Professional Support Lawyer, Project Development and Finance

White & Case; London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job description

Are you ready to make your mark as part of our Energy, Infrastructure and Project Finance (EIPF) Group working with lawyers across EMEA and beyond?

We are seeking an experienced lawyer to be based in London and support the Group as a Professional Support Lawyer (PSL). Working alongside the Professional Support Counsel, you will monitor legal and business developments in project finance, project development, infrastructure finance, and related industries to keep the Group and its clients up to date and identify opportunities to enhance the Firm’s reputation and practice. This includes providing legal and practical expertise in response to fee earner queries, mentoring junior lawyers, developing and managing the Group’s know how materials, organising and delivering training, and collaborating with other business service departments.

You should have transactional experience in project finance and/or project development. Experience in infrastructure finance would be useful. You will need a working knowledge of typical finance and/or project contracts in sectors such as infrastructure, power, oil & gas or mining.

PSLs sit within the global Practice Solutions team that ensures the Firm remains at the cutting edge of the legal industry, supporting lawyers in delivering world-class client service through leveraging legal, client, and market knowledge. Led by the Chief Innovation Officer, the Practice Solutions function includes Professional Support, Research and Information Systems, Practice Technology and Business Intelligence. Our professionals use information management, research, training and technical solutions to help lawyers work efficiently and collaboratively for the benefit of our clients.

Key Responsibilities

Lawyer Training and Technical Expertise

• Be a source of legal, market and practical expertise for all members of the Group and more widely around the Firm.
• Identify practice-related training needs of the Group; organise, design and deliver Group training, including seminars, workshops and offsite training, independently or in collaboration with the wider Practice Solutions group.
• Assist lawyers with day-to-day legal queries.
• Provide onboarding for all new joiners, secondees and newly qualified lawyers to the Group.
• Be involved in firmwide training programmes, as required, including core training programmes and induction courses.
• Mentor trainees and associates.

Current Awareness, Thought Leadership, and Know-How

• Monitor and inform the group about significant legal developments, identifying trends in law or business, especially in project finance or project development, and suggest innovative service delivery methods.
• Prepare current awareness newsletters and keep the Group informed on any relevant legal developments.
• Participate in industry events to promote the Firm's thought leadership and create and disseminate internally Know-How on Project Finance and Project Development topics.
• Conduct deal debriefs for precedent collection and market analysis, and implement procedures for capturing, storing, and accessing Know-How within the Group.

Standard Forms, Key Precedents, and Client-Facing Initiatives

• Develop and update practice notes and guidance to reflect changes in law, regulation, and market standards.
• Create and maintain standard form documents and collections of precedent documents from closed transactions.
• Collaborate with the Group, Professional Support, and Marketing Department to develop business opportunities through articles, briefing notes, and client training, and establish processes for capturing matter descriptions and categorisations.

Central Knowledge Projects and Miscellaneous

• Champion the implementation of new knowledge systems and technology.
• Contribute to global knowledge programs and projects to enhance Firm collaboration and project finance and project development law expertise.
• Provide professional support updates in meetings, and attend Professional Support meetings, global PSL conference calls, and external training to stay updated with legal developments.

Qualifications and Skills

• Sound legal experience in Project Finance/Project Development, including project development contracts in Oil & Gas, Mining, Power, or Infrastructure sectors.
• 6PQE+.
• Admission as a Solicitor in England and Wales.
• Commercial awareness and client-oriented approach with high professional standards and commitment to quality.
• Excellent drafting, research, organizational, and communication skills.
• Understanding of learning processes and training methods, with the ability to shape and influence policy.
• Effective interpersonal skills for interaction at all levels, including other support areas.
• Pragmatic, self-motivated, flexible, and a good team worker.
• Lateral thinker with initiative to establish, implement, and complete projects.

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. Inter-office secondments may also be possible if that is of interest to the successful candidate.

About White & Case

We are a global law firm with longstanding offices in the markets that matter today. Our on-the-ground experience, our cross-border integration, and our depth of local, US and English-qualified lawyers help our clients work with confidence in any one market or across many.

Location and Reporting

• This role is based in our London office. This role reports to the Chief Innovation Officer and the EIPAF PSL Reference Partner.
• Our standard office hours are 09:30-18:00, with a current requirement for 3 days in the office per week.

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 Opportunities

White & Case is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. It is our Firm’s policy to recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote without regard to race, 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 accommodation to participate in our application and/or interview process, please email the recruiting contact listed for the relevant position. We are a Disability Confident (Committed) Employer. We will be happy to work with you.

Note to recruitment agencies

Our internal Recruitment team are responsible for all end-to-end lateral recruitment processes. All agencies must sign White & Case terms of business, which are office specific. Candidates submitted by an agency without terms of business agreed with the appropriate office, and/or outside of our online application tracking system, will not be considered a formal introduction.

Any applications and CVs sent directly to White & Case Partners and employees will not be accepted as formal introductions. If you have any questions, please contact the London Recruitment team.

When engaging with agencies, we are supported by our preferred suppliers.

The above is only a general description of the essential duties associated with this position and does not represent an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all duties.