community and building a pipeline of new business.
• Having the autonomy to make the role your own, while benefiting from the brand, resources and support of an established international business.
• A more balanced workload: an almost even split between bringing in the work and executing it.
• Considerably more direct client contact and ownership than is typically available in private practice.
• Significant scope for progression, with the opportunity to develop your own market profile, own senior client relationships and play a meaningful role in shaping and growing the wider M&A offering.

The region covered by this role – Bristol or Birmingham - will be determined by the successful candidate’s local market knowledge and experience. You will enjoy the support from the current head of the team and a shared junior resource for research and data-room work.

This opportunity would particularly suit an ambitious corporate lawyer who enjoys deals and still wants to use their legal expertise, but craves greater ownership, direct client contact and commercial freedom than private practice currently offers. Perhaps promotion to a more senior position – such as Legal Director or Partner - is being blocked, or is slow or unattractive. This role offers a different route for an ambitious lawyer: the opportunity to progress by building something of their own, developing a market profile and taking genuine ownership of client relationships and business growth, whilst continuing to use the M&A expertise they have spent their career developing with the backing and resources of an established international business and the support of an experienced team.

We would love to speak with you if you:

• are an M&A specialist Corporate solicitor;
• are experienced in advising on and negotiating M&A transactions – with at least 5 years’ post-qualified experience, ideally from a private practice setting in which you have worked with a range of commercial clients;
• are able to navigate SPAs and Disclosure Letters, as well as to understand the full lifecycle, pressures and moving parts of a corporate transaction;
• are an effective client-facing communicator who can translate technical information into clear commercial advice;
• have practised in Bristol or Birmingham and have an established network in that particular region, especially amongst corporate lawyers and ideally corporate finance advisers;
• are someone who enjoys the commercial and relationship-building side of M&A as much as the technical aspects of executing a deal;
• are comfortable working autonomously and on a fully remote basis with limited supervision, travelling to an in-person wider team meeting from time to time;
• and have a naturally entrepreneurial and commercial mindset and are ambitious about leading your own regional offering under our client’s corporate brand.

Corporate lawyers who are well versed in the SME or mid-market segment would be of particular interest, although this is not essential. Similarly, experience of private equity and/or tax law would be advantageous. For someone ambitious and attracted by the commercial, client-development and relationship-building aspects of partnership, but not necessarily the traditional route to getting there, this offers a genuinely different path for progression.

The business is extremely well regarded for being a fantastic place to work. It offers an excellent and creative range of benefits and has a strong track record of supporting and looking after remote employees. For the right individual, this is an opportunity to take the technical expertise and relationships you have built in private practice and use them to create something of your own – with genuine autonomy, progression and commercial ownership, while remaining firmly within the M&A market and benefiting from the backing of an established international business.

Any references to PQE are provided purely as a guide and should not deter candidates with the relevant skills and experience from applying. Haggerty Jaques is committed to promoting equality and diversity. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of background.

Please note that Haggerty Jaques only advertises vacancies through established legal and professional recruitment channels. Vacancies appearing elsewhere may not be authorised and details may be inaccurate or out of date. To ensure your application reaches us, please apply via the method outlined in this advert.