AI Lawyer (Due Diligence Lead - M&A/Private Capital)

linklaters; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Linklaters in London seeks an AI Lawyer (Due Diligence Lead) with four+ years post-qualification experience in M&A/Private Capital to drive AI-enabled due diligence and practice transformation. You will bridge lawyers, clients and tech vendors, lead client engagements, and develop scalable DD frameworks.

You will foster adoption of AI capabilities, train teams, and shape commercial opportunities while maintaining high legal judgment and meticulous attention to detail.

Qualifications

• Post-qualification experience in M&A/Private Capital.
• Active practising certificate.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with track record of delivering ideas.

Responsibilities

• Lead the M&A/Private Capital DD strategy and delivery transformation.
• Embed consistent, measurable AI use across DD practice.
• Bridge lawyers, clients and technology providers to translate DD requirements.
• Lead client‑facing activity on AI-assisted DD in London.
• Support leadership in identifying trends and new commercial opportunities.

Skills

M&A experience

DD leadership

AI in legal

Client engagement

Education

Qualified lawyer

Job description

AI Lawyer (Due Diligence Lead - M&A/Private Capital)

Department: AI Lawyer, embedded in M&A/Private Capital

Location: London

Reporting to: M&A / Private Capital Partner(s) | Director of AI Delivery

About us

Linklaters is a leading international law firm, with 30 offices in 20 countries worldwide. Ours is an environment of outperformance. We achieve this not with targets and incentives, but by fostering a positive, supportive, fair, and open atmosphere.

We respect and value difference but insist on inclusivity. We celebrate all aspects of diversity and challenge any form of bias. This is vital to our ability to work as one team, with a common goal.

Your Role

Work as a member of the AI Lawyer team, responsible for Linklaters' M&A/Private Capital due diligence (DD) strategy and delivery transformation, which includes embedding consistent, measurable and effective use of artificial intelligence (AI). This includes working closely with the Private M&A Working Group to embed best-practice DD across the M&A and Private Capital groups.

Act as an entrepreneurial ambassador for DD and AI within the M&A/Private Capital practice as well as, where opportunities arise, Applied Intelligence, proactively seeking out, identifying and developing new workstreams, client propositions and engagements at the intersection of corporate law, due diligence and AI.

Work as a bridge between M&A/Private Capital lawyers, clients and technology providers, identifying and translating DD requirements and reviewing proposed solutions.

Lead client-facing activity on AI-assisted DD in London.

Support leadership in identifying emerging trends, including areas requiring additional support, areas of strength and new commercial opportunities, to support allocation of resource aligned to the firm's strategic goals.

Key priorities

Lead the London DD workstream focused on driving best practice including awareness and measurable adoption of emerging AI capabilities within the firm's technology workbench. Establish clear workstreams, plans, decision points, dependencies, risks, milestones and stakeholder actions, with technology supporting rather than replacing legal judgement.

Develop end-to-end frameworks and process maps for DD, together with user-friendly collateral (task lists, cheat sheets) and demonstrations at varying levels of sophistication (e.g. trainee, associate, partner) to ensure consistent and effective adoption.

Supporting training for the M&A / Private Capital practice on best practice DD, including use of AI supported solutions and client-oriented products.

Support the pricing team on understanding the impact of AI on DD, and input into pricing matters commercially and efficiently.

About You

You will have at least four years' post-qualification experience in M&A/Private Capital, ideally gained at a leading international firm, with substantial high-quality private M&A and private equity DD experience.

Admitted as a lawyer with an active practising certificate.

Entrepreneurial mindset, with a track record of identifying opportunities and taking ideas from concept to delivery; commercially minded and comfortable building a business case. Proven programme or project leadership across parallel workstreams, dependencies, risks and priorities, with sound judgement on decisions, resource coordination and escalation.

Confident, credible client-facing presence, with experience of pitching, presenting, running workshops and building client relationships.

Lateral thinker able to identify opportunities for improvement through tech or process interventions.

Collaborative self-starter, able to build strong rapport easily; strong consulting, negotiating and influencing skills; highly organised. Strong legal judgement and attention to detail, with the ability to balance quality, delivery and adoption, learn through responsible experimentation and adapt to changing client, practice and technology needs.

What sets us apart

• We offer a truly global work experience and the opportunity to be involved in strategic projects that drive innovation and shape the future of our business
• We belong to a firm that embodies its corporate social, environment, and governance responsibility commitments
• We remain focused on talent and having the best people which will result in a diverse workforce
• Having got the best people, we want them to feel included, valued and respected so they can perform at their best
• We advocate speak-up culture to empower our people in sharing their voices and an open-door policy to ensure they are listened to
• We invest in custom-fit career paths for our people in line with their talents and aspirations
• We provide agile working solutions to meet the changing needs of our peop