THE ROLE

DLA Piper's global employment practice advises clients worldwide on employment legislation, helping them meet their workforce objectives. We partner with our clients, wherever they do business, to find solutions and manage risk in relation to their employment, incentives and pensions legal challenges and objectives. With lawyers working collaboratively across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, our global employment team is one of the largest in the world, with one of the widest geographical footprints of any international law firm.  

We are currently recruiting for an associate or senior associate to join the team in our London office. Our Employment team works as one team across Europe, and therefore the successful candidate will support Partners across multiple offices regardless of their location.

Our UK clients, and those across the globe, range from start-ups to emerging multinationals and some of the biggest and best-known global brands in the world. We work with our clients locally, internationally and across borders. Our global reach and local knowledge means that we can partner with clients to drive consistency, deliver cost savings and help them identify and manage their priorities and risk across multiple locations.

We assist our clients with acquisitions, outsourcings, expansions or reductions-in-force, local or international employee relations, data protection, local, cross-border or collective litigation, compliance, and risk management issues.

Some of our recent experience includes:

• advising a global client on drafting and implementing a Global Code of Conduct in over 50 jurisdictions
• advising on implementing a 900 employee global restructuring, affecting employees in around 30 jurisdictions worldwide
• advising a full service investment bank on global restricted stock award documentation encompassing restrictive covenants and notice periods applicable to 19 jurisdictions
• acting for a global IT company providing legal project management and full cover HR advice in an outsourcing project which affected more than 400 employees in 15 countries and included collective consultation in several countries
• acting for a global healthcare company in a cross border investigation and litigation involving the misuse of highly confidential information and staff poaching in multiple jurisdictions and
• advising a global music company with the restructuring of its global workforce, providing project support across 20-30 jurisdictions

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The successful applicant will:

• have strong Employment experience gained in a leading City, regional or international firm
• be able to demonstrate a deep understanding of the issues that are key to our clients
• be commercially astute and stay current on key legal and business news
• have excellent skills in communication, client relations, and team-working
• be able to work flexibly to tight deadlines within our fast moving environment and
• have demonstrable interest in marketing and business development and a desire to be a part of the UK practice and help to drive it forward

SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

We pride ourselves on having a collegiate environment and we are looking for down-to-earth but confident lawyers with strong leadership potential. We do not typically set upper or lower limits of PQE for any of our vacancies, however we anticipate that someone with between 4 and 6 years PQE in employment law is likely to possess the correct skillset to fulfil the obligations of this role.

THE FIRM

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world.

We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.

At DLA Piper we are firmly committed to diversity and inclusion. For us, diversity isn't just about visible differences, it's the unique blend of talents, skills, experiences and perspectives that makes each of us an individual and we know it's crucial to have a culture and environment where those differences are genuinely valued.

We offer exceptional career opportunities to our lawyers, aspiring graduates, and business services professionals in a truly challenging and rewarding environment.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING

Please note that, in the event that we make an offer of employment to you and where local legislation permits, we may conduct pre-employment screening that can include checks relating to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and references from previous employers.