Legal Director - Healthcare & Public Law (Data)

Job Introduction

The Health Care and Public law team at DAC Beachcroft are leading advisers in the health and social care sector. We are regularly instructed in ground breaking and high profile cases for both public and independent sector clients.

The team provides strategic advice to clients on a wide range of issues including; regulatory issues, healthcare law, information governance, inquests, CQC inspections, registration and enforcement, judicial reviews, public inquiries, serious incidents, domestic homicide inquiries, criminal investigations, mental health, patient care issues, Human Rights Act issues, and clinical and corporate governance.

The team's information law practice advises a broad range of health, public sector and charity sector clients, including NHS and independent sector providers, NHS commissioners, central government departments and medtech providers.  We are looking for a senior health information law specialist to help develop and supervise our team of junior specialists, but also to drive the further development of the practice both within its existing client base but also to attract new ones. 

Role Responsibility

• Advise health and social care clients in respect of some, or all, of the following:
  • Data protection, confidentiality and Freedom of Information
  • Providing complex advice such as: data protection impact assessments; risk based analysis of data protection compliance of new projects and systems; the use of artificial intelligence; and structuring new initiatives, such as big data projects, marketing strategy and data sharing.
  • Assisting with responses to ICO complaints and defending investigations.
  • Dealing with complex data subject requests.
  • Advising on the use of targeted advertising, cookies and new technologies.
  • Drafting and negotiating data protection clauses.
  • Advising on issues arising out of cross border transfers of data.
• Help build and maintain relationships with clients, demonstrating a level of knowledge and skill commensurate with experience
• Be involved in in marketing and business development, including ongoing contribution to business development opportunities and ideas
• 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 chargeable hours per year
• 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

A Legal Director with a significant focus on data protection and interest in working in Health and Social care law:

• Significant previous experience in advising in Health and Social Care matters
• Highly motivated individual to fit into a responsive team providing excellence in service to our health and social care clients
• Excellent technical ability, particularly with drafting policies, drafting and negotiating data protection clauses in agreements, conducting data protection impact assessments and advising on cross border data transfers.
• A reasonable level of self-sufficiency and initiative, combined with an awareness of the boundaries of own competence.
• Experience of supervising the work of others.
• A genuine passion for this area of law and an interest in data protection developments, both legal and technological.
• Professional certifications such as IAPP CIPP/E and CIPM are desired (but not essential).
• Strong client relationship skills and potential for further development
• Highly motivated individual to fit into a responsive team providing excellence in service to our health and social care clients.

About the Company

About DAC Beachcroft

We're a leading international legal business with over 3,000 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We're market leaders in insurance, health and real estate but with a full-service offering, including growing Financial Services and Tech capabilities. We represent a wide range of clients – from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for nearly all of the top-20 UK and global insurers, we're 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-five housebuilders.

We are a fast-growing international business with offices around the globe.  In addition to our 11 UK offices, we also have offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Rome, Singapore, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Miami, plus a broad network of affiliations across the globe. 

Working with us

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. Combine this with our supportive culture and hybrid working model, and you have: a Life that Works.

Our flexible approach means that we help our colleagues to be their best at work, while recognising that they have all sorts of different interests and commitments outside work.

We pride ourselves on our supportive, approachable culture. We are trusted, appreciated as individuals and embraced as part of a team. At DACB, we don’t just accept your differences, we celebrate and advocate for them. From bespoke solutions for our clients, to treating you as 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!

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 resourcing team will not be accepted and with no introduction fee applicable. Our resourcing team can be contacted at recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com

DAC Beachcroft