LLP - Solicitor/Associate (1-8 PQE) - Professional Indemnity (Construction) - Bristol

Job Introduction

Are you looking for a role where you will be intellectually challenged, but treated with respect? Or an environment where you can enjoy industry-leading work quality without compromising on client contact and business development? Or a position that offers genuine flexibility to allow you to meet your personal and work commitments? An opportunity in our Professional and Commercial Risk team in Bristol may be for you.

We provide expert legal advice to clients across the construction, engineering and energy sectors. We act for construction professionals such as engineers, architects, design and build contractors and surveyors and their insurers.  We also have a growing practice acting for parties to construction disputes on a direct commercial basis.  We encourage cross-working across locations so colleagues have genuine variety in their work and can use their rounded expertise to provide creative, bespoke solutions for our clients.

So, why should you be excited about a career with us? Our team are empowered to develop their own client contacts and relationships from the start of their careers; you will see how your contribution directly impacts on your clients and understand how the service you provide helps them. We are also very proud of our client base, who provide us with top-quality instructions.  We have the backing of a truly international firm with over 2,500 colleagues across 9 countries and with a myriad of international associations further bolstering our capabilities.

We aim to encourage diversity by offering the opportunity to bring your whole self to work, underpinned by our employer brand of A Life That Works. Our team are very busy and work hard, but we offer genuine flexibility to allow you to meet your personal and work commitments. All across our team, from our emerging talent to our senior leadership, you won’t find a closed door, real or virtual. Read on for more information about our specific vacancy and the firm as a whole.

Role Responsibility

The firm has over 50 construction lawyers in the UK in London, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle who undertake professional indemnity and commercial construction disputes work.  In Bristol we are looking to recruit a 1-8 PQE solicitor to continue to grow our construction disputes team (which is currently 14 in number).  The role will involve defending professional indemnity claims against construction professionals as well as providing coverage advice to insurers.

As part of the team you will have:

• Interest and appetite for professional indemnity and/or contentious construction work.
• Be prepared to run Technology and Construction 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.
• Aim to achieve a minimum budgeted annual target of 1440 (1500 for bonus purposes) chargeable hours per year.
• 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.

The Ideal Candidate

• Qualified solicitor with 1-8 years PQE (or equivalent) in professional indemnity / construction litigation.
• Excellent relationship and client handling 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 2,900 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We have 11 offices in the UK as well as offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Rome, Singapore, Argentina Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Miami. We also have associations/alliances with firms in Malaysia, Brazil, Peru, Central America, the USA, Australia and Germany.

We are a broad-based commercial firm with a strong heritage in 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 all of the UK’s top-ten insurers, we are market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise all of the UK’s top-12 housebuilders.

We have an impressive legal pedigree, with 142 Chambers UK 2021 practice area and individual lawyer rankings. In Legal 500 UK 2021, the firm received a top tier ranking for 37 of its practice areas, and 58 DACB lawyers were singled out in the ‘Leading Individual' rankings.

Our successes have been recognised by the legal industry and the markets in which we operate. These accolades include two top prizes in the ‘Excellence in Business Development’ and ‘Excellence in Technology & Innovation’ categories of the 2020 Law Society Excellence Awards – the highest accolade for law firms in England & Wales. Our health sector team won the ‘Crisis Management Team of the Year’ award at the 2020 British Legal Awards for its support to the NHS at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our Cyber & Data Risk team received the ‘Business Development Innovation Award’ at the 2020 Legal Innovation Awards, as well as ‘Cyber Law Firm of the Year’ at the prestigious Insurance Insider Cyber Rankings Awards, for its market-leading suite of digital tools to help our clients prepare for and respond to cyber and data risk crises.

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.

Application Details

At DAC Beachcroft, we don’t just accept your differences we celebrate them.  From bespoke solutions for our clients, to treating you like an individual.  Our strength comes from your diverse ideas and bringing the whole you to work. So if you’re good at what you do, come as you are.  We welcome direct applications and are happy to talk flexible working.

We also want you to be at your very best.  Please feel free to let us know of any changes we can make at any point in the recruitment process that will help support your application.  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