Legal Director

It’s the people at Shakespeare Martineau that make us so special. By understanding what our people want, giving them the support they need, recognising everyone’s contribution and realising the unique power of teams, together we win.   As a firm we are focused on proactively building and developing diverse teams, bringing different backgrounds, personalities and perspectives together. We play to our strengths, pushing ourselves to be consistently better than yesterday and deliver amazing solutions for our clients. We empower our teams with a high degree of individual responsibility; we self-manage and encourage everyone to be responsible for their own learning, knowing it makes us even better at what we do!    

We believe in trusting our people to make the right decisions for themselves, from when and where you work, to how you dress; we focus on outputs.  

Want to find more about our amazing benefits?

We are looking for someone to work very closely with Amal Kaur to help us drive forward one of our strong growth areas. Amal is our dual-qualified partner, with over 14 years’ combined experience of Scots law and English law, Amal has an impressive track record and a wealth of experience within the real estate sector, acting on behalf of several high-profile clients - from larger funds to social enterprise bodies. 

As well as working within core real estate on matters such as landlord and tenant matters, asset management and sale and purchase work, Amal also has vast experience within the renewable energy sector, including combined heat and power (CHP) and district heating network projects. 

Join us now and you’ll be part of a niche but growing specialist team which also offers the exciting chance to work collaboratively with the wider Shakespeare Martineau teams. This means the backing and support of a big network of colleagues and clients and cross sector opportunities to work together.

If you are Scots Law qualified (or dual qualified – even better!) with at least 5 years’ PQE in Commercial Real Estate work read on….This is a serious career opportunity, suitable for someone at Senior Associate or Legal Director level who has ambition and enthusiasm to match ours. Specialism in Real Estate, Real Estate Finance or Real Estate Energy work is what we’re after, as well as a passion for delivering great client service and a team spirit to fit in with a team that’s really going places.

Your key duties will be:

• working closely with Amal who deals primarily with Scottish law
• handling a wide caseload of development, utilities and asset management work as well as securities and expansion into the energy sector
• working with marketing strategies to attract new clients and developing relationships with current clients
• assisting on tender pitches and development opportunities
• developing client relationships, holding meetings, getting to know them and their business
• taking clients’ instructions
• working closely with a range of clients to provide fast, pragmatic and commercial advice
• assisting and supervising more junior fee earners, delegating appropriate work to paralegals and supporting more senior team members on large complex matters
• maintaining good file management
• working to strict deadlines

Role requirements:

• a minimum of 5 years’ previous experience gained in the real estate sector - commercial real estate, real estate finance or real estate energy projects background
• a proven ability to generate new business in a professional services environment
• ability to manage your workload, knowing when to delegate and when to request additional input, to provide the best client service
• an understanding of clients as our business partners & the importance of knowing what is key for them in a legal team
• ambition, leadership capability and vision to work as a team to grow the business
• being able to bring a client following would be advantageous & would be reflected in incoming level of seniority

About you – you will be:

• highly enthusiastic, willing to go the extra mile and be happy to go beyond the job description
• respectful towards others and have a positive, willing and ‘can do’ attitude
• keen to learn, interested in driving your own career progression and be proactive in taking ownership of this

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work.

We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it.

We have hubs in Birmingham, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon and Sheffield.  This role will be home based with travel if required into any one of our office hubs.

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Please be aware, for some vacancies, where we receive high numbers of applications we may need to bring the close date forward.

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.