Business Group Knowledge Lawyer - Real Estate

Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP; West of England; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP is seeking a senior Business Group Knowledge Lawyer to partner with the Business Group Head for Real Estate. You will drive innovation projects, promote self-service legal technology, and act as the go-to expert for real estate tech tools such as Orbital and Avail.

You will lead a small team of knowledge lawyers and a paralegal, standardising processes, developing training, sharing updates, and supporting risk management.

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with at least 5 years’ PQE.
• Strong knowledge of English and Welsh real estate law.
• Interest in innovation and AI.
• Experience coaching or training colleagues.
• Experience working in a large professional services practice.

Responsibilities

• Review and develop knowledge processes across teams to ensure consistency and best practice.
• Promote knowledge development using third-party content and tools; manage training for trainees and early-stage talent.
• Implement, maintain and review a training programme across the business group.
• Ensure teams have necessary tools and precedent banks to deliver excellent client service.
• Provide guidance to the Knowledge Paralegal and supervise coordination of knowledge development.
• Lead on promoting AI and the firm’s legal technology toolkit for the real estate group (e.g., Orbital and Avail).
• Share information on risk, working practices and legal updates across the business group.
• Assist business development with tender responses related to knowledge management.
• Collaborate with marketing/content teams for horizon scanning on legal changes and thought leadership.

Job description

The Business Group Knowledge Lawyer (BGKL) is a senior lawyer role which will report directly to the Business Group Head (BGH) for our Real Estate Business Group which encompasses our core real estate teams, residential development and planning.

In this role you will work strategically with the BGH to help deliver innovation projects and other priorities. This will include playing a key role in promoting the use of our self-service legal technology toolkit and liaising with our Legal Technology Application Manager, acting as the subject matter expert for legal technology tools that are applicable to the Real Estate Business Group.

What does the role include?

You will be part of a team of two knowledge lawyers and a knowledge paralegal who will work with the BGH and the various teams across the business group to drive a culture of excellence and continuous development of our legal knowledge. You will facilitate an environment where teams and individual fee-earners feel empowered develop their own knowledge and skills and can see the value in doing so.

There is not expectation to be a subject matter expert for every specialism within the business group. Instead, you'll work collaboratively with the teams to ensure that every team has the right processes in place for onboarding trainees, developing early-stage talent, keeping abreast of new legal developments, sharing knowledge and much more

You will be leading the dissemination of legal and best practice updates, identifying and mitigating existing and new risks, and identifying and implementing new ways of working, particularly where those initiatives are broadly applicable across the business group.

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

What are the core responsibilities and deliverables?

You will work closely with the other Knowledge Lawyer and the Knowledge Paralegal in the real estate business group to deliver the following:

• Continuous review of each team's processes for developing legal knowledge, ensuring consistency and best practice across all teams.
• Promote knowledge development across the teams through our third-party content and knowledge tools. Manage training and development of legal knowledge for trainees and other early-stage talent.
• Implement, maintain and review a training programme across the business group, and facilitate training within teams and sub-teams as necessary.
• Ensure teams and sub-teams have the necessary tools and (where still applicable) precedent banks of relevant documents and information required to deliver excellent client service.
• Provide guidance and support to the Knowledge Paralegal ; particularly ensuring that the Paralegal is effectively fulfilling their primary role in helping teams to co-ordinate the development of legal knowledge.
• Work with the BGH and play a key role in promoting the use of AI and our firmwide legal technology toolkit, acting as the subject matter expert for legal technology tools that are specific to the real estate group (eg Orbital and Avail).
• Leading on the sharing of information of broad applicability to the business group on risk, working practices, and legal updates.
• Supporting the business development team in responding to tender questions relating specifically to knowledge management in the business group.
• Work with our business development, marketing and content creation teams in terms of horizon scanning ; monitoring Bills, Law Commission consultations, major case law developments and other relevant sources to ensure the teams are well sighted on legal changes which present opportunities for us to provide thought leadership, marketing and proactive solutions to our clients.
• Supporting the wider Knowledge for Growth team on client training, events and other client facing materials and our Informed Counsel programme where the sessions are to be delivered on topics relevant to the Business Group.

What does the ideal candidate look like?

You'll need to have extensive experience of working within the real estate team of a large UK law practice. You should also be able to demonstrate an interest in innovation and AI. 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 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 English and Welsh real estate law (you will support our Scottish real estate team but prior knowledge of Scottish real estate is not required).
• Have a strong interest in innovation and the development and adoption of AI tools.
• Previous experience of coaching, delivering training presentations or mentoring other colleagues.
• Experience of working within a large professional services practice.