Senior Knowledge Lawyer - London, United Kingdom - Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP

Description

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Overview

Term:

Permanent

Working hours:

Full-time / Part Time

Department:

Best Practice / Real Estate

Penningtons Manches Cooper is a leading UK and international law firm which provides high quality legal advice tailored to both businesses and individuals. We address the specific objectives of each client through our flair and technical expertise and offer a personal service founded on a strong team ethic.

Today, we have UK offices in the City of London, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Cambridge, Guildford, Oxford and Reading while our growing overseas network stretches from Europe to Asia through our presence in Singapore, Piraeus, Paris, and Madrid. With 130 partners and over 880 people in total, our main areas of practice are dispute resolution, corporate and commercial, real estate, private client and family.

We have established a strong reputation in a variety of sectors, particularly private wealth, shipping, technology and property. Our lawyers are also recognised for their expertise in life sciences, education, retail, sports and entertainment and international trade. In these areas, we're acknowledged for our unparalleled market insight.

Our continuing commitment to excellence is backed by a track record which dates back nearly 300 years. We pay great attention to matching our clients' requirements with the right skills, delivered cost effectively and within the appropriate timescale.

Among our clients we count multi-national corporations, public companies, professional partnerships, banks and financial institutions as well as private individuals, owner managed businesses and start-ups. For further information about the firm, go to: .

The Real Estate Division

Penningtons Manches Cooper's Real Estate Division constitutes around 20% of the firm's £93m turnover, is one of the largest teams in the firm and one of the largest teams amongst law firm competitors. The division's experience covers all types of real estate transactions including investment property, property development, joint ventures, property lending, landlord and tenant issues, high value residential and social housing.

The Knowledge Team

Our Knowledge Team forms part of the firm's Best Practice Group. They are a collaborative, vibrant team that form a conduit between the fee-earning and central teams to deliver a culture of knowledge sharing and continuous improvement.

They have one simple aim: to make things better. Better for employees, better for business and better for clients. They identify problems and solve those problems using people, process and technology.

The team is responsible for helping individuals, teams and the firm achieve strategic goals, maximise operational efficiency, drive innovation, facilitate change and create value from the firm's knowledge assets.

The firm operates a hybrid agile working policy allowing employees to work from home (or another UK location) for at least 50% of their time. Individuals can also apply for other flexible working options, either at the time of recruitment or during the course of their employment.

Responsibilities

Summary of the role

This position will involve working closely with the Real Estate Division and the Knowledge Team to:

• Produce high quality knowledge content for the division enabling fee earners to deliver a first-class service to clients with accuracy, speed and confidence;
• Identify areas for continuous process improvement around the delivery of our work product based on a deep legal knowledge and awareness of best practice (including use of legal technology) ; and
• Develop innovative ways in which to better serve our clients and support our fee earners.
• The role will suit a confident and motivated senior lawyer who is committed to providing the best and most efficient service to our internal and external clients. It is an excellent opportunity for an individual wanting to:
• Use their technical legal excellence in commercial real estate and their solid understanding of available legal technologies to improve the delivery of real estate legal services;
• Be part of a firm where knowledge management and client service are strategic priorities; and
• Provide cutting-edge KM support to real estate fee earners.

Key responsibilities:

Work collaboratively with the existing Real Estate Knowledge Team and the wider Knowledge team/Best Practice Group to:

• Proactively plan for and identify upcoming challenges and opportunities in the market for the Real Estate Division using the firm's KM plan template;
• Analyse and keep the team informed about legal and market issues as they arise;
• Develop, maintain and enhance the division's knowledge tools, systems and templates to ensure users have easy access to quality content;
• Provide subject matter expertise and real estate template documents to the firm's document automation specialist for automation;
• Design and, where appropriate, deliver technical internal real estate training programmes;
• Deal with ad hoc technical queries from the division;
• Manage and champion the use of the firm's real estate technology tools and monitor and review new technologies as they arise.
• Identify opportunities to improve knowledge sharing, infrastructure, services and systems in line with the Knowledge Strategy;
• Plan and deliver knowledge and information projects and identifying metrics to measure their success.
• Work closely with the Business Development team to increase market awareness of our RE capabilities and to add value to existing clients.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders and teams to understand and manage expectations and increase engagement in knowledge initiatives;
• Support legal and central teams in the collection and sharing of knowledge, information and best practice.
• Facilitate and share best practice and continue to build a culture of knowledge sharing and community across the firm's RE practices.

Essential & Desirable Criteria

• Excellent technical knowledge and experience gained in Real Estate (preferably with a commercial property background) and a genuine enthusiasm for the practice area and how it will develop in the future. The ideal candidate will be at least 7 years PQE
• Knowledge management experience is preferred but not essential.
• Excellent drafting and research skills with the ability to present complex concepts in an accessible way.
• Ability to think creatively and identify ways to leverage know-how and technology for the benefit of clients and the firm.
• Highly IT literate, confident user of MS Office and legal and business information systems with experience of SharePoint or similar platforms.
• Interest in and experience of legal technology, including document automation, AI tools and e-signature platforms.
• Comfortable working under pressure with the ability to plan and prioritise work and deliver to tight or changing deadlines whilst maintaining excellent attention to detail.
• A proactive and collaborative team member with a professional, user focussed approach.
• Ability to facilitate and manage change.
• Excellent communication skills
• Understands the need to work in partnership with lawyers and support staff, for the benefit of clients.
• Experience of delivering training.
• Experience of managing projects in some capacity.
• Interest in continuous process improvement.
• Interest in knowledge-driven marketing.
• Confident self-starter with drive, initiative and a "can do" attitude.

At our firm, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a priority and at the heart of everything we do. We actively want to attract a diverse workforce and welcome applications from everyone, from all backgrounds. We are committed to promoting an inclusive culture where everyone can be their full selves and experience being seen and heard. You can find out more about our firm's commitment, initiatives and Pennclusion committees here.

We ensure that there are equal opportunities and treatment for all job applicants and employees, at all stages of the recruitment process and employment, regardless of age, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, disability, race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and social background. We aim to provide adjustments for people who have a disability, long-term health condition (including mental health) or neurodiversity. If you would like to request an adjustment, please contact