A leading international law firm is seeking a talented Associate to join its Banking & Finance practice in London. The team is one of the most established and wide-reaching in the market, with several hundred finance lawyers spread across the firm’s global network of financial centres, and this is a strong opportunity for a 4–5 PQE lawyer to build a broad, internationally-facing finance practice from a London base.
The successful candidate will act for a wide range of participants in the lending market, including major banks, alternative and direct lenders, corporate borrowers, export credit agencies and, on occasion, government and sovereign bodies. The practice covers day-to-day lending work through to complex, multi-jurisdictional financings, and regularly crosses over into related areas such as capital markets, restructuring and real estate finance, giving associates a genuinely varied transactional diet.
The Team:
The Banking & Finance group has a long-standing presence in London and internationally, and is recognised by the leading legal directories across a number of finance-related categories, including mid-market lending, banking litigation, trade finance and Islamic finance. Rather than being confined to a single niche, the team’s work spans acquisition and leveraged finance, asset-based lending, asset and transport finance, real estate finance, project and structured finance, and structured trade and commodity finance, with associates able to develop breadth across several of these areas as their careers progress.
The team works closely with the firm’s Capital Markets, Restructuring and Real Estate practices, meaning associates are regularly exposed to work that sits at the intersection of straightforward lending and more structured or capital markets-driven financing. The client base is similarly broad, ranging from relationship banks and institutional lenders to multinational corporates and public sector or export finance bodies, giving the successful candidate genuine variety in the type of counterparties and deal structures they encounter.
The successful candidate will join a supportive, partner-led team with real scope to take on responsibility early, build direct client relationships and shape a finance practice that draws on the strength of a genuinely global platform.
Key Areas of Work:
- Advising banks, direct lenders, corporate borrowers, export credit agencies and other market participants on a broad range of banking and finance transactions
- Acting on acquisition and leveraged financings, including facilities backing private equity-led transactions
- Drafting and negotiating facility agreements, term sheets, commitment papers and intercreditor arrangements
- Advising on senior, unitranche and other structured lending arrangements
- Gaining exposure to adjacent specialisms such as asset-based lending, real estate finance, project finance or trade and commodity finance as the practice’s workflow requires
- Assisting on cross-border and multi-jurisdictional financings, drawing on the firm’s international office network
- Supervising and supporting the development of trainees and junior associates
- Building strong working relationships with clients and other professional advisers
Your Future:
This role offers more than exposure to high-quality transactions. It is suited to a lawyer who wants to develop a well-rounded banking and finance practice within a platform that has the scale and international reach to offer genuine variety, rather than a narrow single-product focus.
You will have the opportunity to:
- Take on increasing responsibility across a range of lending and acquisition finance transactions
- Work directly with major financial institutions, corporate borrowers and alternative lenders
- Broaden your experience into adjacent areas such as real estate finance, project finance or structured trade finance
- Work alongside the firm’s Capital Markets and Restructuring teams on cross-practice mandates
- Contribute to business development and the development of long-term client relationships
- Support and mentor trainees and junior members of the team
- Build your own market profile within a well-regarded, internationally connected finance practice
- Work in a culture that values collaboration, commercial awareness and practical, client-focused advice
Candidate Profile:
- A qualified solicitor with approximately 4–5 years’ PQE, gained within a leading City or international law firm
- Strong technical and drafting ability, with a solid grounding in general and structured banking and the various forms structured lending can take
- Good experience advising lenders and/or borrowers on lending or acquisition finance transactions, with exposure to leveraged or acquisition finance highly desirable
- Sound knowledge of LMA-based documentation, including facility agreements, term sheets and intercreditor arrangements
- Well organised, with strong case and matter management skills and the ability to keep several transactions moving at once
- A confident, clear written and verbal communicator, underpinned by a strong academic record
- Meticulous attention to detail, coupled with a calm, effective approach when working under pressure
- A genuine appetite to keep learning and to push their experience and level of responsibility further
- Proactive and self-motivated, with a positive, can-do mindset and a strong sense of ownership over their work
- A natural, collaborative team player, equally comfortable supporting trainees and junior associates
- An interest in broadening into related specialisms, such as real estate finance, project finance or trade finance, and in contributing to the wider growth of the practice
If you are a Banking & Finance lawyer looking to join a leading international firm with a genuinely broad and well-regarded lending practice, and to develop your career with real variety, client exposure and international reach, this could be an excellent next step.
