Job Description

Senior Associate

Construction

Manchester

DWF LLP is now seeking to recruit an experienced Senior Associate with 5 years + PQE experience of contentious/non-contentious construction and engineering matters. This is an exciting opportunity in our expanding Construction & Infrastructure team. This post will be Manchester based.

The Manchester team sits as part of the wider Real Estate team. The team is very much part of the DWF Manchester office and is able to draw on DWF\'s powerful presence in the North West.

We are looking for a specialist in construction and engineering contracts. Knowledge and experience in drafting and revising contracts and appointments for a range of projects and parties is essential for the non-contentious role. Experience of adjudication as well as arbitration and High Court work will be key for the contentious role

The clients include a mix of regional and national companies, local authorities and educational institutions to which the team provides the full range of non-contentious and contentious construction services. Currently the work is split approximately 70/30 between non-contentious and contentious.

The non-contentious work is predominantly development and banking related with specific sector experience in retail, housing, student accommodation, education and regeneration. Most of the non-contentious clients are employers. The team has worked on many large projects in the region and nationally.

The contentious work is for these employer clients, though there is considerable experience of working for contractors. The contentious work is split across adjudication, arbitration and high court.

You will be joining a friendly supportive team dedicated to excellent client service. You should be confident working under pressure and to tight timescales.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate a drive to succeed, and an enthusiasm to engage with clients. It is important that the successful candidate has the ability to work as part of a team in addition to being confident working under his/ her own initiative. We are also seeking candidates with good presentation and client handling skills, and a real desire to develop their career at DWF.

Main function of job: To deliver technical and commercial expertise and results within required time frames in order to provide the highest service level to external clients whilst demonstrating and communicating a clear understanding of business needs/changes to internal clients.

Relationships:

• Responsible to: Partner
• Liaison with: Other Partners, Fee-earners and Business Support teams across the practice groups at DWF, current and prospective clients, other Construction & Infrastructure and Real Estate sector professionals.

Main Duties:

• Achieve time recording targets split between chargeable and investment time in any one financial year.
• Achieve individual financial targets.
• Understand client requirements and manage cases in line with service level agreements and best practice.
• Analyse risk and further develop sound judgement enabling the justification of decisions to clients internally and externally.
• Prioritise work effectively and to maximise efficiency in working practices.
• Understand individual role in the context of the practice group and pro-actively seek to contribute to increased efficiency in developing a case load appropriate to level of technical, legal knowledge.
• Build working relationships internally and externally in order to develop business networks and create a solid understanding of the Firm\'s direction and client needs.
• Develop increased levels of technical and commercial knowledge via training or supervised working practices.

The above is not an exhaustive list of duties and you will be expected to perform different tasks as necessitated by your changing role within the organisation and the overall business objectives of the organisation.

DWF Group