Associate : Banking - EMEA

White & Case LLP; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

An elite global law firm in London is seeking an Associate for its Banking practice. The successful candidate will manage multiple legal workstreams, ensuring high-quality outputs and client satisfaction. Applicants should have 4-5 years of post-qualification experience, fluency in English, and a strong commercial mindset. This role offers an opportunity to work on complex transactions, requiring excellent drafting and communication skills. Competitive benefits and a supportive work environment are provided.

Benefits

Private medical insurance

Pension plan with matched employer contribution

Yearly wellbeing fund

Income protection

Life insurance

Critical Illness insurance

Travel insurance

Dental coverage

Cycle to work

Qualifications

• Experience in advising on commercial contracts, especially credit agreements and share purchase agreements.
• Ability to handle multiple workstreams and deadlines.
• Commercial and business awareness, with a strong focus on problem-solving.

Responsibilities

• Drafting agreements and legal documents for clients.
• Conducting legal research and due diligence.
• Communicating with clients and guiding them through legal processes.

Skills

Outstanding communication and negotiation skills

Strong time management skills

Excellent drafting skills

Strong professional presence

Client service focus

Strong judgement

Proactive, resourceful, takes initiative

Team player

Education

Post-qualification experience (4-5 years)

Strong academic record

Fluency in English

Job description

Job Description - Associate: Banking - EMEA (250000VJ)

Associate: Banking - EMEA

Firm Summary

White & Case is an elite global law firm serving leading companies, financial institutions and governments worldwide. Our long history as an international firm means we are perfectly placed to help our clients resolve their most complex legal challenges wherever they may be.

With lawyers operating from more than 40 locations, working around the world, we have invested heavily in building a high-quality full-service practice competing at the top of the market. We are distinguished by our on-the-ground presence in the world’s key financial markets and our strengths in handling complex cross‑border work.

It’s not just about our global network of offices; it’s the global interconnectedness of the Firm that our people, and our clients, value most. We work well together across geographic and practice boundaries. It’s one of the reasons we attract and retain cross‑border work.

Our lawyers are globally minded, enterprising, collaborative and committed to excellence. Our people represent 90 nationalities and speak 80 languages.

Position Summary

We are currently looking for associates to join the Banking practice in our London office.

In addition to strong academic credentials, you should possess the drive and determination needed to thrive in a fast‑paced practice, handling the legal intricacies of large‑scale banking transactions. Excited by the cut‑and‑thrust of deal‑making, you should be undaunted by hard work and eager to demonstrate the dedication needed to deliver an outstanding work product.

Pragmatic and highly organized, you should be comfortable managing multiple workstreams and consistently meeting deadlines. Excellent communication skills will also be a major asset—enabling you to communicate information clearly and succinctly, and to be diplomatic when interacting with clients and outside parties. Able to see the big picture when it comes to deal context, you should also have a keen eye for detail—with the intellectual rigor to produce timely, flawless analyses of highly technical contracts.

Proactive and self‑motivated, you should balance an independence of thought and action with an ease working collaboratively with colleagues. Ready for the challenges of a global law firm, you should be passionate about our practice and excited by the opportunity to work with—and learn from—colleagues across the firm’s international practices and offices.

Our Practice Area

With established teams in every major financial market, we are trusted by many of the world’s largest banks to handle their largest and most complex multijurisdictional transactions. Widely recognized as leaders in our field, we offer both international reach and a depth of local resources—advising on the full spectrum of financing matters, and structuring innovative, often ground‑breaking deals.

From the moment you join us, you will be working alongside leading practitioners, supporting multi‑disciplinary teams composed of colleagues from within our group and across the firm’s M&A, Capital Markets and Project Finance groups. An exciting, fast‑paced practice, we expect our associates to deliver outstanding work to tight deadlines, and to display the cool head and positive mindset to flourish in a pressurized environment.

As a junior associate, you will be expected to take a lead on many of the day‑to‑day communication tasks involved in ensuring that deals are running smoothly—conveying information to colleagues, clients and outside parties, and responding to queries and requests. Your core responsibilities will also include vital contractual work, such as editing passes on ancillary documents to ensure accuracy and linguistic precision.

Supported by your team at every step, you will find the work both challenging and rewarding, with excellent opportunities for learning and professional development.

Duties and Accountabilities 1

• Drafting of basic filings addressed to courts and authorities (Commercial Register, Cadastral Register, Trade Licensing Office)
• Conducting brief or somewhat more complex research, or drafting of memoranda (search for judicature, commentaries to specific legal issues)
• Drafting of basic agreements (according to model documents), powers of attorney, draft resolutions of General Meetings, waivers of appeal, various statements
• Involvement in due diligence – analysis of agreements in data room and their subsequent description
• Communication with clients (via telephone, Email)
• Assisting clients with corporate establishment, registration, transformation, governance and liquidation
• Drafting legal memoranda on broad range of topics arising under commercial law and corporate and labor law precedents
• Analyzing corporate health of businesses prior to acquisition by clients
• Providing direct assistance to senior lawyers on matters arising in the course of day‑to‑day provision of legal services to leading international and domestic corporate clients
• Joining educational seminar and practice groups
• Drafting of all types of corporate documents required for organization of all types of companies or for adoption of changes to companies (e.g. change of business name, registered office, statutory body, etc.) and subsequent registration thereof in Commercial Register (i.e. powers of attorney, statements, decisions, simple draft agreements), drafting of motions for entry of changes in entries of companies in Commercial Register, completion of schedules to such motions
• Communicating with clients and foreign authorities, preparing forms, and serving notice
• Organizing General Meetings, on their own or together with Notary Public

What we offer

At White & Case, you can make a real difference, work on cutting‑edge deals that make the headlines and help shape the world we live in. We live by our values—to be pioneering, united and human—and we believe that you’ll experience them from your first day. We will give you the support and training that will help you achieve your potential as a global lawyer.

We believe that consistent high performance merits reward and support. Our compensation package reflects your calibre as a lawyer and our benefits are designed to support your changing needs and priorities across different life stages.

We offer high‑quality, internationally oriented work on the most challenging matters and an opportunity to work as part of a truly global organisation.

Firm Benefits

• We offer a flexible range of benefits, services and programmes designed to help support your lifestyle requirements. Some of the benefits currently available include:
• Private medical insurance
• Pension plan with matched employer contribution up to 7.5%
• Yearly wellbeing fund
• Income protection
• Holiday purchase
• Life insurance
• Critical Illness insurance
• Private GP services
• Travel insurance
• Dental coverage
• Cycle to work
• Holiday purchase (available during annual enrolment)

Equal Opportunity

White & Case is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and is committed to creating a fair workplace. It is our Firm’s policy to recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote without regard to race, colour, religion, creed, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other category protected by applicable law.

If you require assistance and/or adjustment to participate in our application and/or interview process, please email us. We will be happy to work with you.

Qualifications

• Between four and five years of post‑qualification experience
• Strong academic record and intellectual curiosity, creative thinker
• Commercial and business awareness
• Ability to see the big picture
• Outstanding communication and negotiation skills
• Strong time management skills, ability to stay calm under pressure when juggling multiple projects
• Excellent drafting skills
• Driven by professional growth
• Strong professional presence
• Client service focus
• Team player
• Strong judgement
• Proactive, resourceful, takes initiative
• Long‑term interest in business law
• Fluency in English
• Good understanding of the key risks and issues involved in cross‑border transactions
• Experience on advising on numerous commercial contracts, in particular credit agreements, bond documents (e.g. offering memoranda, purchase agreements, indentures, trust deeds etc.), corporate approvals, share purchase agreements, offering circulars etc.

Location & Reporting

• This role is based in our London office. This role reports to the London Debt Finance Partners.
• Our standard office hours are 09:30‑18:00, with a current requirement for 3 days in the office per week.

Primary Location

United Kingdom–London