We have an exciting new opportunity for a Knowledge/Professional Support Lawyer to join our Disputes & Risk practice group and provide a high quality knowledge service to support our Regulatory Disputes service line and certain other specialist Partners within the practice group.  We wouldn’t expect the successful candidate to hold experience within all of these areas, but this is an interesting opportunity for those looking for variety and breadth within their role.

Knowledge is at the heart of Osborne Clarke's strategy. Reporting to our Head of Disputes & Risk Knowledge, the individual will be the dedicated Knowledge lawyer for our Regulatory Disputes service line as well as being a key member of an innovative, market-leading and purposeful Knowledge Team.

The practice

Our Regulatory Disputes service line is based across our Bristol and London offices and is made up of 13 lawyers overall, including 3 partners. The team have an exciting and growing client base and cover a range of specialisms.

The service line covers the following areas:

• Health & Safety: UK and international, including internal corporate investigations and investigations by regulators, interviews, criminal prosecutions and other court hearings (including appealing enforcement notices and inquests); Advisory and Corporate Support.
• Product and Consumer Regulation: advice on regulatory issues at all stages of a product's journey.
• Food Law.
• Regulated Public Procurement: public procurement; utilities procurement; defence and security procurement; UK-led and by EU institutions.
• Economic Regulation: in the gas, electricity, telecoms and water sectors and other public sector regulation.
• Global Compliance systems for large corporations: including all the areas above and anti corruption, bribery, modern slavery.
• Personal Injury defence and advice: for non-insured or self-insured corporate businesses.

Across our wider Commercial Disputes service line there are also further specialist Partners which may require some support on occasion, including advising on cyber security, data breaches, white collar crime, and fraud. The wider Disputes & Risk practice group also includes service lines covering  intellectual property and trademarks, construction and property litigation, and restructuring and insolvency.

Key skills and responsibilities

The key responsibilities for the Regulatory Disputes Knowledge Lawyer will be to:

• Keep abreast of global legal and regulatory trends and current and future developments in the practice areas listed above in order to:
• produce tailored updates for clients;
• support the monthly Osborne Clarke Regulatory Outlook;
• identify breaking news stories for clients;
• spot opportunities for media commentary; and
• identify cross-overs between regulatory issues / government policy that have general application to these practice areas and to Osborne Clarke's wider business.
• Organise know-how sharing, including authoring and collecting external and internal know-how, storing it in Osborne Clarke's knowledge systems, and arranging and leading know-how sharing sessions.
• Draft and update precedents as required by the teams' business needs.
• Organise the internal legal training programmes. 
• Assist in the preparation of client seminars and client training sessions.
• Respond to queries from lawyers across the Firm and clients regarding current law and practice.
• Support and work closely with the Head of D&R Knowledge to provide a coordinated Knowledge service to the D&R Practice Group.
• Assist in the co-ordination and quality control, in conjunction with the Marketing and Communications teams, of publications/articles/press releases produced by the team for either external or internal publication.

Technical skills and experience

Prior Knowledge/Professional Support Lawyer experience is not a pre-requisite, but a good understanding of how large law firms' Knowledge functions operate and of the wider commercial priorities of a client-focused business is a distinct advantage.

The successful candidate will possess strong theoretical, practical and up-to-date knowledge of business regulation and internal / regulatory investigations in some of the  areas listed above (with a willingness to develop knowledge of new subject areas) and experience spanning contentious and advisory work and gained within a leading business law firm, in-house or at a relevant regulatory body.

We are also looking for evidence of:

• A client-orientated approach, both internally and externally; the ability to think laterally and to develop ideas in relation to business opportunities and training; and the appreciation of fee earner needs and constraints.
   
• Understanding of technological solutions and innovation to deliver service internally and externally.
   
• Behaviours expected of an experienced fee earner and team player; the ability to make decisions and progress work and projects efficiently; confidence in own abilities and generates the confidence of others.
   
• Understanding of how knowledge is acquired by the lawyer and client audience, particularly in relation to the use of digital media, and how knowledge is now delivered using online and social media tools.
   
• Strong oral and written communication skills. Enthusiasm for presenting technical legal and regulatory issues in a clear, approachable and professional way.
   
• A proven ability to research and analyse complex areas of law and regulation without supervision and to identify the key commercial issues for Osborne Clarke's clients arising out of that analysis.
   
• Being enthusiastic and resourceful; a pro-active and motivated self-starter with excellent organisational skills; flexible, pragmatic and a problem-solving approach.

Salary and benefits

We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits.

For more information or to apply

At Osborne Clarke LLP we welcome direct applications - if you would like any further information about the role, or the firm, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact, in complete confidence, Emily Webb in the Recruitment team on 0117 917 3072 or email [email protected].

At Osborne Clarke, we are known for our open and inclusive culture. We believe that by investing in the diversity and wellbeing of our people, we create an environment where everyone can thrive to be the best that they can be. This means recognising that our people have lives and commitments outside of work. We have invested in connected working for our people and, where possible, we will accommodate flexible working for all our roles.