We are seeking to recruit a solicitor with 2 to 5 years' UK post-qualification experience to join the banking and finance group.

The team

The team comprises seven partners, supplemented by partners in our financial services regulation and banking and finance litigation groups, supported by a very collegiate and close-knit team of three senior counsel, 22 solicitors, a dedicated PSL, five trainees and three paralegals. The group has successfully grown over the last five years, and now incorporates a broad range of finance related practice areas including structured finance, debt capital markets, acquisition finance, subordinated finance, restructuring and insolvency, fund finance, corporate lending, real estate finance, loan investment and speciality finance.

We operate in a wider variety of fields and we strive for a balanced practice. We act for banks (e.g. NatWest Markets and Goldman Sachs), alternative lenders (e.g. Hayfin, Ares and BlueBay), sponsors (e.g. Epiris, Exponent and Silverfleet) and for corporate borrowers (e.g. J D Wetherspoon plc, Spectris plc and ITE Group plc).

Our structured finance practice provides expertise in all aspects of structured finance transactions, including securitisations, structured products, cashflow financings, repackagings and asset-backed bonds. Our lawyers are adept at finding solutions to the most complex and challenging transactions and accordingly are seeing an increase in the number of clients new to the practice, including financial institutions, corporates, fund managers, investors, servicers, trustees and other market participants. We regularly advise on transactions that are the first of their kind, frequently involving fund-based structures, which combines our capabilities in fund formation with our structured finance practice. Recent deals include advising Goldman Sachs Private Capital in relation to a private securitisation, backed by bridging loans originated by Together Financial Services, trading as Together.

The candidate

We want to recruit a lawyer that fulfils the following criteria:

• strong academic qualifications from A Levels, with a minimum 2:1 degree;
• at least one banking and finance seat completed during the lawyer’s training contract;
• 2 to 5 years’ post-qualification experience from a magic circle, silver circle or US law firm;
• the ideal candidate will have significant structured finance and/or debt capital markets experience and will be eager to develop their expertise in this area; In addition the role will allow the candidate to undertake a degree of fund finance and general banking. However, the focus of the role will be on structured finance and debt capital markets matters;
• ambitious, with a genuine commitment to develop their professional and legal skills and the profile of the team;
• articulate and confident to deliver at the highest standard within a team of highly competent solicitors at the top of their game; and
• the team is known as being very friendly and collegiate, and so the right person would need to fit well within the group and, for example, be willing to pitch in with transactions that others are working on, if required to help relieve workload pressures.

Why choose Macfarlanes

Macfarlanes is a distinctive law firm with a straightforward, independently-minded approach. We believe we are a smart alternative to the US and Magic Circle firms, offering real opportunity for ambitious lawyers to develop and work closely with quality clients on difficult and rewarding transactions.  Our team has an excellent reputation for producing strong lawyers who feel part of a cohesive, friendly and supportive team, and whose efforts are appreciated and rewarded by the firm.

Breadth of work

We encourage our associates to cover all areas of the group’s practice – no solicitor just works for one partner.  We encourage some specialisation as associates become more senior but all our associates and partners cover a wide range of the team’s areas of expertise. 

Teams are partner led and lawyers are not left in the lurch to fend for themselves.  That said, we want to stretch our associates and they are given as much responsibility as they can handle.  We staff projects with lean teams so all team members get real involvement in a project.

Client secondments are common and secondments to overseas law firms may be possible.  We also encourage our associates to participate in our client and business development activities.

Education and training

We strive to provide our associates with long-term careers and have a career development programme in place which is designed to support each of our solicitors’ aspirations, enabling them to enhance their legal and commercial skills, and to reach their full potential.  We believe our Education and Training programme is second to none.  We also provide significant wider training on development, such as presentation skills, building a network, managing time efficiently and operating as a modern day lawyer.

Prospects

We expect the candidate will be concerned to know about partnership prospects.  These are very real.  We aim to grow the team organically over the next few years.  We will consider candidates with partnership aspirations, as well as those looking for a long-term career at a senior level but without the responsibilities of partnership.
We see this as a fantastic opportunity for a junior lawyer to thrive in a fast-growing, entrepreneurial yet supportive environment.
Further details about our practice, the work we do and examples of recent deals can be found here.

Our commitment to inclusion

At Macfarlanes we understand the importance of an inclusive culture, the continued development of which has been identified as one of our key priorities.  Our focus is to foster an inclusive culture throughout the firm, from entry level to partnership.  It is about recruiting, retaining and promoting all groups in the firm fairly, and we are continually reviewing our processes to ensure that everyone has the same chance to develop and advance.  An inclusive, forward-thinking culture also enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work.  We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of gender, race or ethnicity, background, religion, physical abilities, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.