The Department

The Risk and Compliance team work in collaboration with the business to ensure best practice across the Firm, effectively managing all aspects of the regulation surrounding the efficient running of our Firm.

The Team

Reporting directly into the COLP/General Counsel (Legal Practice) and working as part of the General Counsel team, this role will play a critical role in providing escalation support and legal advice on all matters relating to conflicts, providing guidance to the Business Acceptance Team, as well as liaising with key stakeholders across the business.

Whilst the focus of the role will be primarily supporting all conflict-related matters, there is an opportunity for this role to also evolve to support the wider General Counsel team on regulatory and compliance matters where this may be of interest to candidates.

This newly created role will play a critical part in continuing to build the one-team ethos that values teamwork, continuous development, and providing the highest legal rigour and advice to the business. This role will play a key role in supporting junior team members with their ongoing professional development, as well as acting as a role model across the wider department. Similarly, this role will work closely with the General Counsel, with a clear opportunity for ongoing development.

As the Firm continues to grow and expand the Mishcon Group both here and abroad, the challenges facing the team are also increasing. As the Firm attracts new talent it also generates an increasing number of strategic initiatives which often involves the GC Team. We are therefore embedded into the senior management of the Firm, working closely with a range of stakeholders who seek our counsel and input into projects and initiatives. It will suit individuals who have a commercial mind, excellent common sense and drafting skills. The ability to demonstrate agility will be critical.

The Role

As an experienced member of the team, this role will regularly interface with key stakeholders across the business, including Partners, Lawyers, and leaders of our operational and consultancy businesses. This will be a highly visible role (whether remote or in person), therefore the ability to build effective working relationships and become a trusted advisor to the range of stakeholders will be key to its success.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as the ultimate point of escalation to the Business Acceptance Team, resolving complex conflicts of interest issues and escalating where appropriate to the COLP.
• To serve as an escalation point for legal and commercial conflicts across the broader MDR Group, providing sound expert advice to Partners and senior stakeholders on issues or risks likely to arise due to new or existing business.
• Develop a "Trusted Partner" relationship with Partners and Senior Stakeholders to be able to advise with consideration for both regulatory/ethical requirements as well as the Firm's strategic objectives.
• Supporting with general conflict related queries including those from our People Team and wider Business Operations Teams.
• To assist the Conflicts Manager with the escalation of queries and issues from the Business Acceptance Team, to provide advice and guidance on any questions concerning new business intake and the process of onboarding clients.
• To work closely with the Conflicts Manager on the design and implementation of relevant conflicts training across the MDR Group, to promote compliance with our risk management ethos.
• Apply a critical eye to the Firm's existing processes to suggest continuous improvement to the conflicts or new clients onboarding procedures.
• Champion process improvement, embracing new technologies for the benefit of the conflicts process and the function as a whole.
• Preparing and delivering training within the team and more broadly to our fee earners where appropriate, to promote the compliance with our risk management ethos.
• To support the other team members with their ongoing learning and professional development.
• To act as a role model for more junior team members across the wider R&C team - to be able to act as a mentor, deliver training and provide additional support on ad-hoc projects as and when needed.
• To take a proactive mindset towards the ever-changing regulatory landscape, assessing the impact of changes against existing Firm's processes and enacting amendments/changes as and when required.

Skills/Experience

• Qualified lawyer, or equivalent foreign qualification is valuable but not essential. Other qualifications and relevant experience will be considered.
• Significant conflicts experience is essential, particularly if gained within a Risk and Compliance team in a UK law firm.
• Experience using Intapp is highly desirable.
• We welcome applications from fee earners with regulatory experience who are considering a transition to a Risk and Compliance team, as well as those who are currently working in this field.
• Proven experience of managing key processes and procedures is desirable.
• Experience of leading others and delivering training is desirable.

We are seeking candidates with "hands on" experience who possess the following;

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to be able to present themselves in a commercial and confident manner to a range of stakeholders and colleagues.
• The highest standards of legal rigour, delivered with care in a professional and pleasant manner.
• An inquisitive mind, with an eagerness to understand our business and spot trends and issues before they occur.
• Excellent drafting skills, with meticulous attention to detail.
• Strong organisational and prioritising skills, in order to meet the demands of challenging and commercial internal clients, as well as dealing with competing priorities.
• Efficient and responsive with an ability to challenge and influence senior stakeholders.
• Ability to manage own diverse workload.
• Proactive, resilient and calm under pressure.
• Takes responsibility for and attends to self-development.
• Flexible and agile approach to the workload, with the ability to work in close collaboration with the General Counsel and other members of the team.

About The Mishcon de Reya Group

The Mishcon de Reya Group is an independent international professional service business with law at its heart, employing over 1450 people with close to 670 lawyers. It includes the law firm Mishcon de Reya LLP and a collection of leading consultancy businesses that complement the firm's legal services. We have grown rapidly in recent years, showing more than 40% revenue growth in the past five years alone.

Based in London, Cambridge, Oxford, and Singapore, with an association with Karas So LLP in Hong Kong, the firm services an international community of clients and provides advice in situations where the constraints of geography often do not apply. The work we undertake is cross-border, multi-jurisdictional and complex, spanning six core practice areas: Corporate ; Dispute Resolution ; Employment ; Innovation ; Private ; and Real Estate .

As of 1 January 2023, Mishcon de Reya and Taylor Vinters merged. The merger delivers on both firms' strategies to support the innovation economy and accelerate our growing share of the technology, media and life-sciences legal and consultancy services market in the UK and in key international innovation hubs globally.

In times of such far-reaching and profound change we want to be the law firm that enables our clients - and our own people - to shape the world's possibilities. We are here to help our clients benefit from new economies, new geographic centres of wealth, the new global movement of people and capital, and the impact of new technologies and new knowledge.

Our purpose remains rooted in our founding values. We take pride in the diverse range of people who make up the firm and are proactive in driving change and continuous improvement across the spectrum of equality, diversity, and inclusion. Mishcon Academy , our in-house place of learning, development and new thinking for our people, clients and contacts and our innovative impact strategy, including a commitment to be a net zero carbon business , also play a central strategic role in the direction of the firm. In 2020 we launched Mishcon Purpose , a first-of-its-kind sustainability practice providing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) advice and purpose-driven insight to clients.

The Mishcon de Reya Group comprises standalone businesses MDR Brand Management , MDR Cyber , MDR Discover , MDR Mayfair (in London, Singapore and Dubai) and MDRxTECH . Complementary to Mishcon de Reya's core areas of work, each is led by best in class professionals recruited from a variety of non-legal industries and sectors.

Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.

We strive to create a fully diverse and inclusive workplace where all our people are empowered to fulfil their potential. We are proud of our agile working culture and are always happy to talk flexible working.