Real Estate Associate

We will offer you a place where you can be yourself and where there are no limits on what you can achieve. With us, you can take ownership of your career and have honest conversations throughout. You would join an ambitious firm with a clear strategy for profitable growth where you can get early responsibility and early involvement in growing the business. Here you can expect a competitive and fair reward as well as recognition based on all round performance.

With international expertise and broad experience in every kind of commercial and residential property transaction, the firm's real estate practice advises clients all over the world. These clients include major property companies, institutional investors, banks, hotel groups, public sector organisations and corporate occupiers.

This role is part of a 40 strong team in London of highly committed, top legal talent, including eight partners and over 20 associates. The team have extensive experience of investment acquisitions and disposals, financings and refinancing, development projects including planning and environmental advice, sale and leasebacks and other structures, and general commercial real estate management matters.

We also offer wider services to our real estate clients by working closely with our finance, tax, corporate and construction teams in other practice groups. We are seeking a junior level associate to join this well-respected practice, where you will benefit from a supportive environment that encourages professional development, knowledge sharing and early responsibility, with opportunities to work on landmark transactions.

Main Responsibilities

• Analysing risks and advising on the best ways of addressing those risks
• Clear, concise and unambiguous preparation and drafting of documentation
• Conducting legal research using internal and external knowledge management resources
• Liaison with clients
• Managing transactions
• Building excellent working relationships with clients and peers within Stephenson Harwood
• Developing own informal internal and external network of contacts
• Attending business development and profile raising events (client seminars, graduate recruitment activities)
• Assisting in the preparation of legal articles

Attributes/Skills Required

• Extensive legal commercial real estate experience, including buying and selling, asset management, and ideally development
• England and Wales qualified lawyer with experience of working on complex landlord and tenant, investment and ideally development work for demanding corporate clients
• Demonstrable experience of responding quickly and effectively to client requests and of holding their own in challenging conversations and negotiations
• Excellent academic and professional qualifications required
• Demonstrates the Stephenson Harwood values of individuality, commitment, teamwork and straight talking
• Ambitious self-starter with a strong desire to take on responsibility and play a key role in developing the firm's real estate practice
• Exhibits an understanding of the firm’s position in the market and how it distinguishes its services from its competitors
• Entrepreneurial, with broad commercial awareness
• Cooperative and collaborative in approach and is able to develop excellent working relationships at all levels and roles
• Organised with the ability to manage own workload and lead a transaction with little partner support, including delegating to more junior lawyers
• Good housekeeping/file management practices; manages and records time promptly and accurately
• Exceptional accuracy and attention to detail
• Professional with excellent verbal and numerical communication skills

About The Firm

Stephenson Harwood is an international law firm, and we’re committed to creating 'positive partnerships' with our clients. We represent listed and private companies, institutions and individuals, building lasting relationships to help them succeed in a complex and ever-changing world.

Our focus is on five core sectors: Energy Transition, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Private Capital and Funds, Technology, and Transportation and Trade. With more than 1,500 people, including 220+ partners, across ten offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, we combine deep legal capabilities and broad commercial expertise. We have also forged close ties with high quality law firms around the world, blending local knowledge with global savvy for clients in over 100 countries.

We understand the power of diversity in delivering that high calibre advice to our clients. We want to attract diverse talent and we particularly encourage applications from underrepresented demographics.