Real Estate (Development) Solicitor, Bristol - NQ- 3PQE+

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? An opportunity in our Real Estate team may be for you.

Our National Development Team  has an opportunity in Bristol for a Solicitor to help them with their increasing workload from regionally and nationally based residential, mixed use and commercial developer clients. The work is exciting and varied and includes all aspects of brownfield site regeneration schemes, mixed use, urban extensions, garden villages, the purchase and development of strategic land, joint ventures and collaborations and the development and disposals of new housing neighbourhoods. Clients include Vistry Homes, Barratts, Bellway Homes, Taylor Wimpey, Crest Nicholson, Persimmon, Deeley Freed and Watkin Jones. The candidate will work closely with solicitors from our Real Estate team from other disciplines including, planners, construction, corporate, tax and property finance lawyers.

The Real Estate team is ranked Tier 1 in Bristol (Legal 500) and Tier 2 in the wider South West (Chambers). The Development team, led by Ben Pariser and Frances Keenan, is recognised as market leading:

“The team are excellent. Their advice is always consistent and reliable. Their proactive approach enables sites to be delivered swiftly and efficiently.” (Legal 500)

“The team is fantastic for land parcels, land and planning and social housing partnering agreements.” (Chambers)

So, why should you be excited about a career with us? 

Our diverse range of clients provides top-quality instructions and a varied and sustainable pipeline of work.

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. 

All across our team, from our emerging talent to our senior leadership, you won’t find a closed door, real or virtual.

We are a truly international firm with over 2,500 colleagues across 9 countries and with a myriad of international associations further bolstering our capabilities.

Our team are very busy and work hard, but we offer genuine flexibility to allow you to meet your personal and work commitments – and that flexibility won’t disappear post-Covid!

Role Responsibility

• Working as part of the National Team on a wide variety of projects
• Drafting and negotiating contracts dealing with all aspects of acquisition, development and disposals
• Carrying out and supervising due diligence and reporting
• Providing clients with focused legal advice with an appreciation of clients' commercial objectives
• Reporting to clients, communicating directly with them and building relationships
• Involvement in business development and assistance with client management.
• Assisting with writing articles and client updates
• At all times complying with client and firm protocols, financial management requirements and data protection requirements.

The Ideal Candidate

• An NQ-3PQE+ Solicitor, experienced in commercial and / or residential development. However, direct development experience is not essential; a bright, pro-active, enthusiastic candidate who is keen to learn and become an experienced development lawyer would also be strongly considered.
• Strong technical skills and an ability to understand and work through complex issues.
• A demonstrable ability to adopt a commercial perspective rather than an ‘academic’ approach to legal issues and to be highly client focused.
• Ability to operate with a high level of self-sufficiency, combined with an awareness of the boundaries of own competence/authority.
• Exposure to and success within business development activities.
• Confident communicator with an ability to develop relationships, undertake client marketing and influence at all levels. Ability to deal confidently and professionally with clients on day to day issues, building up strong relationships.
• Strong organisation skills to ensure a pragmatic and methodical approach to handling a variety of Real Estate matters simultaneously
• Change oriented with a positive, flexible approach towards the implementation of new initiatives.
• Able to handle a complex and constantly changing workload and to work under pressure.
• Detail conscious with a concern for quality.
• Ability to deliver against client protocols and KPIs.

About the Company

We are a leading international legal business with over 2,500 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We have 11 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, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, 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