Professional Support Lawyer

Our Business Development & Marketing team plays a critical role in enhancing the Firm’s reputation, expanding its client base and driving revenue growth. This team develops and implements strategic marketing plans to promote the Firm’s legal services, leveraging digital and traditional marketing channels to reach target audiences. They conduct market research to identify industry trends and client needs, positioning the Firm competitively within the legal marketplace. The team also manages client relationships, orchestrates business development initiatives, and seeks opportunities for partnerships and networking. Through compelling content creation, event planning and public relations efforts, they ensure that the Firm maintains a strong market presence and continues to attract and retain clients.

Our global Practice Solutions teams keep White & Case at the forefront of today’s changing legal landscape. We help lawyers practice smarter as they deliver world-class client service. Our work ranges from helping the Firm leverage the latest legal, client and market knowledge to providing front-line support for legal teams in their client work.

The Practice Solutions function is under the leadership of the Chief Innovation Officer and comprises five teams: Professional Support, Research & Market Intelligence, Practice Technology, Business Intelligence, and Innovation and AI. Our professionals use information management, research, data, technology, and training solutions to help our lawyers work efficiently and collaboratively to benefit our clients.

An experienced lawyer who will help to deliver the knowledge and innovation/AI strategy for the Group and Firm and to shape and influence policy and implement projects to meet the Group’s knowledge needs, with particular focus on all aspect of IP law and practice (both contentious and non-contentious) across the EU.

The PSL will monitor developments in the legal and business environment to keep both the Group and its clients up to date and identify areas to develop the Firm’s reputation and practice; provide legal and practical expertise to support the Group’s practice (both through responding to fee earner queries and through the mentoring of junior lawyers); help create, develop and manage the Group’s collection of forms, precedents and research materials in a manner that integrates with our AI platforms; organise, design and deliver Group training; work with Group members and the other Business Services departments to identify opportunities to develop business from new and existing clients; and provide other support as needed.

The individual will ideally have been exposed to matters involving intellectual property at the highest level. Specific responsibilities described below may vary depending on the Group’s needs.

• Duties and Accountabilities

Lawyer Training and Technical Expertise

• Be a source of legal, market and practical expertise for all members of the Group and more widely around the Firm, including the provision of direct support for client matters where appropriate.
• Work with the Group and other Professional Support team members to identify practice-related training needs of the Group; organise, design and deliver (personally or with others) Group training, including seminars, workshops and offsite training.
• Work with the wider Professional Support team to develop any global training programmes, as required by the partners.
• Be involved in Firmwide training programmes, as required, including core training programmes and induction courses.
• Mentor trainees and associates.

Current Awareness, Client - Facing and Thought Leadership

• Monitor and keep the Group and the Professional Support team informed about important developments in the law or business environment.
• Use own knowledge and expertise to identify trends in the law or business environment with particular emphasis on all aspect of IP across the EU and help the Group to develop new legal products, identify possible new services, and suggest innovative ways to deliver the Firm’s services more efficiently to its clients.
• Prepare regular current awareness newsletters for the Group and the Firm’s clients.
• Work with the Research & Market Intelligence team to determine requirements and policies and to implement processes for practice-related current awareness and alerts from internal and external sources.
• Author and publish research on legal developments or new areas of law relevant to the Group.
• Participate in industry events relevant to the Group to raise the Firm’s profile as a thought leader where appropriate.
• Work with the Group, and others in Business Services, to identify opportunities to develop business from new and existing clients through writing articles and briefing notes and preparing and delivering client training.

Standard Forms and Know-How

• Draft standard forms and develop accompanying notes.
• Ensure standard forms are updated to reflect changes in law, regulation, market standards and best practice.
• Conduct matter debriefs for precedent collection and deal or market analysis.
• Create practice notes and other useful know-how.
• Operate and implement procedures for capturing, filtering, storing, accessing and disseminating know-how within the Group including capturing matter descriptions and categorisations in the Matter Profiling system.
• Publish material on the Firm’s intranet and KM systems and encourage fee-earners to use KM systems and other resources.

Central Practice Solutions, Innovation/AI and Knowledge Projects

• Be a champion for rolling out new innovation/AI or knowledge systems to the Group with other Professional Support Lawyers, where appropriate.
• Contribute to global innovation/AI and knowledge programmes and projects to support Firm collaboration, efficiency and to enhance EU IP law expertise across the Firm.

Miscellaneous

• Assist lawyers with queries.
• Attend regular global, regional and practice meetings of the Professional Support team.
• Attend external training and conferences to keep up-to-date with relevant developments in the law, business environment and professional support.

Qualifications and Skills

• Sound legal experience in Intellectual Property (contentious or non-contentious but preferably both) in a large law firm.
• At least six years’ post qualification experience.
• Commercial awareness and client orientated approach.
• High professional standards with commitment to quality product.
• Excellent drafting and research skills.
• Well-developed organisational and communication skills.
• Understanding of learning process and different ways of training.
• Personality to make impact in group and to shape and influence policy.
• Effective people skills and ability to interact with people at all levels, including other support areas.
• Pragmatic, initiative-taking, flexible and good team-worker.
• Lateral thinker with initiative to establish, implement and complete projects.
• Comfortable with IT and familiar with market trends in AI/Innovation technologies.

What We Offer

When you join us, you’ll be working directly with partners, business leaders and many other inspiring colleagues across our global network of offices. We live by our values—to be pioneering, united and human—and we believe that you’ll experience them from your first day. We will give you the support and development opportunities that will help you achieve your potential.

We believe that consistent high performance merits reward and support. Our compensation package reflects your calibre as a Professional Support Lawyer, and our benefits are designed to support your changing needs and priorities across different life stages.

Location

Our standard office hours are 9:30-18:00, with a requirement for 4 days in the office per week (Monday - Thursday).

Firm Benefits

We offer a flexible range of benefits, services and programmes designed to help support your lifestyle requirements. Some of the benefits currently available include:

• Private medical insurance
• Pension plan with matched employer contribution up to 7.5%
• Yearly wellbeing fund
• Income protection
• Life insurance
• Critical Illness insurance
• Private GP services
• Travel insurance
• Dental coverage
• Cycle to work
• Holiday purchase (available during annual enrolment)

This role reports to Chief Innovation Officer

Equal Opportunities

White & Case is committed to creating a fair workplace. It is our Firm’s policy to recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote without regard to race, religion, creed, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other category protected by applicable law.

If you require assistance and/or adjustment to participate in our application and/or interview process, please email us. We will be happy to work with you.

The Firm may modify and amend any job description at any time in its sole discretion. Nothing herein creates a contract of employment or otherwise modifies the at-will nature of employment. The above is only a general description of the essential duties associated with this position and does not represent an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all duties.