Ashurst is a leading progressive global law firm with a rich history spanning more than 200 years. We are proud of our history and are future-focused, having expanded into new technologies through our NewLaw division, Ashurst Advance, and our consulting arm. Our in-depth understanding of our clients and commitment to providing excellent standards of service have seen us become a trusted adviser to local and global corporates, financial institutions and governments in all areas of commercial law. To find out more please visit www.ashurst.com.

Team overview

The Ashurst construction group operates across three of the firm's core practice areas - real estate, projects and construction disputes - and is based across our London and Glasgow offices. The prominence of our greater construction group makes this an unrivalled opportunity for high calibre candidates who wish to work on the biggest and most iconic projects in the UK to develop their career in a fast-moving sector.

The group advises on the construction aspects of all types of property investment and development, property sales and purchases and both publicly and privately financed energy, transport, infrastructure and regeneration projects. The group also advises on procurement strategy and structure (including how and when to use bespoke or standard forms of contract) and will negotiate all forms of engineering and construction contracts and associated security documentation. Our global team includes a specialist group of contentious construction lawyers who have a strong track record of helping clients achieve the best outcomes in disputes including TCC litigation, adjudication and international arbitration.

The group acts for international and domestic large-scale developers, public bodies, funding institutions, project sponsors, contractors and consultants. As the challenges to our clients have increased over the last few years we have stayed true to our core offering of legal technical excellence wrapped in commercial awareness. This has enabled Ashurst to continue to fulfil the role of being a trusted advisor to our clients and strengthened our close relationships.

Job overview

The successful candidate would play a key role in the expansion of the range of transactional services that the Ashurst construction group provides to its clients from our London office.This represents an exciting opportunity to be part of a developing, strategic construction practice with plenty of scope for personal and career development.

You will work closely with high calibre clients and colleagues in London, Glasgow and throughout Ashurst's global network and can expect to have exposure to a wide range of high quality projects.

Main tasks and qualities:

• You will handle a broad range of construction matters, but focus on non-contentious matter relating to real estate.
• You will take day to day responsibility for more straightforward matters and actively progress complex matters. You will be able to demonstrate well-developed drafting and negotiating skills.
• You will have excellent attention to detail, identifying inconsistencies that indicate problems with quality of work or a misunderstanding of clients' needs.
• In conjunction with the existing members of the London construction team, you will act as a key point of interface with our Ashurst Advance colleagues based in Glasgow to find cost effective solutions for our clients.
• You will have a desire to build client relationships and develop your own internal and external networks with support and guidance from the partners and wider team.
• You will be expected to liaise closely with colleagues, clients, counterparties and other advisers. You would be working as part of a committed team that is a leader in its field of practice. All members of the team have frequent client contact and must be willing to travel.
• We are interested in speaking to lawyers with transactional or a mixture of transactional and contentious construction work experience. We are interested in candidates who are English, Irish or Scottish qualified.

Essential skills and experience

• Strong academic background;
• Qualified junior to mid-level lawyer with experience from a top tier law firm;
• Strong general construction experience (primarily non-contentious) including experience of JCT forms (NEC experience also desirable);
• Enthusiasm to innovate and play a part in building Ashurst's construction offering in London; an adaptable person who is a fast learner;
• A team-player who can work effectively with colleagues at all levels;
• A great communicator;
• Client facing experience and the ability to understand and respond effectively to client needs;
• Experience of negotiating with counterparts; and
• A commercial approach.

Recent work

• BRITISH LAND -advising British Land, a leading UK property company, on the redevelopment of Broadgate, a 32-acre mixed-use campus in the City and the largest pedestrianised neighbourhood in Central London.
• STANHOPE in JV with CADILLAC FAIRVIEW on a major new life sciences and innovation district development in Oxford.
• LENDLEASE - advising on the redevelopment of High Road West, Haringey and on the £809m purchase of 21 Moorfields from Landsec.
• VIRGIN MEDIA O2 - on the ambitious upgrade of its network to cover c. 15.5 million homes from cable to fibre by 2028 and its expansion to 7 million new premises - extending its network to 23 million premises.
• INVESCO REAL ESTATE - on a joint venture in connection with the first major phase of 800 new build to rent and build to sell homes, retail and leisure at the £8 billion Brent Cross Town development.
• PANATTONI - numerous ongoing logistics developments throughout the UK, including recently a significant acquisition and development in Milton Keynes.
• WESTFIELD - advising on the redevelopment of Croydon town centre and ongoing works at White City and Stratford City.
• BARINGS / SOCIUS - advising on the redevelopment of Soapworks, Bristol.
• TRANSPORT FOR LONDON - advising on the extension of the British Library and development of land to create commercial workspaces and new public spaces; on the redevelopment of Bollo Lane; and on the construction of a temporary ferry service at Hammersmith bridge.
• HS2 on its procurement of rail systems packages for the high speed link between London and Birmingham.