Solicitor/Associate
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 market-leading Bristol Professional and Commercial Risk team may be for you.
What do we mean by Professional and Commercial Risk? We mean providing expert legal advice to clients across a broad range of industries and sectors via our two complementary practice areas:
Professional Indemnity - acting for insurers and the professionals they insure dealing with the full range of issues that they face. Insured clients include Surveyors & Valuers, Brokers, Solicitors, Directors and Officers, Construction Professionals, Accountants, Pension professionals, Trustees and Financial Advisers;
Commercial Dispute Resolution - specialising in financial services disputes, commercial fraud, injunctions, cyber and data risk, white collar crime, regulatory investigations and enforcement actions and specialist health litigation.
We work collaboratively across these disciplines and, whilst everyone will have their area of particular expertise, we encourage involvement in all areas of the team so colleagues have genuine variety in their work and can use their rounded expertise to provide creative, bespoke solutions for our clients.
Although the team is agile, meaning location is not a limitation, we are based in our modern, purpose-built and environmentally friendly office a stone’s throw from Bristol Temple Meads, a space where we can work closely with our teams and with the tools we need to help our clients and colleagues succeed.
So, why should you be excited about a career with us? The members of 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 repeat business and top-quality instructions. We have the scale, resources and profile of a truly global firm with over 2,500 colleagues across 9 countries.
We encourage diversity by offering the opportunity to bring your whole self to work, underpinned by our employer brand of A Life That Works. Whilst our team is very busy and works hard, we offer genuine flexibility to allow you to meet your personal and work commitments – and that flexibility won’t disappear post-Covid – it has been hardwired into our DNA for years. 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 Professional and Commercial Risk team is growing in all areas and is offering a number of new and exciting opportunities.
As part of the Professional and Commercial Risk team you will:
- Have the opportunity to interact on a regular basis with clients. You will share your knowledge of key issues and provide meaningful advice to clients;
- Be involved in the day to day conduct of complex and high value cases, including Pre-Action and High Court litigation, with the ability to shape and implement strategy;
- Be involved in running disclosure exercises and drafting witness statements;
- Run or support the team with other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution, such as mediation;
- Have the opportunity to instruct and liaise directly with experts and Counsel;
- Have the opportunity to become involved in fast-paced work such as injunctions, search orders and adjudications; and
- Draft complex advice for insurers and other clients.
We are looking for colleagues who enjoy litigation and dispute resolution, who are interested in gaining a wide variety of experience early in their career and in how the law can help clients to achieve their goals!
Not only can we offer high quality work and the opportunity to carve the career path that works for you, but also a competitive salary, an impressive benefits package and a bonus scheme that is designed to be achievable.
The Ideal Candidate
Due to our growth and the reshaping strategy, we are open-minded about the qualification level of the candidates we see as we are most interested in what you think you can bring to the role and to the team, and whether we are the right fit for you. Ideally, we are looking for a range of experience levels from NQ to 5 years PQE.
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