Job Introduction
We are looking to recruit an additional lawyer circa 0-5 PQE to our highly successful, Tier 1 Professional Negligence team of nine partners, four legal directors, 11 senior associates, 18 lawyers and two paralegals in Bristol.
In Bristol, we are the largest and most established professional negligence team, acting for most of the leading insurers, as well as large numbers of professional services firms themselves, across all disciplines.
As part of this offering and due to client demand, we have also developed successful niche lines of business, which complement our professional indemnity strengths; in particular in Directors' and Officers' (D&O) insurance, title indemnity insurance, cyber/technology, defending education claims as well as commercial litigation.
In addition to defending claims, the team also specialises in providing insurer clients with advice and guidance on insurance policy coverage issues and handling delicate relationships between insurers, insureds and brokers.
The surveyor and construction professionals team has huge strength in depth, being part of a wider national group with joint marketing, business development and a collegiate way of working.
The team also works alongside a market leading claims handling team who assist many of the country's largest insurers.
The team / clients
The construction arm of the Professional Negligence team acts for the majority of leading professional indemnity insurers across the London and Companies Markets and on their behalf advises architects, engineers, surveyors, D&B contractors and property managers when they are faced with the threat of professional negligence claims.
Claims often involve complex contractual, technical and factual issues with large sums at stake. The team is particularly experienced in the deployment of alternative dispute resolution techniques and tend to conduct mediations and adjudications without the assistance of Counsel. In all cases there is heavy reliance on expert evidence both in the areas of liability and quantum.
In addition to advising insurers and construction professionals as to the defence of claims, the team provides coverage advice to insurers and monitors matters principally for design and build contractor insureds. Claims vary from multi-million pounds down to lower value matters.
Role ResponsibilitySpecific responsibilities include but are not restricted to:
Progression
High-performers will be rewarded with a competitive bonus scheme and great progression opportunities.
As a firm we are avid investors in individual development. All fee-earners within the team are able to get involved in developing innovative business solutions and assisting with strategic decision-making. In addition the nature of our work provides fantastic exposure to clients and on high value matters working along-side well-regarded, leading Legal 500 professionals within this field who will assist in your personal growth and development.
The Ideal CandidateThe ideal candidate would range from an NQ solicitor up to 5 years PQE (or equivalent) including preferably with some construction litigation and/or construction insurance.
We are a leading international legal business with over 2,500 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We have 11 offices in the UK as well as offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Miami. We also have associations/alliances with firms in Malaysia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Central America, the USA, Australia and Germany.
We are a broad-based commercial firm with a strong heritage in insurance, health and real estate. This is complemented by a fast-growing Business Advisory capability. We represent a wide range of clients, ranging from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for all of the UK’s top-ten insurers, we are market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise all of the UK’s top-12 housebuilders.
We have an impressive legal pedigree, with 142 Chambers UK 2021 practice area and individual lawyer rankings. In Legal 500 UK 2021, the firm received a top tier ranking for 37 of its practice areas, and 58 DACB lawyers were singled out in the ‘Leading Individual' rankings.
Our successes have been recognised by the legal industry and the markets in which we operate. These accolades include two top prizes in the ‘Excellence in Business Development’ and ‘Excellence in Technology & Innovation’ categories of the 2020 Law Society Excellence Awards – the highest accolade for law firms in England & Wales. Our health sector team won the ‘Crisis Management Team of the Year’ award at the 2020 British Legal Awards for its support to the NHS at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our Cyber & Data Risk team received the ‘Business Development Innovation Award’ at the 2020 Legal Innovation Awards, as well as ‘Cyber Law Firm of the Year’ at the prestigious Insurance Insider Cyber Rankings Awards, for its market-leading suite of digital tools to help our clients prepare for and respond to cyber and data risk crises.
Our vision is to be leading business advisers, recognised for our insight and our outstanding commitment to clients, and for being the place where talented people want to work. For further details on our work and our culture, please visit www.dacbeachcroft.com .
At DAC Beachcroft, we don’t just accept your differences we celebrate them. From bespoke solutions for our clients, to treating you like an individual. Our strength comes from your diverse ideas and bringing the whole you to work. So if you’re good at what you do, come as you are. We welcome direct applications and are happy to talk flexible working.
We also want you to be at your very best. Please feel free to let us know of any changes we can make at any point in the recruitment process that will help support your application. If this opportunity sounds of interest to you, please make an application and submit your CV. Your application will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.
Note for Recruitment Agencies – the DAC Beachcroft recruitment team is responsible for managing all current vacancies through direct hiring and referrals wherever possible. We do work with recruitment agencies and where we require external support we will formally release those vacancies to the agencies on our Preferred Supplier List deemed best placed to assist us. Speculative CVs sent by any agency to any DAC Beachcroft employee without a specific request by the recruitment team will not be accepted and with no introduction fee applicable. Our recruitment team can be contacted at recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com
Salary Dependent on experience and performance at interview