Role Summary

Our People and Reward department advises on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment, pensions and incentives law, on a national and multi-jurisdictional basis. The global team consists of 23 partners and approximately 100 lawyers worldwide in Europe, Asia and the US, and the London team consists of six partners and approximately 25 associates. We advise clients on some of the most strategic and reputationally sensitive matters. The team works closely with other departments within the firm, providing them with specialist advice and input for projects they are managing.

This role will be part of the employment and incentives team, which sits within the People and Reward department in London. The team advise on a range of contentious and non-contentious employment and share plan issues. The associate will have the opportunity to gain broad experience and learn from an experienced, well regarded and friendly team.


The role would suit anyone who is currently focused on either employment or incentives and would like to broaden their experience and explore the interesting intersection between the two areas. The contentious employment work includes High Court and Employment Tribunal litigation, conducting standalone investigations into reputationally sensitive issues and providing employment advice in the context of regulatory or competition law related investigations. Non-contentious work includes advising on the employment and incentive aspects of both public and private mergers and acquisitions, insolvency situations and providing day to day advice on matters such as senior hiring and firing, malus and clawback, governance and remuneration rules, redundancy exercises and share plan rules.

Key Responsibilities 

• Draft complex legal documents succinctly   

• Negotiate issues or points alone or alongside senior associates, counsel and/or partners  

• Take full responsibility for work and delegate, manage and mentor trainees and utilise the resources of the Legal Services Centre where appropriate   

• Participate at seminars/training with clients and other associates and work with other lawyers and professionals to drive business development initiatives  

• Establish profile and relationships with clients by displaying a good understanding of the clients’ current business and future objectives, and provide commercially orientated advice  

• Maintain a structured and timely approach to financial management including regular review of work in progress, billing and unpaid bills  

 

Requirements 

 

• Intellectually capable, with top class academics  

• Qualified lawyer (including those newly qualified) 

• A strong technical and transactional background, with the ability to apply this to the needs of the firm’s clients 

• Previous experience gained within a firm noted for its employment expertise is essential  

• A willingness to be actively involved in business development activity 

• A positive role model and team player, who will actively share knowledge and contribute to the development of the practice 

 

Competencies 

 

• Technical skills: has a good grasp of legal principles within the practice area, and has the ability to draft complex legal documents clearly, succinctly and in plain English. 

• Client relationships: considers what the client wants and is committed to delivering top class service whilst looking for opportunities to build relationships with clients. 

• Business advisor: is able to provide solutions that meet the needs of the client, identify key elements of problems, undertake research and apply legal knowledge to offer practical solutions whilst developing own knowledge and understanding of the client’s business, priorities and challenges. 

• People and team: able to work effectively as part of a team (including seeking feedback to improve own performance) as well as attending training, and building relationships across the firm, including supporting diversity, corporate responsibility and other firm programmes. 

• Project management: able to manage own areas of responsibility on a project, including time, available resources and the expectations of others in order to meet deadlines.  

• Business development: is curious about clients’ business/industries, willing to develop own knowledge of the different services offered by the firm, as well as supporting senior colleagues in business development activities, including preparing pitches for new work. 

• Personal skills: credible, professional, able to work with a wide range of clients and people, willing to embrace change and take accountability for achieving results.  

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 don’t 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 isn’t 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. 

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.  

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.