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SalaryWe are recruiting for an Associate to join our Government and Trade team in London. This vacancy has arisen in due to the ongoing growth of our busy practice, and the role will report into Caroline Ramsay, a Partner who leads our International Trade team.
The firm’s GAT Practice is made up of three distinct but complementary teams – the Procurement Team, the Public Contracts Team, and the International Trade Team.
This opportunity will enable you to become a true specialist within International Trade law. However, as many of our GAT lawyers practise in more than one team, this opportunity will also allow you to undertake a diverse range of work and hone multiple specialist skill sets, if you desire.
The GAT practice is part of the firm’s Commercial Services Group, which is led by partner, Bill Hull. The GAT Practice has 6 partners and 13 specialist lawyers operating out of multiple different TLT offices across the UK.
At TLT we have launched a progressive fully flexible working approach. This approach means that as a Firm we empower our people to work in a place and at a time that meets their needs, those of their clients and of the wider team and firm. Part of this agile approach is a focus on hybrid working and supporting the work life balance of our people.
It's never been a better time to join TLT - we have been named Law Firm of the Year at the Legal Business Awards 2023. This marks the third year in a row TLT has presented with this accolade in industry awards – having previously been named Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyer Awards in 2021 and the British Legal Awards in 2022.
We don’t stand still. Our clients keep moving forward to seize the opportunities and address the challenges of the modern world and so do we. We challenge convention and think creatively about how we can help make their businesses better.
Your Role
Whilst we expect you to take responsibility for your own matters, you will be supervised by senior members of the team. The successful candidate will be working with and supporting clients such as:
- Central government departments
- Non department public bodies
- Local authorities
- Private and third sector organisations providing services into the public sector
The type of work and projects that the candidate will work on is broad in scope and will involve advising on:
- Free trade agreement and other international treaty negotiations
- International trade law advisory (including WTO rules, free trade agreements, trade remedies, export controls and sanctions rules)
- Subsidy control advisory (under the UK domestic regime, Northern Ireland Protocol and the WTO rules)
You will also be encouraged to develop any special areas of interest you may have, as well as having an active involvement in business development, and a willingness to design and deliver internal and external client training.
Our open and collaborative culture makes life at TLT enjoyable and rewarding. We are genuinely supportive of each other; you can approach anyone for a conversation. And you’ll be recognised for your individual work as well as your contribution to the team.
We will invest in you. We want you to be successful. Learning and development is paramount at TLT. Your progress helps us meet the changing needs of our clients, build collaborative relationships that endure and set our firm apart as business advisers as well as lawyers. That’s why we invest heavily in developing our people through training programmes.
Being part of TLT gives you the opportunity to evolve what it means to be a lawyer. You’ll be a business adviser as a well as a lawyer, working directly with a high calibre of clients on a wide range of interesting current matters. And while you develop long-lasting relationships with clients, you’ll boost your skills and professional reputation.
This role will provide exposure to some of the highest profile and most significant Government and competition projects in the UK and internationally. It will afford the opportunity to the successful candidate to further enhance their expertise in a broad range of trade law and competition work across both the public and private sectors.
Your Skills and Experience
Our employees are talented people, distinguished by technical excellence, with a willingness to embrace team working and a passion for client service. Our ideal candidate will have a similar supportive, flexible, and driven ethos and will have accumulated the following experience and skills:
- A Qualified Solicitor (SRA or Law Society Registered)1-3PQE with experience in international trade law, gained within private practice
- A forward thinker, with excellent analytical, drafting, communication and organisational skills, you will be self-motivated with the ability to manage workloads and deadlines.
- Commercially aware with enthusiasm for business development, and an appetite for keeping up-to-date with the latest developments in your practice area and sector focus.
- The ability to understand your client’s business needs, and act in the best interest of the firm and the client.
- An ambitious and enthusiastic team player, with a strong team ethos is essential, as this team works across multiple locations in the UK, and collaboration is always at the core of what we do.
Your Team
The TLT International Trade team currently has a team of five lawyers, led by three partners. In addition to this team, there will also be an opportunity for the candidate to work with our strategic foreign law firm partners.
Further to our appointment to the post-Brexit trade law panel early in 2021 with our fellow Artis consortium members (US firm Blank Rome, Canada’s Borden Ladner Gervais, and Australia’s MinterEllison), we offer the UK government access to exceptional understanding and experience in international trade law, backed by a substantial UK presence and extensive experience in advising central government across a multitude of UK and EU matters.
To date, the consortium has been awarded contracts by the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) to advise it on the upcoming free trade agreement negotiations with India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It has also been appointed to advise the DBT on the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and two bilateral free trade agreements with Canada and Mexico.
About TLT
Fast paced, fast growing and forward thinking, TLT is the law firm that helps clients stay one step ahead, and we do the same for our people.
We work with high profile clients in innovative sectors. With local, national and international reach, we have over 1,400 people in offices across the UK and a network of partner firms across Europe, India and the US. In 2022 we were named Law Firm of the Year at The British Legal Awards, recognising our incredible success story.
Our purpose is to protect, prepare and progress our clients for what comes next and it’s essential that we do the same for our people, our planet and our communities too. In our open and collaborative culture, we encourage everyone to be their whole self, to have a voice and to contribute.
Our Benefits
We value our employees highly and we want you to feel valued. You’ll receive a competitive salary with an annual pay review. You will also have access to an extensive range of benefits via our flexible benefits scheme including 25 days holiday (which will increase to 30 days based upon length of service) and private medical insurance.
At TLT we have a progressive fully flexible working approach. We empower our people to work in a place and at a time that meets their needs, those of their clients and of the wider team and firm. Part of this agile approach is a focus on hybrid working and supporting the work/life balance of our people. We’re happy to talk about how flexible working can work for you and this role.
TLT is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive working environment and encourages applications from all suitably qualified people, regardless of any of the characteristics protected by the laws in the locations in which we operate.
We welcome applications from people with disabilities and are committed to providing reasonable adjustments, where necessary, to make interviews and jobs more accessible. Should you have any difficulty during the recruitment process, require any reasonable adjustments or an application to Access to work please contact the recruitment team on HR-Recruitment@TLTsolicitors.com
