WHO WE ARE 

Slaughter and May is a leading international law firm, recognised throughout the business community for its exceptional legal service, commercial awareness and commitment to clients. We advise across the spectrum of legal matters including high-profile, ground-breaking and complex transactions, contentious matters and all aspects of risk. We deliver innovative and bespoke solutions to our clients, domestically and internationally, providing clear legal advice that spans the globe whilst tackling the cultural nuances between jurisdictions. Our lawyers understand how to coordinate and manage matters in the jurisdictions most relevant to our clients.

We are now offering the opportunity to join our dynamic financing group, which provides first- class legal advice to some of the most prestigious and well-known global businesses, as the Securitisations PSL.

At Slaughter and May, with over 1,200 partners and staff worldwide, everyone's contribution is valued, and we all enjoy an open, friendly and supportive environment. We have an underlying sense of pride in who we are and what we do, and our inclusive culture gives rise to a unique diversity of thinking, which is critical to our success and helps maintain our position as a true market leader.

To support our employees in achieving their professional development objectives, we offer an unrivalled variety of learning and development opportunities to everyone, as well as a highly competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package. The firm has also evolved a new hybrid approach to working (the “Ways of Working Framework”), which sees our people working between their home environments and our prestigious Headquarters at One Bunhill Row, in the heart of the City of London.

Would you like to join one of the world’s most prestigious law firms?

We are offering a fantastic opportunity for an experienced, technically expert and engaging individual to join us as a Professional Support Lawyer (PSL), in our London-based securitisations practice, which forms part of our market-leading financing practice.

Professional Support Lawyer-Securitisation

Our financing group comprises 18 partners and around 70 associates. Our financing lawyers will potentially work with any of the partners in the group (and on occasion partners elsewhere in the firm), giving you the opportunity to see a wide range of working styles and strategic approaches. The group acts for a broad range of clients and handles a variety of types of work rather than specialising in one small area. The group covers investment grade lending, leveraged/acquisition lending, debt capital markets, securitisation, restructuring and insolvency, derivatives, asset finance, project finance and infrastructure, energy and natural resources work

The financing group is currently supported by a team of six PSLs who work alongside our fee- earning finance lawyers. Each PSL specialises in one or more of our core areas of finance practice. The financing group also has a dedicated business development team, who work closely with the PSLs on client-facing content. Each PSL works across the financing group as a whole.

This opportunity is for an additional PSL to join the financing team, which has arisen to replace an outgoing senior PSL, who covers both DCM and securitisations. We are seeking a PSL with expertise in securitisations who is able to work to support and develop the securitisations practice confidently and independently. The PSL will be the sole PSL for securitisation, but will work closely alongside the DCM PSL. Prior PSL experience and expertise is welcome, but is not essential.

ROLE OVERVIEW 

This role would suit a lawyer currently in a fee-earning, relevant in-house or PSL role with in- depth experience of securitisation transactions, up to date knowledge of the regulatory architecture and outlook as well as market documentation standards, current hot topics and key negotiating points. The role will involve a mix of internal and client-facing know-how activities and BD support for activities where technical expertise is required.

Know-how projects, reflective of our practice, can be wide ranging. Our PSLs (with appropriate support) are expected to respond to the needs the practice from time to time. This role will suit a lawyer with the confidence to react to evolving requirements and the ability to operate independently and prioritise multiple demands on their time.

The role will report into the Partners that lead our Securitisations practice, Richard Jones and Oliver Wicker, and will be supported by a knowledge paralegal. The role will also involve working closely with the other financing partners and a range of other members of the financing team at all levels of seniority, as well as our central business services teams.

The role is full-time, although applications for part-time working will be considered. Flexible working arrangements are available. The appropriate designation on our PSL career ladder (comprised of PSL, Senior PSL and PSL Counsel) will be determined according to the experience and seniority of the successful candidate.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - PSLs

The PSL will be part of a team of more than 35 PSLs across the Firm, some operating within practice streams, others with sectoral cross-stream specialisms (for example, sustainability and infrastructure, energy and natural resources).

Our PSLs are expected to demonstrate technical excellence and legal expertise in their area. They have responsibility for building best practice processes for creating, capturing, curating and disseminating knowledge and supporting the practice. PSLs are expected to apply a practical and client-centric focus to know-how, and to produce timely and insightful content, which they impart using a variety of channels.

Slaughter and May PSLs need to be able to be flexible, work well in a team, generate ideas, be self-sufficient and proactive, and actively project manage their own deliverables. PSLs can expect to have substantial contact with fee-earners from across the firm, and will need to develop strong working relationships at all levels within the firm.

PSLs should have genuine enthusiasm for the use of technology and innovation in the support of fee-earners and clients. All PSLs in the firm have a dotted line report to the Director of Knowledge & Innovation, and work closely with our central Knowledge & Innovation department as well as with the Business Development department and the Learning & Development team.

The key responsibilities of our PSLs are set out below and there may be others which are not listed. You may be required on occasion to work outside our normal working hours of 9:30am to 5:30pm.

Know-how (internal)

• Keeping up to date with legal and commercial developments that affect our practice.

• Assisting with the organisation, capture, review and creation of know- how and ensuring that this is loaded onto our knowledge systems.

• Creating, maintaining, or commenting on standard documents, considering their automation potential.

• Assisting with the organisation, capture and review of precedents and ensuring they are loaded onto our knowledge systems.

• Maintaining, organizing and updating the relevant practice pages on the Intranet.

• Producing updates and articles for internal know-how briefings.

• Responding to queries from fee earners.

• Engaging in specific knowledge projects.

Training

• Liaising with the Learning and Development team and the PE team on an engaging legal training programme, maximising the use of all available formats.

• Drafting and delivering or assisting fee earners in preparation and delivery of training for our fee earners.

Pitches, directories and website

• Contributing practice-specific content to firm-wide pitches and relevant sections of our website.

• Assisting the BD team with submissions to legal directories.

CANDIDATE PROFILE 

External facing: client publications, client training, industry or legal consultations and committees

• Writing, editing or assisting in the preparation of client briefings, training or blogs on topical issues of relevance to our clients.

• Drafting and delivering or assisting fee earners in the preparation and delivery of client training.

• Participating in industry and trade association working groups.

• Replying to, or contributing to, replies to industry or legal consultations.

• Participating in, attending, or assisting fee earners’ participation in, external committees, conferences and events.

Candidates for this position will be someone who:

Technical competence and knowledge

• Has comprehensive knowledge and experience of technical and industry developments that affect our securitisations practice and clients.
• Capacity to act as a go-to person for fee-earners with queries about law and market practice in relation to all aspects of securitisation transactions
• Builds best practice processes for the creation, capture, review, curation and dissemination of knowledge.
• Identifies opportunities for producing timely and insightful current awareness, client content, thought leadership content and training material.
• Designs, drafts and delivers dedicated training programmes for fee-earners of varying levels of seniority.
• We anticipate level of post- qualification experience to be 5 years’ PQE, although will we consider exceptional candidates with less experience

Client activity

• Identifies opportunities for supporting client relationships, with an emphasis on content, including direct contact with clients where appropriate.

• Engages in business development opportunities such as contributing to client publications, client training and pitches and activities such as speaking at conferences, writing for external publications, responding to industry or legal consultations, and participating in professional bodies.

Practice development

• Engages with fee-earners to inform strategic decisions about knowledge priorities.

• Participates in firmwide initiatives as required in areas such as legal tech, innovation and compliance.

• Seeks opportunities to undertake process improvement initiatives.

• Mitigates risk by scanning the horizon for legal, regulatory and market developments.

People Skills

• Speaks with authority on technical topics to a wide range of audiences.

• Builds strong relationships with fee- earners, other PSLs and Business Services teams.

• Actively promotes integration with other practice support resource.

• Experience of working in a diverse team whilst fostering an inclusive team culture.

• Has a high level of professionalism and integrity.