Senior Associate - Corporate

An exciting opportunity to join our growing Corporate team.

 

Reports To: Corporate Partner

Why Bates Wells?

Making a profit is core to all businesses but our goal is to combine this with a real social purpose. Our values are pivotal to us, they shape our decisions and the way we live and work.

We focus on positive social impact as much as we focus on being a successful law firm. Our top tier legal advice is coupled with a real desire to drive change and we were the first UK law firm with B Corp certification, awarded to businesses that balance purpose and profit.

Today, our clients are diverse – from corporate household names, to public bodies, to start ups. We’re also the firm of choice for thousands of charities and social enterprises. We continue to lead the market we helped to shape.

Bates Wells challenges what is possible in legal expertise delivery.


The Role

This is an excellent opportunity to play a pivotal role in a growing practice which blends high quality traditional corporate work with cutting edge values driven work in purpose and impact.

The role will cover a broad range of corporate law for national and international businesses, including those focused on purpose and impact; and for charities and social enterprises; in particular:

  • Mergers and acquisitions.
  • Corporate finance.
  • Impact investing, often involving cross-border / international dimensions, including in emerging and frontier markets.
  • Venture capital and private equity deals

With a high degree of client contact from the outset, you will be encouraged and supported to pursue your personal interests through your practice, develop your personal network and profile and your client/prospect management skills, contribute strategically to business development and work cross-departmentally through our wide range of exceptionally strong sector groups.

You will receive career development support, for example by co-managing client relationships with partners, supporting the development of junior fee earners and contributing to development and delivery of the corporate team’s strategy.

About the Corporate Team

Our Corporate team specialises in the small to mid-cap market advising across a range of sectors including technology & media, financial services, life-sciences, healthcare, sports, and organisations focused on or interested in purpose and impact, including impact investment funds making ESG investments.

It works extensively on corporate advisory and transactional work including investments, mergers, acquisitions, shareholders’ agreements, joint ventures, group reorganisations and corporate fundraising.

Our clients include multinational corporations, quoted companies, financial institutions, private companies of all sizes, partnerships, high-net-worth individuals and not-for-profit organisations, many of which operate globally. Our firm’s expertise in the charity sector also means we often work with a number of trade associations and bodies, as well as quasi-public bodies, trusts and other unincorporated entities.

About you

  • You will be a UK qualified lawyer with around 5+years PQE working, ideally, in a top-tier corporate team at a well-regarded international, national or strong regional law firm.
  • You will have gained a solid foundation in running and managing complex corporate transactions, including confidently running due diligence processes, advising clients on legal corporate issues, leading negotiations on transaction documents (whether SPAs, disclosure letters or complex private equity investment documents) and you will have experience with project managing and running group reorganisations and restructurings.
  • You will, preferably, have experience advising on transactions which involve cross-border elements.
  • You see the value in Bates Wells as a career choice, share our values and want to make a difference.   
  • You want to feel that you are a part of the Bates Wells experience and ‘belong’.
  • You are not afraid to test assumptions and challenge.
  • You want exposure to a variety of challenges that will allow you to innovate.
  • You are technically excellent, commercially minded and have great people skills.

About us

  • A one firm approach means working together and improving to achieve common goals and to provide a consistent Bates Wells experience.
  • As a values-driven firm we show commitment to our clients, our people, the environment and society. We take into account the Climate Emergency and Biodiversity Crisis in developing our business strategy.
  • We work with exceptional clients to offer the very best work.
  • We want to have a positive impact on our people who are our greatest asset so that they can have a positive impact on others.  Purpose is baked into our partnership deed.
  • Looking for better ways of working is always our priority.
  • We promote a strong work/life balance with 25 days holiday with the opportunity to buy more and a ‘Summer in the City’ early-finish one day per week during July – August.
  • We have an agile working environment – this means you might sit next to a different colleague every day or choose to work from our rooftop garden if you are in the office. We have adopted a hybrid working approach which we continually review and currently expect employees to work from the office a minimum of 2 days per week.
  • Our culture encourages clear and honest dialogue and cross-team support
  • The firm review salaries annually as part of the appraisal process in July of each year. However, we encourage our staff to engage with their supervisors throughout the year on feedback and objective setting.
  • We recognise success and contribution at any time of the year through our Recognition Scheme
  • Our benefits and wellbeing package includes firm matching pension contributions, private medical insurance plus a medical benefit cash plan, discretionary bonus arrangements, life assurance, subsidised gym memberships, lifestyle discount scheme and a firm-wide profit-sharing scheme. We also have trained Mental Health First Aiders across the business
  • Everyone gets a bonus if there is one - a proportion of the LLP profit is distributed to our people when we exceed our financial thresholds.
  • We strongly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to reach their full potential whatever their background and believe a diverse team is integral to our success.  We are signatories of the Halo Code Agreement, Race at Work Charter and Race Fairness Commitment

If you'd like to discuss the role or ask any questions in advance of applying, please contact Daisy Mortimer on [email protected]

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