Paralegal

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 well-established competition law team is experienced in handling the full range of competition matters, from implementing bespoke compliance initiatives and addressing businesses’ day-to-day compliance issues, through to representing clients in investigations by the competition authorities. 

We are the ‘go-to’ competition advisors for a number of household name clients and we see our role as competition experts as helping businesses to understand, in practical terms, what the rules mean for them. We are listed as a Tier 1 competition practice in relevant regional and national legal directories.

We pride ourselves on the expert legal and commercial advice, as well as quality of service, we provide to our clients on a national basis.  However, like the rest of the firm, we are a down-to-earth, friendly and approachable team. 

We are looking for a Paralegal with an interest in Competition Law to join our team in Manchester. You will have an opportunity to work closely with our experienced lawyers in this challenging and highly interesting area of law. You could be called upon to assist with everything from day-to-day compliance queries and training to large-scale cartel investigations (possibly involving dawn raids) or the merger control aspects of a major corporate deal.

You will provide invaluable support to the team and build and develop your technical expertise and legal skills.

This is a rare and interesting opportunity.

• Degree in law or economics and, ideally also LPC.
• Excellent academics, but also a good level of commercial awareness.
• Preferably 6-12 months previous legal experience in a paralegal role within a Commercial practice area; ideally Competition, Commercial Litigation, or Corporate Tax.
• Ideally able to demonstrate some experience of competition law, be that in a previous paralegal role or through academic studies, and must have a genuine interest in Competition Law.
• Self-confidence and a willingness to learn.
• Enthusiastic with a positive, can do attitude.
• Good working knowledge of various applications – word, excel, outlook etc.
• Flexible with the ability to adapt to change, work to deadlines and remain calm under pressure.
• Excellent presentation skills reflected in their work.
• A methodical and organised approach with keen attention paid to every detail.
• Friendly and helpful approach to dealing with queries.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to integrate within a team.
• Ability to deliver quality support to the team and to maintain the team’s reputation for quality of service with internal and external clients.

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.