Legal Secretary jobs in United Kingdom

A&O Shearman have an exciting newly created opportunity for a Knowledge/Senior Knowledge Lawyer to lead on, grow and shape a dedicated AI knowledge function.

Department purpose
A&O Shearman is leading the market in advising on AI. We advise on a broad range of complex AI matters around the world, including AI risk management when building or deploying, AI regulation, AI transactions, AI disputes, AI system design and all aspects of the AI value chain. This includes advising on data licensing for AI, AI transformation projects, AI infrastructure, AI licensing and collaboration matters, and AI governance. Members of the team also advise on all aspects of compliance with the wide universe of AI laws across AI-specific regulation, privacy, IP, antitrust, and others. We are the most successful law firm in the world at building AI systems and advising on responsible AI, with dedicated AI experts in every major jurisdiction globally. Clients include leading AI developers, the largest corporates in the world across all sectors, financial institutions and governments. We have advised two G20 sovereigns on aspects of their national AI strategy.

Role purpose
To lead on, grow and shape a dedicated AI knowledge function. The role will focus on the expansion of AI specific know-how materials and external thought leadership relating to legal risks, regulation and legal developments in the AI advisory space. The role also involves leveraging existing materials to create bespoke tailored know-how for a given client or sector, building on knowledge of the technology and the specific use cases. You will join a market leading Knowledge community and collaborate with the tech, business development and innovation teams to support the deployment and uptake of AI across the global team. The role provides a platform for AI Advisory Partners to win work and cross-sell our AI capability which is central to firm strategic priorities.

Thought leadership

• Initial priority focus on rapid expansion of high-quality external thought leadership, leveraging a large volume of existing client advice and training materials on AI
• Coordinating and applying consistent quality control to global thought leadership, including EU AI Act content
• Extracting and converting into blogs, articles and other formats the key insights from our AI Working Group client advisory notes, in a way that showcases our expertise without disclosing valuable know-how
• Proactively identifying and driving thought leadership on emerging regulatory or market trends, such as AI regulation in the EU through the GDPR and international divergences, coordinating with AI experts across the network
• Working with AI communications and marketing teams to develop innovative initiatives for AI-focused content delivery

Client conversations and pitches

• Creating a suite of materials on legal risks, regulatory and legal developments, and AI risk management that can form the basis of presentations and pitch materials
• Leading preparation of tailored materials to support AI-focused client conversations, working closely with AI advisory partners and drawing from standard materials
• Collaborating with the AI marketing team to ensure pitch documents include insights and practice points tailored to the client and their proposed AI deployments
• Maintaining repositories of AI-related client-facing materials and pitch documents from global AI practice and proactively identifying cross-selling opportunities

Internal know-how and thought leadership

• Leading AI-specific know-how resources in collaboration with the London knowledge lawyer team, including:
• Drafting and socializing AI precedent materials such as AI warranties, AI due diligence questionnaires, AI contract terms, AI policies, and memos on trending topics
• Developing a house view and standardized approach on key areas of concern, internationally verified by the global team
• Sharing insights on significant developments in AI globally across policy, regulation, business and technology
• Maintaining AI-specific aspects of global tech, IP, data and digital know-how repositories
• Overseeing improvements to internal channels for sharing AI insights and know-how
• Working with AI partners to prepare and deliver internal training on AI risks and risk management, and identifying opportunities to convert internal training into client-facing AI literacy training (and vice versa)
• Collaborating with other practice groups on AI know-how initiatives that span the AI value chain

AI adoption within advisory groups

• Supporting deployment and uptake of AI within Knowledge teams, in collaboration with MIG and Innovation Leads
• Including:
  • Curating databases of precedents for RAG, e.g. DDIT benches for ContractMatrix
  • Building on the firm’s prompt engineering best practices to develop task-specific guidance
  • Supporting rollout of training programmes for DDIT lawyers’ use of AI tools

Opportunity to grow and shape a dedicated AI knowledge function, as a valued member of a genuinely global AI advisory practice.

• Experience advising on or working within regulatory aspects of AI adoption and utilisation
• Qualified lawyer or knowledge lawyer with approximately 3-5+ years PQE, with experience in some of the following areas:
  • non-contentious IP transactions and advice
  • M&A support including due diligence, IP licensing, transitional services, separation and integration
  • communications network transactions and advice
  • data protection and privacy advice
  • cybersecurity advice
  • outsourcing transactions including in regulated sectors such as financial services
• In-depth understanding of global legal and compliance issues facing financial services, healthcare, or private equity institutions
• High degree of comfort with legal technologies and fintech
• Experience working with senior management within a complex international organization
• Self-starter with the desire and ability to continuously acquire, build upon and share knowledge
• Strong commercial/business acumen with the ability to deliver creative and pragmatic solutions
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interface at all levels and win the respect of the partner and fee-earner community, building strong client relationships
• Resilient and credible in a demanding environment
• Knowledge of at least one other major EU language is an advantage

Additional information – External

A&O Shearman is a global industry-leading law firm, with nearly 50 offices in 28 countries worldwide. Our fluency in English law, US law, and the laws of dynamic markets enables us to provide unmatched insight and seamless delivery to clients. We offer opportunities to work for leading businesses, transform the status quo and deliver your best work while supporting career growth.

We are committed to an inclusive environment and provide first-rate training and development, with wellbeing resources and hybrid working arrangements. We recruit the best and ask for the best of you, to redefine success together.