Paralegal - Commercial Litigation: Regulatory

Let us introduce ourselves…

It is the people at Shakespeare Martineau that make us so special. By understanding what our people want, giving them the support they need, recognising everyone’s contribution and realising the unique power of teams; together we win. As a firm we are focused on proactively building and developing diverse teams, bringing different backgrounds, personalities and perspectives together. We play to our strengths, pushing ourselves to be consistently better than yesterday and deliver amazing solutions for our clients. We empower our teams with a high degree of individual responsibility; we self-manage and encourage everyone to be responsible for their own learning, knowing it makes us even better at what we do!

We believe in trusting our people to make the right decisions for themselves from how you dress, to how, when and where you work - we focus on outputs.

Our Team:

Our Commercial Litigation team is a high performing team with members based in Birmingham, London, Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln and Sheffield.

The team includes specialists in a variety of areas, such as energy, regulatory, education, corporate disputes, image protection and international disputes.

We are currently investing in and building our Regulatory offering which is headed up by Kamal Chauhan. The team currently comprises two partners, and one Legal Director. We work nationally, but our principal base is at our Sheffield office.

We cover a wide range of practice areas, from health and safety/environment and business/financial criminal defence, through to professional disciplinary tribunals. We act for a diverse range of clients in multiple business sectors; and as well as standalone litigation, we also provide corporate and commercial property support on transactional regulatory issues. This means that the workload is varied and interesting, with the opportunity to work alongside colleagues in other teams across the firm.

The role:

We are on the lookout for an innovative and ambitious Paralegal based in our Sheffield office to help support the team’s development. Your work will involve assisting the team in all aspects of its work. You will have lots of contact with clients, be involved in supporting some ground-breaking and market leading initiatives and be part of a friendly, fun and collaborative team who will support you to develop and grow your own profile.

What you will be doing:

• Working with clients in all sectors of the economy – including manufacturing, education, energy, agriculture, tech, food and waste management.
• Collaborating closely with other teams across the firm.
• Working as part of a team of experienced lawyers with a reputation as leaders in the fields.
• Helping to build and grow the Regulatory practice – including being involved in business development initiatives.
• Assisting on a wide range of projects with the opportunity to obtain experience in contentious and non-contentious work.
• Liaising with external parties such as courts, and counsels’ chambers.
• Conducting legal research for the team.
• Preparing first drafts of correspondence, and assisting on cases, including preparing bundles for counsel, expert witnesses and court.
• Working to deadlines.
• Helping to support the training and BD initiatives run by the team.

What you will need:

• Enthusiasm and application – in particular, being able to prioritise and manage your workload.
• Willingness to learn new skills, and to become involved in novel and complex areas of law.
• Confident people skills and the ability to work well with clients, counsel and the team.
• Strong IT and admin skills.
• The ability to support the team on urgent matters.
• Good academics - and some experience of working in a law firm would be helpful, but not essential.

Key competencies you will need:

• Accuracy and attention to detail, plus the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• A genuine interest in learning about regulatory work.
• A high degree of initiative and the ability to cope in a demanding but supportive environment.
• Excellent organisational and prioritising skills.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to build rapport with colleagues and clients alike.
• The ability to develop the knowledge and expertise of the team, as well as yourself.

Benefits, Agile Working and Additional information

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work.

We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it.

We have the following hubs across the UK: Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Sheffield, Stratford upon Avon & Tunbridge Wells.

Want to find out more about our amazing benefits?

Additional information:

Please be aware, for some vacancies, where we receive high numbers of applications we may need to bring the close date forward.

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.

Equal opportunities

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.

About Shakespeare Martineau

Shakespeare Martineau is part of Ampa Group, a leading house of brands in legal and professional services. Ampa Group brings together complementary firms - including Lime Solicitors, Mayo Wynne Baxter, Marrons and others - connected by shared values and a modern, people-first culture.

As a group, we’re focused on unlocking potential. We believe in the power of &: corporate & human, purposeful & profitable, ambitious & inclusive. Ampa Group provides the shared infrastructure, development programmes, culture, values and empowered working framework that enable our brands, and our people, to thrive.

For you, that means access to award-winning learning, flexibility built on trust, and opportunities to collaborate across a diverse network of specialists.

Shakespeare Martineau remains its own distinctive brand with its own clients and markets. Ampa Group gives our people the strength of the group and the freedom to grow their careers in the way that works for them.