Legal Counsel Job In London

*Join one of the world's leading investment banks as Legal Counsel*

• Duration: 2 years with possible extension
• Daily pay rate: flexible (PAYE - Inside IR35)
• Work type: hybrid (3 days in the office)

Summary of responsibilities

• To advise on and manage employment law matters arising for the Bank in the UK and Europe and to help mitigate reputational, financial, and regulatory-related risks arising from people issues.
• To support Group-wide projects which have an employment law element.

Litigation/disputes:

• Advising on and managing employment litigation/disputes in the UK and Europe
• Liaising with external legal counsel regarding the strategic approach to employment law disputes, critically assessing advice received and tailoring this to the business/organisation
• Co-ordinating disclosure process during employment litigation, liaising with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that disclosure obligations are complied with
• Co-ordinating witness statement aspect of employment litigation, ensuring statements are tailored to the business/organisation
• Collaborating with the corporate communications team to manage reputational risk
• Identifying and analysing opportunities for settlement and advising Human Resources (HR), Employee Relations (ER) and/or business stakeholders on settlement strategy
• Preparing and negotiating settlement terms

Advisory:

• Advising on and managing employment issues in the UK and Europe, including investigations, accountability reviews, material disciplinary and grievance matters, performance management, redundancies, restructures and contentious exits
• Managing relevant stakeholders and providing accurate and timely updates regarding the status of disputes or issues
• Advice and best practice guidance on regulatory issues affecting staff, particularly relating to remuneration and assisting with drafting and/or reviewing contentious regulated references
• Reviewing and advising on the scope of Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) and reviewing any red flags/noteworthy documents in cases where the data subject is also involved in an employment dispute.
• Advising on employment law aspects of HR policy or strategy projects, and co-ordinating advice from other members of the Employment Law team or external counsel
• Advising on and participating in consultation on internal policies and procedures
• Advising on Group-wide diversity and inclusion initiatives and/or comms
• Supporting the HR/ER team and other relevant stakeholders through legal and best practice updates
• Occasional support for M&A integration, including advice on staff consultation obligations and restructuring and/or TUPE provisions

Processes:

• Providing relevant stakeholders with accurate and timely information regarding the status of HR disputes and ER issues
• Reviewing internal policies and procedures
• Advising on employment contracts and maintaining global templates
• Advising and best practice guidance on regulatory issues affecting staff, particularly relating to remuneration
• Participating in global and local HR projects
• Collaborating with the eDiscovery & Data Advisory team to improve the Bank’s approach to data subject access requests
• Providing occasional support for M&A integration, including advice on staff consultation obligations and restructuring
• Reviewing external counsel/supplier quotes and costs and ensuring payment of invoices

Qualifications

• University degree in law or other university degree plus GDL conversion from an accredited law school
• UK Solicitor’s Regulation Authority practising certificate
• Ideally at least 3+ years of PQE experience
• Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams proficient