Business Group Knowledge Lawyer - Corporate and Commercial

Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP seeks a senior Business Group Knowledge Lawyer to work with the BGH and a small Knowledge Team. The role focuses on strategic knowledge delivery, innovation, AI adoption, and training for the CCS group.

You will help develop self-service tech tools and client-facing knowledge content while guiding junior colleagues and paralegals. You will need a strong background in UK corporate/commercial law, and a keen interest in technology-driven change within a large UK law

Qualifications

• Qualified UK lawyer with at least 5 PQE.
• Strong knowledge of UK commercial contracting law.
• Interest in innovation, AI, and adoption of legal tech.
• Experience coaching, training or mentoring.
• Experience leading change in a large law practice.

Responsibilities

• Drive knowledge management and innovation across the CCS Business Group.
• Promote AI adoption and the self-service legal toolkit within teams.
• Develop and deliver knowledge-led training for clients and internal staff.
• Supervise and develop paralegal support within the Knowledge Team.
• Support tender responses related to knowledge management and innovation.

Job description

The Business Group Knowledge Lawyer (BGKL) is a senior lawyer role who will report directly into the Business Group Head (BGH) for our Corporate and Commercial Services Business Group (CCS). You will be part of a team of two knowledge lawyers and a knowledge paralegal who will work with the BGH.

In this role you will work strategically with the BGH to help deliver key knowledge and innovation priorities for the Business Group. This will include:

• supporting the lawyers in the Business Group responsible for technical excellence in their area of expertise, including supporting on training and promoting a culture of excellence
• playing a leading role in developing and promoting innovation in the Business Group, including developing and promoting the use of our self-service legal technology toolkit and acting as the subject matter expert for legal technology tools that are specific to the Business Group
• supporting on the preparation and, where appropriate, delivery of client facing knowledge-led content.

What does the role include?

The Business Group covers a broad range of specialist corporate and commercial legal areas, carried on through a number of teams. There is no expectation that this role requires you to be a subject matter expert for every specialism within the Business Group, although a strong grounding in Digital and Technology law and practice will be particularly advantageous, both in terms of supporting the specialist lawyers in that area but also holding a strong interest and understanding in the opportunities that technology presents for the Business Group and its clients.

You will work with the BGH, team leaders and the wider Business Group Knowledge Team to:

• drive a culture of excellence and continuous development of the Business Group's legal knowledge
• facilitate an environment where teams and individual lawyers feel empowered to play a key role in developing their own knowledge and can see the value in doing so
• ensure the adoption of processes to support early-stage talent development and that the wider Business Group is kept up to date with new legal developments, risk and best practice updates and new ways of working
• support in the preparation and, where appropriate, delivery of knowledge-led value add training for the Business Group's clients.

In addition, you will work with the Chief Innovation Officer (and the wider Innovation & Legal Technology Team) to support the adoption of legal technology, drive innovation, and identify more effective ways of delivering legal services.

What are the core responsibilities and deliverables?

• Continuous improvement of each team's processes for developing legal knowledge ensuring consistency and best practice across all teams.
• Supporting the lawyers in the Business Group responsible for technical excellence in their area of expertise, with a particular focus on Digital and Technology law and practice.
• Manage training and development of legal knowledge for early-stage talent, along with wider current awareness in respect of risk, working practices and legal updates for the broader Business Group.
• Promote development across the teams through our third-party content and related tools.
• Play a key role in promoting the use of AI and our self-service legal technology toolkit acting as the subject matter expert for legal technology tools that are specific to the Business Group.
• Work closely with the wider Business Group Knowledge Team, particularly ensuring that the Knowledge Team's paralegal support is effectively supervised and developed.
• Supporting in responding to tender questions relating specifically to knowledge management and innovation in the Business Group.
• Work with our business development teams in terms of horizon scanning and innovation developments to help identify opportunities for us to provide training, thought leadership and proactive solutions for our clients.
• Supporting on the preparation and, where appropriate, delivery of client facing knowledge-led content.

What does the ideal candidate look like?

You'll need to have strong experience of working within the commercial/corporate team of a large UK law practice. As well as this background you should be able to demonstrate an interest in innovation and AI and want this change of direction in your legal career. You will need to be a self-starter taking the initiative to work with a variety of people both across our firm and externally to bring expertise back to the group. Communication skills are key as well as the ability to interpret new content and drive new ways of working. You'll be influencing change, introducing new concepts/processes and championing innovation.

To be successful in this role you'll need as a minimum:

• You will need to be a qualified lawyer with at least 5 year's + PQE.

• Able to demonstrate strong knowledge of UK commercial contracting law.
• Have a strong interest in innovation, the adoption of legal technology and embedding AI into ways of working to drive continuous improvement across the Business Group.
• Previous experience of coaching, training or mentoring.
• Experience of working and driving change within a large law practice.

Previous experience in a legal technology and AI role is not required although we are looking for a strong interest in this space.