Paralegal

Watson Farley & Williams was established in London in 1982 and is an international law firm dedicated to client care, legal excellence and investment in its people.  The firm has offices in Athens, Bangkok, Dubai, London, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Madrid, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, Rome and Singapore.

The firm has seen rapid expansion in size and geography.  Having started as a maritime law firm, in which it remains pre-eminent, the firm is today recognised for its specialist focus on five core sectors: Energy & Infrastructure, Maritime, Natural Resources, Real Estate and Transport in which it provides a full suite of services including finance, corporate, dispute resolution, tax, employment and regulatory.

The candidate will be working as part of our Finance Group which currently comprises of 18 partners (3 aviation finance and 15 shipping finance), 31 associates, 3 professional support lawyers, 3 paralegals and 7 trainees.

We are looking for a Paralegal to join our Finance group, assisting the Aviation and Shipping Finance teams in London, initially on a 12 month fixed-term contract. The work will be a broad range of helping on transactional works both pre-and post-completion.

• Assisting with conditions precedent;

• Drafting corporate authorities;

• Drafting security documents;

• Assisting on closings and signings;

• Helping on due diligence exercises;

• Attending ship registries  and liaising with foreign counsel;

• Preparation of transaction bibles;

• Handling of post completion matters;

• Providing guidance to the trainees on pre- and post-completion processes.

To be successful in this role you will be able to demonstrate a real interest in the law. In addition, you will:

• Preferably have gained previous experience as a paralegal within a Finance department, but this is not a pre-requisite;

• Be fluent in German and English;

• Have strong attention to detail and take pride in your work;

• Anticipate and take responsibility for your own tasks, and plan these accordingly;

• Have excellent writing, editing and presentation skills;

• Have the ability to work effectively with and influence partners and others;

• Hold strong interpersonal team-working/building and communication skills;

• Have the ability to understand product and service development issues.

At Watson Farley & Williams we value diversity and promote a culture of respect for each individual. We encourage workforce diversity at all levels and in all aspects from recruitment and selection to appraisal and promotion. All decisions relating to employment practice will be objective and based on merit and ability.