EU/ Competition PSL Lawyer- Glasgow/ London/ Birmingham
- Recruiter
- Thomson LRC
- Location
-
Glasgow/ London/ Birmingham
BirminghamGlasgow City
- Salary
- £Excellent + Benefits
- Posted
- 12 Jun 2017
- Closes
- 11 Jul 2017
- Ref
- TLRC274
- Job Title
- Lawyer
- Category
- Legal
- Contract Type
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full Time
Unique role for an experienced EU/Competition lawyer to take on a specialist, non-fee earning PSL role with a leading top tier firm. This role can be based in Glasgow, Birmingham or London.
Role Profile:
The practice group covers the practice areas of EU & UK Competition law, Public Procurement, State aid, EU law and International Trade law. In each of those legal areas, your responsibility is to assist the team in having access to cutting-edge and innovative know-how, developing and maintaining client relationships and achieving high quality service delivery.
Responsibilities will include drafting thought leadership publications (external and internal articles, newsletters, briefings, current awareness and alerts, etc.); producing and managing appropriate precedents, standard forms and practice notes; preparing responses to public consultations on legal and policy developments; researching and providing information, analysis, and expertise on legal and policy developments to the lawyers within the group; maintaining the group's knowledge database; organising training programme for the group; working with the firm's Knowledge team to ensure best use of resources and technology.
Additional responsibilities will include:
Key tasks
- Understands and exploits the firm's technologies and platforms to improve the team's operational efficiency, profitability and cost-effectiveness (e.g. through the automation of standard documents, the creation of toolkits and workflows) and to improve service delivery.
- Monitors recent legal and policy developments and keeps the group and our clients informed with expert analysis, through external and internal briefings and alerts.
- Work with client teams and Business Development to develop and deliver intelligence, products and know how, particularly for key Atlas clients within the group.
- Drafts precedents, standard forms, practice notes, flowcharts and keeps them up to date.
- Encourages a culture of knowledge sharing within the group.
- Manages contributions and collection of know-how and keeps the group's knowledge database up to date.
- Assesses needs for new and/or updated versions of information resources, both online and hard copy, ensuring we maximise benefit of our subscriptions.
- Assesses legal training needs and training budget for the group; organises training and seminars for the team.
- Attends external seminars and shares and reports lessons learned with the rest of the group.
- Organises trainee inductions.
- Collaborates with across the firm as well as with the firm's Knowledge team, assists members of other groups, departments or offices when needed.
- Keeps the group informed on the firm's knowledge management strategy.
EU & Competition Group:
The Group is highly regarded, sizable and experienced with strength across all areas of competition law. It comprises 8 partners and 18 lawyers, of which 6 partners and 8 lawyers advise purely on competition law matters, with the remaining lawyers advising solely on State aid and public procurement law.
The Group's work covers:
Antitrust: The firm have extensive experience of advising on criminal and civil cartels investigations by the CMA, including advising on the recent Galvanized Steel Tanks cartel and on the only remaining CMA criminal cartel investigation in relation to Precast Concrete Drainage Pipes. Previously they have advised on EU and UK cartel investigations including in the construction, dairy and cement sectors. They advised on the Yen LIBOR investigations by European Commission, FCA, CFTC, US DOJ, Canadian Competition Bureau and Swiss Competition Authority, and they advised MBNA/Bank of America on the long-running credit card interchange fee investigations by the European Commission and OFT. We also advised National Grid plc on the abuse of dominance investigation by Ofgem that led to an infringement decision and fine of £41.6 million and the subsequently successful appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal.
Merger control: The firm regularly advise on Phase I and 2 UK mergers including the $1bn merger between AMC, Odeon and UCI group; Teva's £600mn disposal of Actavis and University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust's £1.4bn acquisition of the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust. They also advised Groupe Eurotunnel on its merger control litigation against the CMA that reached the Supreme Court. Additionally they also advise on EU and multi-jurisdictional merger filings.
Market investigations: The CMA recently concluded two major investigations into both the energy sector and retail banking market. The team advised E.On on the former and a leading retail bank on the latter. These are the biggest investigations ever undertaken by the CMA - and the firm's work for these major clients is a signifier of our reputation in the area. They also advised on market investigations in relation to aggregates and payment protection insurance, amongst others.
Competition Litigation: The firm are acting a number of the largest companies in the UK in relation to follow-on damages claims concerning the 'Trucks cartel' where the European Commission imposed a €2.9bn fine, amongst other claims. They also regularly advise on appeals of regulators' decisions to the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the courts.
State aid: The firm's strong State aid practice advises recipients of potential State aid, as well as public authorities on their obligations under the EU rules. That advice covers advising authorities on granting compliant subsidies to devising grants structures which legitimately fall outside the scope of the State aid rules or outside the notification requirements under those rules. The Team has particular experience of projects involving interlinking State aid, Competition and Public Procurement issues. They provide advice across all of our Global Sectors. Principal areas of expertise are advising public authorities on the existence of State aid and/or the notification requirements to the European Commission, advising recipients of State aid on the commercial implications of State subsidies received, State aid and tax issues, State aid disputes, and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) applications.
Public procurement: The firm have the largest dedicated team of procurement lawyers in the UK. The team advises on some of the most complex and challenging projects currently in procurement. That advice covers all aspects of procurement, from advising authorities on running compliant and effective tender processes to devising structures and agreements which legitimately fall outside the scope of the procurement rules as well as advising authorities or bidders on procurement disputes. A key part of the firm's role is to provide strategic procurement advice, which is designed to minimise risk and maximise the effectiveness of the procurement process. The firm provide bespoke training to clients in both the public and private sector, with a strong emphasis on the practical application of the procurement rule and they provide advice across all of their Global Sectors.
Candidate Requirements:
- Admission as a solicitor (or equivalent) in any of the UK, EU or Commonwealth jurisdictions.
- Practicing experience in at least one of the group's practice areas (EU or UK Competition Law, Public Procurement, State aid, EU law and/or International Trade Law), preference 4+ PQE.
- Prior experience in a large, international, law firm or similar working environment is essential.
- Prior experience in knowledge management would be an advantage.
- Excellent legal research and drafting skills.
- Excellent communication and influencing skills.
- Excellent attention to detail.
- Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, organisational and planning skills, able to handle multiple projects and shifting priorities.
- Team oriented but able to work alone and drive progress independently.
- Strong supervision and delegation skills, using junior solicitors, trainees and paralegals to assist on know-how tasks and projects.
- Excellent competency with relevant firm computer software programs (e.g., Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint), with the ability to learn new applications, including web page editing software, collaborative work software and platforms (e.g. Webex).
- Familiarity with the resources important to the group, including: MLex, Global Competition Review, Justis, Achilles, Lexis, Westlaw, European Courts, European institutions, UK competition authorities and regulators, main Competition law, State aid, Procurement and/or International Trade text books and periodicals.
- Strong interest in, and understanding of, knowledge management principles, technology and best practices and how the legal services market is evolving in this area.
On offer is a highly competitive salary and benefits package.
To discuss this role in confidence or to apply, please contact David Thomson, Director at Thomson Legal by completing the Apply Now details in the box below. Alternatively, please click on the Thomson Legal logo to access our recruiter profile where you can contact us directly via telephone, email or social media.