BD Manager - IP Litigation

at  AO Shearman

A&O Shearman is a new global industry-leading law firm, with nearly 50 offices in 29 countries worldwide. Our fluency in English law, US law, and the laws of the world’s most dynamic markets, enables us to provide unmatched insight and seamless delivery to clients. We work on challenging and important deals and disputes that have the potential to shape the future.
Whether you’re helping clients solve complex challenges, transforming the ways we manage our business, or ensuring the smooth-running of our operations, this is an environment where you can belong and excel.
What truly defines a career with us? We recruit the best and ask for the best of you. And together, we will redefine success.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• Culturally astute with a strong ability to work effectively with colleagues from other countries on cross-border activities.
• 5 to 8 years of professional services experience working in a high-profile, fast-paced environment.
• Experience in, and ability to deliver at, a complex organization.
• A tenacious, proactive approach to achieving results and with a demonstrable track record of helping to successfully grow a practice group.
• A self-starter with the ability to prioritize, multi-task, and drive forward multiple projects, using limited partner availability in the most effective way.
• A strong team player, with experience of developing successful working relationships with other business development team members.
• Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills—with partners, associates, and business development colleagues.
• High attention to detail and strong client focus.
• Bachelor’s degree required.

DEPARTMENT PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE

Our U.S. Litigation Practice provides clients with a full-service offering, with a deep bench. Our growing Litigation Practice serves clients in disputes, financial institutions litigation, regulatory and white collar defense, antitrust, internal investigations and special investigations for boards, securities litigation, corruption investigations and litigation related to regulatory compliance, intellectual property, and professional liability.
Our intellectual property team supports the world’s leading businesses to invest in and protect global intellectual property portfolios, and is a growing team in the U.S. With over 120 specialist IP partners and associates worldwide, A&O Shearman offers an integrated, cross-border service to help clients dealing with the opportunities and threats brought by globalization and technology.
Many of our IP lawyers come from a science, technology, or an engineering background and have a deep understanding of the sectors in which our clients operate. This is combined with our leading antitrust, arbitration, employment and regulatory experience, and one of the largest international networks of any law firm.
One of our key differentiators in the U.S. is the truly integrated nature of the advice we give, and our U.S. IP Litigation team is at the forefront of the cross-border expertise that makes A&O Shearman stand out. Successfully managing risks requires an understanding of both the technical legal requirements of multiple jurisdictions, the investigative methods used by government regulators and criminal prosecutors, and the practical concerns of our clients.

ROLE PURPOSE

This role is a fantastic opportunity to gain global experience working for one of the largest law firms in the world and to learn the unique approach that a truly global firm utilizes towards business development and marketing. Our U.S. team works cooperatively with our colleagues located in over 40 other offices throughout the world as one integrated team.
The BD manager will provide day-to-day business development support to the U.S. IP litigation team as a whole, and will work closely with a technology and life sciences sector-focused business development professional, focusing primarily on the IP litigation partners. The BD manager will work with business development teams across the firm to help support the group worldwide. This includes responding to client requests for proposals, coordination of the IP Litigation practice’s involvement in firm-wide initiatives, education of the wider firm on the practice’s expertise, sponsorship and event management, collateral creation and management, and legal directory submissions.
This position reports to the senior BD manager for the firm’s Litigation and Regulatory Practices, and works closely with other members of the U.S. business development/marketing team. The business development manager will have support from junior members of the U.S. business development team.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Working closely with the attorneys to develop and implement the business development strategy and plans for each partner and their practices.
• Working directly with attorneys to create competitive proposals, credentials, pitches, and presentations for work originating in the IP Litigation Practice and for work from the A&O Shearman network, involving the IP Litigation Practice area.
• Sharing ideas with colleagues in order to enhance quality and efficiency of work and developing best practices in coordination with the Americas business development team as a whole.
• Conducting market research on existing and prospective clients and market issues which may impact clients’ businesses and providing advice on effective marketing strategies to address these issues.
• Arranging and chairing meetings with the practice groups to review progress on marketing projects and key client targeting; ensuring relevant information from these meetings is circulated to other relevant internal groups.
• Working with our PR team to spot opportunities and maintain effective press coverage on major market developments; drafting entries for legal and industry directories. Determination of high profile-matters and issues of the IP Litigation Practice in order to ensure press and internal coverage where appropriate.
• Identifying and coordinating firm sponsorships of conferences (e.g., targeting speaker opportunities, coordinating materials and speakers, conducting event follow-up, etc.) and, together with the U.S. Events Specialist, planning client events and seminars.
• Maintaining records (in our global database) of IP litigation proposals and matters and ensuring that information about these matters is appropriately documented and disseminated to other internal groups.
• Mentoring and collaborating with junior team members, ensuring appropriate work opportunities and allocation, and support of team members’ long-term goals and training. Managing appraisals and coordinating promotion discussions as needed.