An exciting opportunity has arisen for a newly qualified solicitor (0-2 years PQE) to join Womble Bond Dickinson's Commercial Team in Southampton.  The team is led by Partners Andrew Kimble and Paula Bartlett and Legal Directors Stephen Anderson and Sheilah Mackie and undertakes a wide variety of work across the Digital (technology and privacy) and General Commercial sub-teams (which each form part of the wider Commercial Team) for clients locally, nationally and internationally. 

The team is ranked nationally in legal directories and the successful candidate would have the opportunity to work on high profile matters for household name clients.

While this role is based in the Southampton office the team usually work on a cross-office basis (there are around 40 lawyers in the Commercial Team overall spread across 6 of our UK offices) as needed to support the relevant client project.  The wider Commercial Team also includes the Intellectual Property team with which the Digital and General Commercial sub-teams work closely given the complimentary nature of the work. 

The team carries out a range of work for clients including:

• Advising on high profile business-critical transactions;
• Day to day business as usual contracts for the supply and purchase of goods and services;
• Distribution, agency, warehousing and outsourcing arrangements;
• IT infrastructure and software development and implementation; and
• Data protection policies, data sharing agreements, Cybersecurity and GDPR compliance reviews, direct marketing and general privacy compliance advice.

The Southampton team works across a wide range of sectors, with a particular expertise in the Retail and Logistics, Manufacturing, Real Estate and Financial Institutions and works with clients at all stages of the business cycle – from start/scale-ups through to multi-national and heavily regulated organisations. The team also has a particular focus on Aerospace and Defence clients and works closely with our US colleagues at WBD US for this purpose. 

You will need strong drafting, negotiating and communication skills (both written and verbal) as well as robust research skills and a sense of curiosity. Attention to detail is paramount and you'll also need to work well in a team both internally across other teams within the firm and also as an extension of our clients' internal legal teams.  Given the nature of the work, you will have an interesting and varied workload, comprising of a range of matters so organisation and time management skills will also be critical.  The team undertakes a lot of business development activity and inputs into firmwide tenders and so an enthusiasm for getting involved with that activity is also important.

Who are we?

A Top 100 law firm globally and Top 20 law firm in the UK, Womble Bond Dickinson has more than 400 partners and 1,000 lawyers based across 19 US cities and seven UK cities including a significant presence in London. The firm's reach also extends to Europe where it has strategic partnerships with other law firms in Germany and France.

In the UK, Womble Bond Dickinson advises in excess of 40 FTSE 350 companies, many of the largest businesses in the country, government organisations and wealthy individuals. With a focus on eleven key sectors (Energy & Natural Resources; Financial Institutions; Healthcare;  Insurance, Manufacturing;  Real Estate; Retail and Consumer; Transport, Logistics & Infrastructure; Life Sciences & Pharmaceuticals; Technology and Private Wealth) the firm's experience allows it to build strong relationships and deliver an excellent service to clients.

What makes it great to work here?

We continually work hard to create an open culture that sets us apart from other firms. Our culture gives us much more of a human feel, emphasising that we're more than just suits!  We like and make time for each other enabling us to establish professional relationships that can often become lasting friendships. 

Through our D&I initiatives we create an environment in which difference is valued.  We have a Diversity and Inclusion Group, led by our Board Sponsor, which works with our colleague networks (we currently have firm supported networks for ethnic diversity, LGBTQ+, disabilities, families, and women's career development and we're in constant dialogue with our people about how we expand our networks to better support everybody).  We encourage applicants from all social backgrounds, ethnicities, disabilities, gender identities and sexual orientations.

As signatories to the Mindful Business Charter, it's important that our people are able to maintain healthy and happy lives, both in and out of work.  We have a number of resources and initiatives designed to support health and wellbeing, including our team of dedicated mental health first aiders.  We recognise that getting the right work life balance is a priority for all of us and we're very happy to talk flexible working, full-time or part-time working patterns.  We also recognise the challenges of relocation and post-pandemic return to the office.

And that's not all, alongside a competitive salary you'll receive a flexible benefits package so you can choose and vary the benefits that matter most to you.

Next steps

If this sounds like your next career move then please get in touch to find out more. No agencies please, we're an in-house recruitment team!

If this isn't the role for you (or the right time) why not connect with us on LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@WBD_CareersUK) to keep up to date with all of our opportunities.  We also have a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/womblebonddickinsoncareers/)