Solicitor/Associate - Corporate Tax

Job Introduction

Our Corporate Finance group advises on mergers, acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, stock market listings and securities offerings, management buy-outs and buy-ins, corporate governance, debt and equity financings and a wide range of other corporate, finance and tax matters. The group advises from three locations, London, Bristol and Manchester with a total of circa 40 corporate lawyers.

The London Corporate Tax team, which is part of our Corporate Finance group and where the vacancy lies, consists of a small team of three full time fee earners and the successful individual will be working very closely alongside the other three members of the team being the Corporate Tax partner, Tax director and senior associate.  One of the advantages of the role is the successful candidate will be working very closely with these team members ensuring one on one training across a wide spectrum of roles.  

The two core aspects of the role will be working with our Real Estate and M&A teams giving tax input on their transactions.  The Real Estate team is based across London, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle & Glasgow and consists of  circa 120 fee earners, including 32 partners.

Beyond the core work described above, the DAC Beachcroft Corporate Tax team undertakes a wide variety of work.  We thought it would be useful to let the candidates see examples of the work the team has actually been doing in the last two weeks.  No two days are the same but this gives a flavour of the breadth of interesting work we do:

• Advising on M&A structures. This is not just the usual tax deeds etc; we have been stepping in to give practical advice to clients so they can understand risk.  Sitting on the fence is not an option.  
• Working for a number of the top dozen house builders on property transactions (leases, JVs, acquisitions and developments).  
• Agreeing valuations with HMRC for share schemes such as EMI
• Stamp duty on demergers.  
• Employment status advice (IR35) for the public and private sector 
• Advising three of the worlds’ best known transportation companies on a joint venture
• Professional indemnity advice on warranty and indemnity insurance when things go wrong.  
• Agreeing tax deeds and warranties and
• Drafting share options and employee benefit trust deeds

Role Responsibility

Specific responsibilities include but are not restricted to:

• Assist the corporate and real estate partners on a varied tax workload, applying not only legal expertise but appropriate commercial acumen.  

• Act as a point of contact for clients, demonstrating a level of knowledge and skill commensurate with experience

• Support marketing and business development activity within the team e.g. attending marketing events and client seminars

• Maintain an awareness of the firm's strategies and plans

• Maintain and develop technical knowledge, including through attendance at training sessions and reading appropriate publications.

• Build an awareness of the firm's other services. Build effective internal and external networks

The Ideal Candidate

Solicitor with circa 2 years PQE with previous experience in Tax work, particularly advising on property tax e.g. on leases and TOGCs and negotiating Tax Deeds and Tax Warranties.

• Applications from Chartered Tax Advisers are also encouraged but this is not a pre-requisite for the role.  We would support the successful candidate in taking these exams and it would be a pre-condition to do this. 

• Experience in the employment related securities regime would be advantageous but this is not essential.
• Excellent relationship and client handling skills. Able to deal confidently and professionally with clients on day to day issues
• Be happy to undertake research and to be interested in the law
• A desire to constantly learn with evolving developments

• Able to demonstrate a reasonable level of self-sufficiency, combined with an awareness of the boundaries of own competence/authority

• Good people skills, and an enjoyment of team working

• 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 wider team (most commonly real estate and corporate).

About the Company

We are a leading international legal business with over 2,400 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 Northern Ireland, 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.

DAC Beachcroft