A dedicated Paralegal is required to join my clients Legal Department. The successful candidate will be responsible for assisting lawyers with property and real estate transactions, construction, general commercial, residential developemnt and commercial lettings work.
Client Details
My client is part of an international real estate organisation, with roughly 35 years of experience.
The Group is active in many countries across Europe and currently has assets entailing 1.3 million m2 rentable area, around 2.3million m2 of projects planned and under construction and 2.9million m2 of land awaiting development.
My client focusses on developing, creating and managing large-scale, mixed-use neighbourhoods balancing working, living and leisure spaces. They have been active in the United Kingdom since 2010 and currently has partially completed or schemes under construction in London and Leeds, as well as future projects planned for Cardiff and Glasgow.
Description
Due to ongoing demand and growth in development and letting activities, my client is now seeking to add an experienced paralegal to the established in-house legal team. This role would be best suited to a paralegal with experience in commercial lettings and/or property development who is looking to grow their skill set beyond transactional property work, with the opportunity to work towards qualifying as a solicitor in an in-house setting.
Whilst the core of the role will be real estate work, there will be ample opportunity to take on other areas of work over the medium to longer term as described in the "Responsibilities" section below. Any work undertaken outside a candidate's core skill set will be undertaken under the supervision and guidance of senior lawyers.
Responsibilities:
Reporting into and under the supervision of two senior Lawyers, the candidate will be expected to have core responsibilities and will be given the opportunity to grow their skill set:
Core Responsibilities
- Draft and negotiate commercial leases and ancillary documents and/or liaising with external lawyers who are undertaking those tasks.
- Assist with sales and acquisitions, liaising with and managing external lawyers.
- Advise on and review residential lettings.
- Draft and negotiate property contracts which are needed to facilitate development (e.g. oversailing licences, licences for works, deeds of easement etc.).
- Manage Land Registry applications and SDLT returns.
- Advise on and resolve title issues.
- Manage a data room for commercial tenants.
- Legal research on specific points of law and keeping track of legal developments.
Other work
The in-house legal team deal with a very wide range of matters and over time the successful candidate will be given the opportunity to take on a variety of other responsibilities including:
- Draft and negotiate construction contracts (e.g. building contracts, consultant appointments).
- Advise on construction issues which arise on site (e.g. payment issues, variations etc.).
- Negotiate contracts with statutory undertakers (e.g. Thames Water, Northern Powergrid).
- Draft and negotiate property management agreements (e.g. agency contracts, repairs and maintenance contracts etc.).
- Be aware of and help the business comply with relevant health and safety laws.
- Advise on other relevant areas of law (e.g. data protection, environmental, planning etc.) and assist in drafting and maintaining company policies.
- Assist with the training needs of the wider business.
Profile
A successful Paralegal should have:
- A Law degree or equivalent qualification
- Knowledge in property law; ideally within property development and commercial lettings. Construction would also be a bonus!
- Excellent research and report-writing skills
- Strong communication skills
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
- High level of organisation and attention to detail
Job Offer
- A competitive salary and discretionary bonus
- The opportunity to work in a vibrant and professional environment in London
- Career progression opportunities within the property industry
- The chance to work with a dedicated and skilled legal team
- My client is willing to provide and sign off qualifying work experience for the purpose of the candidate achieving qualification, as well as support the candidate's ongoing training needs as required.
- For more information and the salary and benefits on offer for this role, please contact the exclusively instructed agent, Nellie Russell-Hughes of Page Personnel (London).
There is a requirement for regular travel to Leeds (where they also have an office), which may include an overnight stay (at the expense of the company). There will also be occasional travel to other UK locations and also to visit developments with the Group across Europe, to attend training and other meetings.
Working from home is available (but not required) for up to two days a week, although the post holder will be required to be flexible to attend important meetings or events on any day as required.