Paralegal

Watson Farley & Williams is an international law firm advising on complex disputes and transactions through local knowledge and an integrated international network.  We have a strong sector focus, combining our technical excellence with deep industry knowledge across Energy, Transport and associated Infrastructure.

The firm has achieved rapid expansion and year-on-year growth owed almost entirely to a focused strategy, strong leadership and the quality of its people.  The next stage in the firm’s growth plan is to achieve full-service strength within core sectors across the global platform.

We strive for excellence in all that we do and view investment in our people as key to achieving our business goals and values, which rest on developing deep and long-lasting relationships externally and internally through respect, sharing, communication and integrity.

Our global practice is integrated across our offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and North America delivering consistently high levels of service across borders and locally through a deep understanding of local business customs and culture.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace to attract and retain the most talented people from all backgrounds and cultures.  We believe in celebrating difference and that people from any background can rise to the top, ensuring opportunities to develop and progress are available for all.

At Watson Farley & Williams, we have the largest asset finance practice in the world.  Our strength and expertise is across sectors of the asset finance and leasing industry, especially in our core market sectors of aviation, maritime and rail.

Our award-winning aviation finance team offers industry-leading experience across commercial aircraft, helicopters and corporate/private jets. In ship finance, we advise in every asset class from wet and dry bulk, containers to drilling rigs , offshore support vessels, cruise, yachts and ferries.

Within the Group we house the largest aviation finance and leasing team of any law firm globally.  We have advised creditors in all the major airline restructurings following the COVID-19 pandemic, and many of the major airline restructurings before the pandemic.

Working primarily with our award-winning aviation finance team, you will supporting our partners and lawyers, the Group’s Paralegal will be involved in a variety of duties ranging from document drafting and preparation, specific process driven tasks, client communications and day to day file management.  You’ll be allocated work across:

• drafting, reviewing, amending legal agreements and transaction documents;
• providing transaction closing support to fee earners, including preparation of transaction closing checklists, coordinating the signing of documents, managing the collation of condition precedent documents and condition subsequent documents for drawdown;
• post-closing support including preparation of document bibles, distribution of transaction documents and other document management tasks;
• manage timelines on transactions and be involved with liaising with the various transaction parties;
• conducting legal research and due diligence exercises as well as creating and maintaining precedents;
• facilitating best practices sharing and fostering relationships across WFW’s practice groups and its’ clients;
• developing improvements to internal processes to streamline and maximise efficiency within the Group; and
• responsibility for monitoring and reporting on regulatory changes and developments, and industry-specific regulations.

To be successful in this role, the incumbent will bring with them and display the following skills, experience and attributes.

• Hold a Bachelor of Laws from a reputable university or at least Diploma level in legal studies.
• Have at least one year of legal experience either as a paralegal/legal executive or associate in a finance and/or transactional function.
• Prior experience in Asset Finance would be highly advantageous.
• Enthusiastic, can-do, positive approach to tasks and situations, as well as requests for action outside normal scope of duties.
• Skilled in prioritising multiple tasks and able to remain calm, focused and detail-oriented under pressure.
• A team player who is friendly, co-operative and excited about coming into the office to work alongside colleagues.
• Be pro-active, possess a willingness to broaden skills to meet evolving requirements as well as a flexible attitude for any other ad-hoc tasks.
• Able to maintain tact and diplomacy, take personal responsibility, build trust and maintain confidentiality.
• Driven and committed to delivering an exceptional client experience, focusing on delivering valued commercial and practical solutions.
• Clear and professional in both written and verbal communication. Note that fluency in English and business level Mandarin language skills (both written and oral) are essential.
• Be a self-starter and highly motivated, with demonstrated experience in managing the varying facets of working both autonomously and under specific direction.
• Have a desire to continue learning, strive in problem-solving and have a strong work ethic.
• Want to fit into the Firm’s culture of being collaborative, enterprising, inquisitive and hard-working.

Respect for different backgrounds and perspectives is at the heart of our firm’s core values and we recognise the importance of fostering an inclusive environment that allows everyone to reach their full potential. This is a key feature of our Global Code of Conduct, which places diversity and inclusion at the centre of our firm’s ways of working.

We believe that exceptional client service can only be delivered by exceptional people. For this reason, we aim to attract, retain and develop the best talent from a wide range of backgrounds. All decisions relating to employment will be objective and based on merit and ability.

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment processes are as inclusive and barrier-free as possible. This includes making adjustments for candidates with a disability or long-term health condition.  If you require adjustments to be made at any stage of the recruitment process, we’d encourage you to get in touch with a member of our team who would be happy to discuss options with you.