Professional Support Lawyer

A leading UK law firm with a network of offices from the South Coast to Scotland, working together as one national team. An innovative practice and the first top 100 law firm to achieve “Gold Standard” Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm. The lack of barriers between departments, a real lack of hierarchy, zero tolerance for arrogance and pomposity makes Shoosmiths a fantastic place to work.

Our Real Estate group is one of the largest real estate teams in the UK, advising an impressive range of clients including commercial and residential developers, investors, major corporate occupiers and banks/funders. Offering exceptional market knowledge the team holds an outstanding reputation with clients and the market generally. “Clients are full of admiration for this team, noting it combines outstanding technical expertise with a “very” responsive service” (Chambers).

No two days will be the same but will involve the creation and maintenance of precedents, creating and delivering training sessions, know-how, know-how materials as well as the creation of external articles for the department.   

In light of this, we are ideally looking for someone who has prior experience assisting a Real Estate team as a PSL, and has also had a number of years' experience as a Scottish qualified Real Estate lawyer working in private practice. 

• Working with the Head PSL and Precedent Developer to support the creation of Shoosmiths’ own precedents from scratch, or by adapting documents that have been used in recent transactions, this will include adapting English precedents for use in Scotland
• Create Shoosmiths’ own precedents by adapting documents prepared by the Property Standardisation Group (PSG)
• Preparing guidance notes for legal advisers to refer to when using the new Shoosmiths’ precedents
• Updating and delivering training for trainee solicitors and newly qualified legal advisers
• Delivering training in specialist areas that may be needed
• Delivering regular updates on new developments
• Prepare know-how materials and checklists for standard transactions
• Creation of articles for Shoosmiths’ website or other publications
• Conducting research on key or new areas of law to support the real estate team

• Prior experience of assisting a Real Estate team with precedent creation and know-how is preferred but previous Real Estate lawyers looking to make that move will also be considered
• Prior experience creating and delivering training sessions
• Significant experience and knowledge gained in the Real Estate discipline
• Proven experience to effectively communicate and collaborate with a diverse range of people and job functions
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; organisational and time management skills, detail oriented, and the ability to handle multiple priorities.
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office, specifically Word, Excel and Outlook.
• The ability to work as part of a team, but also able to be self-motivated and able to work on own initiative.

Shoosmiths is a committed Equal Opportunities employer promoting equality of opportunity. This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.