About Ashurst

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 Expertise function is vital to maintaining the efficiency of the practice, delivering client service, enabling the team to develop its practice and anticipate/react to market changes. We are looking for someone with the ability and the enthusiasm to continue the established work of the Global Loans Expertise team and take a dynamic role in driving it forward.

Job overview

We are looking to recruit an Expertise Lawyer with a training focus to work in the Global Loans team, London. "Expertise" is the name of the Professional Support Function at Ashurst. We need a strong technical lawyer who has a genuine interest in the development of others and experience in the planning and delivery of high quality training programmes.

The successful candidate will form part of the Global Loans Expertise Team made up of an Expertise Counsel, a Senior Expertise Lawyer and an Expertise Executive. The teams that the Expertise Team support include leveraged finance, funds finance, corporate lending, infrastructure M&A finance, real estate finance, speciality finance and the strategic projects group. While the successful candidate will have primary responsibility for the design and implementation of the team's training programmes, they will be expected to undertake other Expertise work. This will include working on standard documents, responding to fee earner queries, helping maintain and create online resources and practice notes, and working with other departments to implement firmwide initiatives and support the use of legal technology.

They will also form part of a global network of experienced Expertise lawyers throughout the firm and will participate in shaping the firm's Expertise strategy.

While we would prefer a candidate with experience of a legal training role, this role is equally suited to a fee earner looking to transition to a PSL role, provided that they have significant experience of preparing and delivering training.

The role is part-time with an expected working pattern of 4 days a week.

Key Responsibilities

• Training (50%+ of a typical working week)
• Foster a culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing.
• Develop, manage and deliver tailored training programmes that align with the team's needs and the GL Expertise strategy.
• Create opportunities for knowledge sharing and reward contributions. Use a variety of training formats, e.g. workshops, on-the-job learning etc.
• Stay current with learning technologies and incorporate them into training strategies.
• Create engaging and relevant training materials that capture the attention of learners and align with the Ashurst brand.
• Assess the effectiveness of training programs and collect feedback. Implement necessary amendments to programmes/content.
• Support the team with their Development Plans.

Essential skills and experience

Essential:

• England & Wales qualified with technical abilities consistent with a senior associate in a City or equivalent firm
• Strong academics and a genuine interest in banking law
• Excellent presentation skills; the candidate should be an able and engaging trainer with experience of in-person, on-line and hybrid delivery
• The candidate should demonstrate a passion for ongoing development. They should inspire enthusiasm and curiosity for learning and a desire to share knowledge
• A willingness to embrace legal technology and process improvement to support our fee-earners

Desirable:

• Creating and administering legal training as a formal part of their career to date
• Experience of assessing and/or implementing legal technology tools

General Expertise

Provide technical advice and support to lawyers at all levels and across all Global Loans workstreams.

The successful candidate will be a part of driving the development of policy, researching developments and guiding partners in developing coherent and appropriate policies.

Knowledge strategy in Global Loans is one of continual improvement focused on the specific needs of the specific associate base in view of actual and projected client work. The successful candidate will need to support the partners in developing coherent and achievable knowledge goals. The role also requires consideration and development of technology solutions to improve efficiency and the fee earner experience.

Generating and updating template documentation to anticipate or respond to market or legal developments.

Writing and maintaining practice notes in circumstances where there is inadequate external commentary or where clear practice guidance is needed.

Examining processes within the department and working with the Firm's innovation and project management functions to increase efficiencies and improve fee-earners' job satisfaction.

Background checks

In order to comply with regulatory and client requirements, Ashurst will undertake appropriate vetting of staff. When applicants accept a job offer, Ashurst, alongside a specialist provider, will undertake professional verification and background checks. These checks are only undertaken with consent, and in accordance with our legal and regulatory obligations.