Construction Solicitor/Associate/Senior - London

Job Introduction

Are you looking for a role where you will be intellectually challenged, but treated with respect?   Or an environment where you can enjoy industry-leading work quality without compromising on client contact and business development?  An opportunity in our Construction team may be for you.

What do we mean by Construction?  We mean providing expert legal advice to clients across an engaging mix of the supply chain, to our well established client base and liaising with our national practice and Real Estate teams.  Our teams work collaboratively across these disciplines and, whilst everyone will have their area of particular expertise, we encourage cross-working so colleagues have genuine variety in their work and can use their rounded expertise to provide creative, bespoke solutions for our clients. 

So, why should you be excited about a career with us?  Our team are empowered to develop their own client contacts and relationships from the start of their careers; you will see how your contribution directly impacts on your clients and understand how the service you provide helps them.  We are also very proud of our client base, who provide us with top-quality instructions.  We have the backing of a truly international firm with over 2,500 colleagues across 9 countries and with a myriad of international associations further bolstering our capabilities.

We aim to encourage diversity by offering the opportunity to bring your whole self to work, underpinned by our employer brand of A Life That Works.  Our team are very busy and work hard, but we offer genuine flexibility to allow you to meet your personal and work commitments – and that flexibility won’t disappear post-Covid! – it has been hardwired into our DNA for years.  All across our team, from our emerging talent to our senior leadership, you won’t find a closed door, real or virtual.  Read on for more information about our specific vacancy and the firm as a whole.

Role Responsibility

As part of our growth and re-shaping strategy, our Construction team is offering a number of new and exciting opportunities.  We are currently building on our very successful Construction pedigree and well established client base.

The team acts for all parties in the supply chain, with a particular emphasis on Main Contractors and Sub-Contractors.  We are well versed in adjudication and High Court business, regularly having conduct of these matters on behalf of clients.  In the last 18 months the London Construction Team has been involved in over 10 TCC matters and a similar number of adjudications for clients.

We act for a number of the top-10 and £50/£70m UK Contractors.  We also hold various panel appointments for multi-national Engineering companies.  We act for all of the Leading National House builders and Developers. All of which has generated the need for additional expertise, particularly at the junior and mid level. 

As part of the construction team you will:

  • Have the opportunity to interact on a regular basis with clients.  You will share your knowledge of key issues and provide meaningful advice to clients;
  • Have responsibility for conducting adjudications, therefore being able to conduct adjudications will be a significant advantage, as will the ability to draft submissions and to understand the intricacies of adjudication business;
  • You will have the opportunity to run and support High Court matters, therefore a knowledge of procedure and rules is a ‘must’;
  • Have responsibility for running disclosure exercises and drafting witness statements;
  • Run or support the team with other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution, such as mediation therefore an understanding of alternative dispute resolution will be an advantage.
  • Have the opportunity to liaise directly with experts and counsel, therefore you will require the ability to understand and direct experts and Counsel.

We are looking for new colleagues who have an interest in the construction industry and how the law can help clients to achieve goals!  We look forward to discussing our opportunities with you.

The Ideal Candidate

Due to our growth and the reshaping strategy, we are open minded about the qualification level of the candidates we see: we are most interested in what you think you can bring to the role and the team, and whether we are the right fit for you.  However, we are looking for a range of experience levels including a junior Solicitor or Associate and a more experienced Associate of 5 years+.

About the Company

If you are planning on applying to DAC Beachcroft, we want you to understand why we are here and how we work together: these things are expressed in our purpose and vision, underpinned by our cultural principles, strategy and brand.

Our purpose is to help our clients and our colleagues succeed, creating sustainable value.

Our vision is to be leading business advisers recognised for our insight and our outstanding commitment to clients, and for being the place where talented people want to work.

We strive to create a Life that Works for our colleagues under our employer brand, reflecting our long history as an employer of choice offering both opportunity and flexibility.  We are a diverse organisation and we continue to strive to be more so, through extensive colleague networks such as Spectrum, our LGBTQ+ network, and Access, our BAME network.  We also partner with external organisations such as The Social Mobility Foundation and Working Families, amongst others, to provide an objective eye to our progress.

Our culture and inclusivity underpins an impressive legal pedigree with our market-leading presence in Insurance, Health and Real Estate. This is complemented by a fast-growing Business Advisory offering.  We represent a wide range of clients, ranging from household names to government departments and NHS bodies and enjoy over 150 Chambers rankings at practice area and individual lawyer level.

Our international reach is extensive with 9 offices across Europe, Asia and the Americas, with further associations and alliances and, as a founding member of Legalign, we thrive in a cooperative international legal network.  We are constantly developing our international pedigree, whilst maintaining a strong domestic focus, allowing us to service all our clients to the highest possible standard.

We are proud of our recent catalogue of awards in a variety of areas.  Three of these many awards included ‘Out Sourced Partner of the Year’ at the British Insurance Awards for our market-leading suite of innovative digital tools; ‘Crisis Management Team of the Year’ at the British Legal Awards which highlighted the excellence of legal teams in supporting their clients through significant crises; and ‘Best CSR Award’ for our Helpforce volunteering programme with our major client, the NHS.

We hope that you will decide to make an application to join us and look forward to discussing how DAC Beachcroft can help you on your career path and how you can help us to continue making our firm a success.

 

Note for Recruitment Agencies – the DAC Beachcroft recruitment team is responsible for managing all current vacancies through direct hiring and referrals wherever possible.  We do work with recruitment agencies and where we require external support we will formally release those vacancies to the agencies on our Preferred Supplier List deemed best placed to assist us.  Speculative CVs sent by any agency to any DAC Beachcroft employee without a specific request by the recruitment team will not be accepted and with no introduction fee applicable.  Our recruitment team can be contacted at [email protected]

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