Paralegal

The role of a Paralegal at our Newcastle Legal Delivery Centre, offers you the chance to work within a range of practice areas which complement the firm's work, ensuring that knowledge, resources, processes, and technology are deployed effectively to support our clients.  Our skills and expertise are in great demand. Therefore, we are looking to recruit additional Paralegals to join the highly experienced, innovative, and client-centric team.

Key responsibilities

• Ensuring your work is accurate and thorough at all times
• Accurately updating internal tracking systems
• Being proactive about continuous improvement, systems and processes
• Integrating legal technology into our processes and advancing your skills in this area as much as possible
• Working efficiently and effectively within a team
• Providing timely updates as to work progress  
• Communicating effectively at all times
• Playing a role in developing and representing the culture of the Newcastle Office and ensuring that we offer a diverse and inclusive workplace that is welcoming and supportive to all

What you will do

You will undertake a multitude of tasks for a range of practice areas, as mentioned above, including but not limited to;

• Due diligence
• Reviewing/ drafting NDA's and commercial contracts
• Verifying prospectuses and investor presentations
• Drafting transaction documents and letters
• Reviewing pre and post-completion work
• Assisting with collation and preparation of conditions precedent
• Contract reviews
• Preparing transaction bibles
• Proofreading/checking cross-referencing
• Redacting
• Preparing precedents
• Preparing bundles and chronologies
• E-disclosure
• You will use the latest legal technology for service delivery including Kira, High Q, Relativity and Contract Companion
• Other administrative tasks as and when required

How we will support you

You will be given the opportunity to get involved in a range on internal training which covers:

• Legal Technology
• Process Improvement
• Various online training specific to the role of a paralegal, lawyer, manager etc.
• Legal Training

Your career experience so far

You will possess the following skills:

• Ideally previous experience of working in an office or corporate environment
• Flexible and effective verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent research capabilities with the ability to follow detailed instructions and produce complex findings
• Proactive and forward thinking
• Flexible and have desire to learn
• Organised and efficient - ability to meet; daily, weekly and monthly deadlines
• Proficient in applying and using a range of technology
• Good academics - you will be a graduate (any discipline, non-law degrees accepted) or have completed a CILEx level 3 (or above) qualification in Law.
• Excellent attention to detail
• Very good team player

Who we are

We are one of the largest international law firms in the world. With over 30 offices across the globe, we strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, providing them with the highest-quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise.

Our firm, work and people span jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. We offer our clients a truly international perspective. We believe every career should be rewarding and stimulating - full of opportunities to learn, thrive, and grow. That’s why we’re so proud of our inclusive, friendly, and team-based approach to work.

Our one firm global strategy is focused on targeted growth led by the needs of our core clients, those who we can best support with the breadth and depth of Clifford Chance expertise, across the sectors and geographies, which matter most to them.

You’ll find our clients in commercial and industrial sectors, the financial investor community, governments, regulators, trade bodies, and not-for-profit organisations. But no matter who they are or why they’ve reached out to us, we provide a world-class service every step of the way. And that’s possible thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit and conscientious approach to work that you’ll find across all of our teams.

Whichever area of the business you join, you’ll become an integral part an innovative, diverse and ambitious team of people. Clifford Chance is a place where the brightest minds and the best of colleagues meet.

The Newcastle Legal Delivery Centre

The firm currently has two Legal Delivery Centres, one in Newcastle and one in Delhi. The two centres work together to support lawyer teams across the globe.

The Newcastle Legal Delivery Centre is based in Clifford Chance 's Newcastle office.  The Legal Delivery Centres play a key role in ensuring that knowledge, resources, processes, and legal technology are deployed effectively to service our clients. Our skills and expertise are widely used across the firm.

The Newcastle Legal Delivery Centre is made up of a range of practice areas which are; Global Financial Markets, Corporate, Real Estate, Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Tax, Pensions & Employment. As a Paralegal based within the Newcastle Legal Delivery Centre, you will work on a range of transactions and matters within these practice areas.

You will work alongside fellow Paralegals, Apprentice Paralegals, Senior Paralegals, Supervisory Paralegals, Managing Paralegals, Operations Managers, Legal Technology Advisors and Process Architects. You may sometimes have direct contact and communication with Associates, Lawyers and Business Professionals based in other offices around the world, depending on the size of the project/task you are working on.

Work pattern

Monday – Friday 35 hours per week. Core office hours are 09:00 - 20:00

Hybrid working

This role follows our 'balanced' hybrid working approach and as long as business needs allow, you will be supported to work in a hybrid way with the expectation of working from the office for a minimum of 50% of your time. Please see our careers site  for further information on our working environment. 

The recruitment process

Applications close: 4th August 2024 at 11:59pm

Application process: CV and mandatory cover letter

Stage 1 online assessments held: W/C 5th, 12th & 19th August 2024

Stage 2 in person assessments held: 4th & 11th September 2024 

Stage 2 assessment process: The stage 2 assessment centre will take place in person at our Newcastle office, with a limited number of places available to interview (stage 3) on the same day. Interview slots will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

As part of your in-person assessment you will be required to take part in a group activity.  This activity will be held in a meeting room at our office, with you and about 5-8 other applicants, it will take between 1.5 and 2 hours.

For the activity you will:

• be given information to read (this is provided in the form of hard copy documents).
• take part in a group discussion to agree the best course of action.
• the group will be asked to give a presentation on their decision.
• finally, the assessors will ask the group questions about the decision and how the group reached their conclusion.

We will be assessing your skills of:

• Confidence & Communication
• Teamwork
• Interpersonal skills
• Decisiveness/critical thinking
• Responding to feedback/challenges

Stage 3 competency-based interview: W/C 2nd & 9th September 2024 

Equal opportunities statement

At Clifford Chance, we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age.  This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.

We have a variety of flourishing employee networks. These networks are a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change wherever they see an opportunity for improvement.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm. 

 Find out more about our inclusive culture here.

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