Legal Director

Job content

Let us introduce ourselves…

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 ?

Meet the team

Our Corporate team comprises around 30 solicitors and are part of the firm’s wider Life and Business unit. We act for SMEs, owner managed businesses, HNWIs, VCs, financial institutions, PLCs and banks on corporate transactions.

The team have had an outstanding start to the year, totalling more than £4 billion in deals - a new record for the firm. Completing an average of three deals per week in the first quarter from January to March this year, we have supported ambitious businesses with their transactions both nationally and internationally. The deals, spanning clients in the East Midlands, West Midlands and South East regions, form part of our recent growth plans at the firm , with aims to double in size by 2023.

The opportunity

This is an exceptional opportunity for an accomplished Corporate Solicitor at Legal Director level. We are looking for someone with ambition and drive to join our team. You are likely to have around 7-10 years’ PQE and enthusiasm to take on a real career opportunity,

Your Key Duties Will Be

• to handle a wide range of corporate work
• working closely with a range of clients to provide fast, pragmatic and commercial advice
• 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
• assisting and supervising more junior fee earners, delegating appropriate work to paralegals and supporting more senior team members on large complex matters

Skills And Experience You Will Have

• a minimum of 7 years relevant experience working in corporate law work
• 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

Key Competencies You Will Need

• a high degree of initiative and the ability to cope in a demanding environment
• excellent organisational and prioritising skills
• the ability to work in a busy team
• excellent communication skills

How we work

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, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon and Sheffield. This role will be predominantly home based with travel as required into one of our East Midlands hubs

Additional information

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 .

Equal opportunities

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.