Job Description

The Office of the General Counsel - Business Acceptance Unit

The Firm\'s Business Acceptance Unit (BAU) is part of the Firm\'s Office of the General Counsel (OGC) Directorate with 60 team members who have responsibility for conflict checking, client and matter onboarding and compliance file audit.

Within BAU, the Conflicts team of 25 Assistants, Advisors and Team Leaders undertakes all aspects of conflict searches including the analysis of conflict and confidential information issues in accordance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Code of Conduct 2019, other regulations, policies, and procedures.

As an employee at AG, you will benefit from a flexible and agile culture. We are committed to making agile working accessible to all, balancing our employee\'s needs with the requirements of the team, the firm and its clients, living true to values in our Mindful Business Charter. More about the team

The team comprises of Assistants and Advisors processing, analysing, and filtering conflict searches in relation to the Firm\'s inbound client and matter instructions and working alongside the OGC to resolve complex conflict issues and other queries. The team is also responsible for implementing and maintaining Information Barriers and Insider Lists in accordance with Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and dealing with general client and matter inception queries including elements of matter management and engagement letter maintenance.

Reporting to the Conflicts Team Leader, the Advisor role focuses on conflicts processing, analysis of results and reviewing/resolving confidential information issues including providing support, guidance and training. Working closely with other Advisors, the BAU Conflicts Manager and Deputy Head of BAU. Advice is also provided to partners and fee earners in relation to the Firm\'s procedures and conflict checking obligations. You will play an important role in the team\'s work that involves dealing with a range of clients and matters across a number of international jurisdictions. The BAU team is predominately based in Leeds, Manchester and Scotland and supports the Firm\'s global operation. Regular travel between the Firm\'s offices in the UK may be required to work alongside the team in person.

Working in this team you can expect:

• An attractive, competitive salary and benefits package.
• A flexible and friendly working environment (hybrid working is encouraged to get a balance between working from home and being in the office) and a supportive team culture where we all look out for each other at all levels.
• Award winning state of the art technology and innovation (ranked top 4 in the latest Financial Times Innovative Lawyer report - making us one of the most innovative law firms in Europe) including document automation and AI document review systems.
• Extensive personal development, support, and training.

What does the role involve?

The following list is not exhaustive and gives an overview of the key responsibilities of the role:

• Identification and filtering conflict search results, conducting legal and commercial analysis of potential conflict and confidentiality issues. Reporting only key issues to partners, fee earners or the OGC team. Helping to develop and launch the team\'s training program for conflicts analysis, working with the BAU Conflicts Team Leader, Manager, Deputy Head, OGC and divisional fee earning teams to deliver firm strategy and approach.
• Liaising with partners and fee earners to discuss complex and multifaceted instructions, undertaking thorough research and analysis on all aspects of the Firm\'s inbound and existing client and matter work.
• Acting as a key point of contact to pro-actively engage with partners, fee earners and OGC to improve working practices and service with the support of the BAU Conflicts Team Leaders and Manager.
• Analysing confidential records and gathering all information to assess relevance and supporting OGC in referrals to the Conflicts Committee/Conflicts Partner.
• Training and mentoring of BAU Conflicts Assistants, supporting the BAU Conflicts Team Leader and Manager in developing the team\'s knowledge on legal and commercial analysis in accordance with paragraph 6.1-6.5 of the SRA Code.
• Reviewing systems and processes for effectiveness, making recommendations for change and taking responsibility for implementing any changes.
• Conducting weekly audits of conflict search results and providing comprehensive feedback to assist in the development of the team.
• Dealing with price sensitive information and other highly sensitive information issues, including the maintenance of the Firm\'s Dealing List and processing share dealing requests.
• Drafting material and delivering training sessions for BAU, partners, fee earners and PAs.
• Leading team meetings to discuss workload, training and issue resolution. Pro-actively arrange workshops and meetings to develop team members and provide refresher training.
• Monitoring of the team\'s workload ensuring work is prioritised in accordance with service level standards.
• Supporting the BAU Conflicts Team Leaders and Manager in key compliance work, client matter inception related projects and other work as required.
• Draft, review and update new and existing BAU procedures in accordance with regulatory changes and Firm policy under the supervision of the BAU Team Leaders and OGC team.
• Compiling Management Information (\'MI\') statistics for stakeholders.

WHAT KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPEREINCE SHOULD YOU HAVE?

• Minimum two years\' experience in a law firm conflicts role. Strong and demonstrable conflicts analytical skills in processing, filtering and analysis work with an ability to deal with high volumes of information. Understanding complex areas of law and applying relevant legal and commercial knowledge to make judgements in relation to inbound and existing client and matter work.
• Knowledge of the SRA Code of Conduct 2019 (specifically paragraph 6.1-6.5) and MAR.
• Confidence to liaise with partners and other stakeholders to provide advice on legal and commercial issues, regulations and firm policy.
• Excellent organisation skills and attention to detail with an ability to work under pressure whilst managing competing deadlines.
• Experience in motivating, coaching, mentoring and providing feedback to team members.
• A flexibility and willingness to adapt to the needs and changing pace of workload across the wider team.
• A dedicated self-starter who can autonomously manage their workload and is confident in making risk based decisions in line with policies and procedures.
• A strong team player. Delivering results and providing proactive solutions to difficult issues, as well as delegating work to other team members.
• Project management skills or experience of working on project related activities.
• Excellent IT skills - proficient in MS Word, Excel, Email and Internet usage. Previous experience of Intapp and 3E is desirable.

WHAT CAN WORKING AT ADDLESHAW GODDARD OFFER YOU?

As a firm, we aim to provide a positive experience to everyone who works here and our focus on financial, lifestyle and wellbeing benefits ensures this experience goes beyond the nine-to-five. As part of this mission, some of the benefits employees of AG can expect are;

• Life Assurance & Income Protection
• Competitive employer matched pension contribution rate
• Health and wellbeing subsidiary, up to \xc2\xa3180 per year
• One day per year to volunteer (as part of our CSR initiative)
• Buy/Sell holidays (up to 5 days each year)
• Mental health and wellbeing initiatives such as The Mindful Business Charter, Mental Health Champions and 1:1 sessions with an in-house professional
• Talent referral bonus incentives
• AG Excellence awards for the recognition of exceptional effort
• Opt in private medical and private dental insurance
• Opt in annual health screening
• Voluntary critical illness cover
• Annual discretionary bonus plan

We recognise the importance of nurturing an inclusive culture to help us attract, retain and enable our people to be the best we can be. We understand that diverse firms are more attractive to potential and existing employees and that culturally diverse teams are more innovative and agile. You can find out more about our objectives here https://www.addleshawgoddard.com/en/about-us/diversity/.

Addleshaw Goddard