Associate - Contentious Construction (1-2 PQE)

at  Charles Russell Speechlys

Due to growth, we are recruiting an Associate into our Construction, Engineering & Projects team. The team is a full-service construction law team providing transactional advice through to dispute avoidance and dispute resolution advice relating to large-scale construction and engineering projects in the UK and internationally.
The team acts for clients across a wide range of business sectors with a particular emphasis on real estate developers, housebuilders, property investment companies, contractors, sub-contractors, and major engineering consultancies.
Our transaction advice includes advising on the procurement of construction projects, all forms of domestic and international construction contracts, and ancillary documentation such as consultant appointments, trade contracts, collateral warranties, parent company guarantees and performance bonds.
Core dispute avoidance and dispute resolution services include advising on all forms of dispute resolution (adjudication / arbitration / litigation / mediation / expert determination) and giving strategic advice to clients to ensure that their dispute is resolved as cost effectively as possible whilst maintaining the best possible outcome.
The team provides an opportunity to work across a wide variety of contentious and non-contentious work streams, with current growth in the contentious work space. We are particularly interested in experience of working on both UK adjudications and Technology and Construction Court Litigation.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Assisting with drafting construction contracts, including consultant appointments and collateral warranties.
• Negotiating construction contracts with consultants and contractors.
• Ensuring that regular communication is kept with the relevant consultants and contractors so that the documents can be completed in a timely fashion.
• Project managing large volumes of contracts and keeping track of the status of the documents at any one time, including keeping document trackers up to date.
• Issuing documents for execution via DocuSign or hard copy engrossments.
• Proof reading engrossments of contracts such as appointments and collateral warranties to check that they are correctly formatted and completed.
• Undertake research where required by other team members.
• Contribute to group knowledge and know-how initiatives.
• Comply with all relevant legal and regulatory obligations including the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Standards and Regulations, and Principles.

Person specification

• Be an England & Wales qualified solicitor or equivalent minimum 1 to 2PQE, able to integrate into team effectively
• Experience of contentious construction work, and in particular working on both UK adjudications and TCC litigation
• Confidence in both verbal and written communication with a diverse range of clients
• Demonstrate excellent time management skills and stakeholder management
• Have the ability to develop effective working relationships at all levels, being able to fit in with the Firm’s culture and the existing team
• Able to work effectively, both autonomously and as part of a team as needed
• Have a flexible approach and willing to go the extra mile
• TCC experience in the context of fire safety related litigation, would be particularly beneficial

Competencies

• Conscientious and methodical with excellent attention to detail
• Strong communication skills with the ability to deal with teams at all levels
• Proactive and demonstrable experience of using initiative
• Strong client service
• Delivery focus

• Assisting with drafting construction contracts, including consultant appointments and collateral warranties.
• Negotiating construction contracts with consultants and contractors.
• Ensuring that regular communication is kept with the relevant consultants and contractors so that the documents can be completed in a timely fashion.
• Project managing large volumes of contracts and keeping track of the status of the documents at any one time, including keeping document trackers up to date.
• Issuing documents for execution via DocuSign or hard copy engrossments.
• Proof reading engrossments of contracts such as appointments and collateral warranties to check that they are correctly formatted and completed.
• Undertake research where required by other team members.
• Contribute to group knowledge and know-how initiatives.
• Comply with all relevant legal and regulatory obligations including the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Standards and Regulations, and Principles