Being the first point of contact for legal queries to the legal inbox from within the business and supporting the legal team in responding to those queries. Ownership of the contract review process, ensuring contracts are reviewed in line with SLAs.
Reports to: Senior Solicitor
Responsibilities of the role (What we want you to do)
- Co-responsibility for (a) monitoring the legal inbox for queries sent within the business; (b) responding to less complex queries with support from the legal team; and (c) assisting the solicitors and General Counsel with their responses to more complex queries. Queries may include requests for advice and/or reviews of agreements, correspondence, and marketing materials.
- Accountable for the contract review and advice process – (a) undertaking review of contracts on a broad range of commercial, employment and IT contracts such as supplier agreements, wholesale services agreements, contracts for software/hardware services, contracts with third party debt collection agencies, insurance Terms of Business and confidentiality agreements, and (b) providing advice and assistance on legal issues involving data protection, marketing/PR copy, IP, employment, general legal queries, company secretarial matters such as statutory forms and simple board minutes and our trade mark portfolio.
- Litigation – drafting the defence of claims issued against the Group and associated documentation.
- Reviewing marketing/PR copy for legal sign off, seeking further legal guidance where required.
- Reviewing customer / colleague communications for legal sign off, seeking further legal guidance where required.
- Data protection – providing support to data protection team relating to (a) data protection inbox emails from the business/third parties; (b) subject access request responses; and (c) the reporting of data breaches.
- Acquisitions – involved in due diligence and drafting NDAs and other contractual documentation.
Success Measures (What success in the role looks like)
- The provision of timely responses to delegated work tasks, and acknowledgments/responses to emails sent to legal inbox in line with key business priorities.
- The organisation is compliant with the relevant legislation relating to the legal queries and contracts responded to.
- Achieve all objectives agreed with the Senior Solicitor.
Experience (What you need to have already done to be right for this role)
- At least 3 years’ experience in reviewing, drafting and negotiating contracts.
- Corporate and/or commercial legal experience.
Skills (The personal capabilities needed to excel in this role)
- A confident and concise communication style, both verbally and written, with an eye for detail.
- The ability to pick up and understand new concepts quickly.
- Adaptable, with the ability to perform a wide variety of work in a wide variety of sectors.
- Good organisational skills to deal with busy workload and ability to work to deadlines.
- The ability to work successfully as part of a team.
- Ability to review contracts with commercial acumen in providing business-friendly advice.
- Ability to work independently and review contracts with minimal supervision/input from senior solicitors.
Qualifications and other requirements
- Industry Experience: Previous experience in Energy, Telecoms, Water of insurance preferred but not essential.
- Location: Within commuting distance of Verastar HQ, Sale, Manchester.
- IT literate, with knowledge of the effective use of Microsoft (Word, excel, PowerPoint); essential.