Construction Solicitor/Associate (contentious) - Bristol

Job Introduction

We are looking to recruit an additional lawyer circa 0-5 pqe to our highly successful Tier 1 Professional Negligence team of 9 partners, 4 legal directors, 11 senior associates, 18 lawyers and 2 paralegals in Bristol.

In Bristol, we are the largest and most established professional negligence team, acting for most of the leading insurers, as well as large numbers of professional services firms themselves, across all disciplines.

As part of this offering and due to client demand, we have also developed successful niche lines of business, which complement our professional indemnity strengths; in particular in Directors' and Officers' (D&O) insurance, title indemnity insurance, cyber/technology, defending education claims as well as commercial litigation.

In addition to defending claims, the team also specialises in providing insurer clients with advice and guidance on insurance policy coverage issues and handling delicate relationships between insurers, insureds and brokers.

The surveyor and construction professionals team has huge strength in depth, being part of a wider national group with joint marketing, business development and a collegiate way of working.

The team also works alongside a market leading claims handling team who assist many of the country's largest insurers.

The team / clients

The construction arm of the Professional Negligence team acts for the majority of leading professional indemnity insurers across the London and Companies Markets and on their behalf advises architects, engineers, surveyors, D&B contractors and property managers when they are faced with the threat of professional negligence claims.

Claims often involve complex contractual, technical and factual issues with large sums at stake.  The team is particularly experienced in the deployment of alternative dispute resolution techniques and tend to conduct mediations and adjudications without the assistance of Counsel. In all cases there is heavy reliance on expert evidence both in the areas of liability and quantum.

In addition to advising insurers and construction professionals as to the defence of claims, the team provides coverage advice to insurers and monitors matters principally for design and build contractor insureds. Claims vary from multi-million pounds down to lower value matters.

Role Responsibility

Specific responsibilities include but are not restricted to:

• Interest and appetite for contentious construction disputes work.
• Will be expected to read around the subject so able to hold sensible and meaningful conversations with construction and engineering clients and contacts.
• Need to be well versed in adjudication procedure and keep up to date with relevant case law, and statutes.  
• Be prepared to run High Court cases in technically complex matters.
• Handle a varied workload in accordance with client protocols. Act as a point of contact for clients and experts, demonstrating a level of knowledge and skill commensurate with experience.
• Exercise full compliance with DAC Beachcroft protocols on billing and credit control and demonstrate a high level of financial management in respect of own files.
• Support marketing and business development activity within the team eg attending marketing events and client training.
• Build an awareness of the firm's other services. Build effective internal and external networks.
• Maintain an awareness of the firm's strategies and plans.
• Maintain and develop technical knowledge through attendance at training sessions, reading appropriate publications and exceeding Law Society CPD requirements.
• Handle confidential information in line with the firm's data security protocols.

Progression

• High-performers will be rewarded with a competitive bonus scheme and great progression opportunities.
• As a firm we are avid investors in individual development. All fee-earners within the team are able to get involved in developing innovative business solutions and assisting with strategic decision-making. In addition the nature of our work provides fantastic exposure to clients and on high value matters working along-side well-regarded, leading Legal 500 professionals within this field who will assist in your personal growth and development.

The Ideal Candidate

• The ideal candidate would range from an NQ solicitor up to 5 years PQE (or equivalent) including preferably with some construction litigation and/or construction insurance.
• Excellent relationship, client handling and communication skills.

• Able to deal confidently and professionally with clients on day to day issues.
• Able to demonstrate a reasonable level of self-sufficiency, combined with an awareness of the boundaries of own competence/authority.
• Change oriented with a positive, flexible approach towards the implementation of new initiatives.
• Team oriented and collegiate with a willingness to share knowledge with and support other members of the team.

About the Company

We are a leading international legal business with over 2,400 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We have 12 offices in the UK as well as offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Miami. We also have associations/alliances with firms in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Brazil, Peru, Central America, Argentina, the USA, Australia and Germany.

We are known for our market-leading presence in sectors such as Insurance, Health and Real Estate. This is complemented by a fast-growing Business Advisory capability. We represent a wide range of clients, ranging from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for the majority of the top 30 insurance and financial services companies operating in the UK. We are the asset management lawyers for the UK’s largest shopping centres and act for 9 of the UK’s top 10 housebuilders.

We have an impressive legal pedigree, with 155 Chambers UK 2019 practice area and individual lawyer rankings, including 30 rankings at 'Band 1' level. In Legal 500 UK, 2018, the firm received top tier ranking for 32 of its practice areas and 59 practice areas in the top two tiers. In March 2018, we were named as one of Legal Week's Best Legal Advisors for the third year running, achieving category-leading satisfaction scores for our commercial approach, service delivery, quality of legal advice, communication & responsiveness and overall relationships.

Our vision is to be leading business advisers, recognised for our insight and our outstanding commitment to clients, and for being the place where talented people want to work. For further details on our work and our culture, please visit www.dacbeachcroft.com.

DAC Beachcroft is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from every sector of the community. We also welcome direct applications. If this opportunity sounds of interest to you, please make an application and submit your CV. Your application will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.

Note for Recruitment Agencies – the DAC Beachcroft recruitment team is responsible for managing all current vacancies through direct hiring and referrals wherever possible.  We do work with recruitment agencies and where we require external support we will formally release those vacancies to the agencies on our Preferred Supplier List deemed best placed to assist us.  Speculative CVs sent by any agency to any DAC Beachcroft employee without a specific request by the recruitment team will not be accepted and with no introduction fee applicable.  Our recruitment team can be contacted at recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com 

DAC Beachcroft