Role summary/purpose of job

The Knowledge & Information Services Assistant will support the firm’s Knowledge Lawyers and the lawyers in within the ACT practice. They will be responsible for capturing knowhow and developing our internal knowledge collections, managing our external resources (online and in print) and guiding users, responding to queries and supporting resources training.

The Knowledge & Information Services Assistant will be part of our global Knowledge & Information Services Team, which is led by the Global Head of Knowledge & Information Services. They will report to a Knowledge & Information Services Manager and will work alongside other Knowledge and Information Services Specialists and Assistants. The role will principally support the ACT lawyers but, as a member of a global team, will also collaborate with colleagues on firmwide or cross-practice projects.

Location Overview: Manchester

The Freshfields Global Centre provides both business and legal services to the firm. Our services are delivered in a way which supports the global nature of our firm and our clients, enables our fee earners to deliver exceptional service to our clients and to do that in a way which is efficient and effective.

Function Overview

Freshfields’ global Knowledge function connects people and knowledge to enable the firm’s lawyers to provide market-leading client service, to grow the business of the firm and strengthen client relationships, and to support the firm’s lawyers in developing their legal skills, while focusing on value, quality and efficiency. Our Knowledge & Information Services team is a key part of the Knowledge function and plays a critical role in ensuring the firm’s lawyers and business services colleagues have access to curated internal knowledge collections and external resources relevant to their work, and supporting research activities and current awareness. 

This is an exciting opportunity for a candidate with an interest in the law, knowledge and information services who is keen to be part of a global team and develop an understanding of the antitrust, competition and trade practice, with a particular focus on UK and EU competition law.

Freshfields’ is the leading antitrust, competition and trade practice globally, covering all aspects of antitrust and competition law, whether in the context of M&A (merger control, foreign investment and foreign subsidies regulation), investigations (competition, market and cartel) or litigation.  We also frequently advise on regulatory and state aid matters.

Key responsibilities and deliverables

Knowledge & Insight capture: Ensuring knowledge insights and knowhow from client mandates are captured (e.g. alongside Knowledge Lawyers in line with relevant practice area processes).

Current awareness (internal and external facing): supporting the creation and sharing of updates, insights and commentary on legal, regulatory and market developments – this may involve conducting research, collating materials, tracking cases, legislation or other developments or key topics (which may support the production of external facing content such as blogs, briefings and client presentations), drafting summaries and updates (incl. first drafts for external/client facing updates or K materials and internal updates) and maintaining topics pages on our Knowledge SharePoint.

Knowledge collections management: Collating and maintaining our internal knowledge collections, including uploading knowhow and tagging (adhering to our global standards and governance protocols), creating and maintaining topics pages, reviewing and curating materials – this requires the ability to understand, abstract and disseminate key information about the relevant knowhow (with guidance from relevant Knowledge Lawyers).

Internal K products creation/updating: Supporting the Knowledge Lawyers and lawyers in the practice groups on the creation and updating of internal knowledge products (eg standard forms, templates and practice notes – including automating documents).

Information on resources: Maintaining and updating information on relevant SharePoints and other tools used to house and disseminate information about our internal and external resources.

External resource expertise: Developing a comprehensive understanding of the external online databases and resources relevant to the practice area, with the ability to search and retrieve content efficiently and effectively and guide others in doing so, guiding others in setting up alerts, and participating in trials of new products, occasional liaison with vendors on queries.  

Resources training and guidance: Supporting resources training for lawyers and other business services colleagues on how to use the Knowledge SharePoints, other internal knowledge tools (e.g. Athena, Foundation) and external resources in conjunction with other Knowledge & Information Services colleagues – including helping to develop e-learnings and guidance materials to support direct access

Research & signposting: Helping users orient their own searches, including directing them to specific internal or external resources, and responding to queries from lawyers in the practice groups or other business services colleagues; this will involve (where appropriate) researching and locating sources and commentary from internal and external resources (including confirming if sources are available), answering simpler queries outright and seeking guidance from Knowledge Lawyers or more senior members of the Knowledge & Information Services team on more complex requests as needed. Signposting users to relevant materials (incl. sign-posting to any user guides and password re-set guidance to access external materials). 

External resource management: As part of the wider team, occasionally classifying and cataloguing new titles, and updating our online library system and relevant SharePoints as required. Occasional travel to London to support the management of physical libraries and hard copy resources in the London office. As part of wider team, conducting audits of books, journals and external databases, from time to time, to ensure relevance/value and to identify competitors as part of renewal process

Compliance with policies: Being aware of copyright and compliance policies and adhering to them when disseminating materials

Supporting external vendor management: Working with Global Procurement and other Knowledge & Information Services colleagues on contract renewals and new purchases of resources in line with our global subscriptions policy, including occasionally assisting with purchase orders and invoices for resources specific to the area.

Key requirements

Essential

• Degree educated

• Research skills

• Highly IT literate, including excellent command of Microsoft Office 365 (including Excel)

• Good commercial awareness

• Confident individual

• Strongly self-motivated with the ability to use their initiative and the ability to work on long term projects at the same time as day-to-day tasks

• Excellent communication skills

• Business proficiency in English (both oral and written)

• A team player capable of building good working relationships

• Organisational and administrative skills, with attention to detail

Desirable

• Degree in law, library and information sciences or information management

• For law graduates, LPC, bar exam pass or equivalent is desirable

• SharePoint skills, content publishing, database maintenance and ability to upload content to websites (full training will be available)

• Experience of working in a law firm (eg as a paralegal, knowledge assistant or in a library/research role) and/or understanding of legal products/services or professional services experience is desirable. 

Freshfields Overview

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is a major international law firm, providing business law advice of the highest quality. We want to be the law firm that clients turn to for legal advice where it most matters, wherever in the world that may be. The Firm has over 2,400 lawyers in 28 offices around the world, providing a comprehensive service to national and multinational corporations, financial institutions, and governments.

Our people make our firm - we are a people business and want to create a welcoming and supportive environment where all can flourish. We see diversity as a strength which creates fresh perspectives and generates new ideas. We enjoy our work and are determined to do an outstanding job. We deliver best when working in teams. Our culture is a product of the combined mindsets and behaviours of our people which is through the Being Freshfields principles, outlined below:

• we show respect to everyone

• we are there for one another

• we are open with each other

• we are positive role models

We think and work globally - we do not just say we are one firm; we act like one firm right across the world. We work wherever our clients need us. This is how we define ourselves, not by reference to where we have offices. Cross-border work is not just what we do, it is what we excel at. We understand what it really takes to work across different legal systems and commercial environments and to bridge language and cultural gaps.

We aim to add value in everything we do - we are passionate about helping our clients succeed. We use our experience and creativity to help clients make judgements and achieve their goals. In everything we do, we seek to make a real difference to the communities in which we operate.

Freshfields is committed to promoting equality and diversity and to developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds make important and positive contributions to our business and how we service our clients.

Inclusion

Freshfields is an equal opportunities employer and all applications received by the firm will be considered based on their merit alone and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals regardless of background. All offers of employment will be conditional on the candidate having/securing the right to work in the UK and providing the firm with evidence of that right (as required by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006) prior to employment commencing.

Freshfields is a Ban the Box employer. We ask applicants to disclose criminal convictions only when a conditional job offer is made. A conviction does not automatically lead to withdrawal of the offer: we make decisions on a case-by-case basis and take a number of factors into account (e.g. the role you are applying for and the circumstances of the offence). You would have the opportunity to discuss the matter with us before we make a decision.