Junior Paralegal - (any degree discipline) - 6 months FTC
Document Risk Solutions (DRS), United Kingdom
Job Description
About us
DRS is a legal consultancy specialising in commercial contracts pertaining to derivatives, financing and professional agreements. Trusted by banks, asset managers, hedge funds and trading firms across the globe, we provide solutions that deliver rapid and efficient negotiation and remediation of document portfolios.
Established in 2009, we have approximately 100 members of staff, operating both on-site and off-site from offices in London and Newcastle. Our market leading team is led by our directors who all have extensive legal and industry expertise within financial services.
Our ambition for the next five years is to grow to be the UK’s largest provider of outsourced contract management services to the financial services industry.
We’ve also recently diversified into ‘reg-tech’, developing an innovative software platform to further assist our clients with their compliance obligations.
Our Culture
We pride ourselves on cultivating an informal legal environment, with a flat structure, accessible senior management and open plan offices, and are pleased to have received The Sunday Times 'Best Small Company to Work for' award 2019, 2020.
Our dress code is smart-casual, and we have core hours but offer flexible working to encourage work/life balance. We’ve also adapted quickly to remote working, offering further flexibility.
Our inclusive, supportive and innovative team provides the opportunity for everyone to work together to grow both their own careers and the business. We’re a diverse firm; speaking over 20 languages, with staff from over 23 countries. We are a market disruptor, and although we’ve been in business for over 10 years, we still have a buzzy ‘start-up’ environment, where you feel like you make a real contribution to the business.
We also have a large of focus on learning and development beyond the technical aspects of your role, delivering regular training focused on developing soft skills, and recently introduced a mentoring scheme within the organisation. We’ve also recently introduced an online learning platform, to support your introduction into the business and development within the team.
Everyone in the office is really friendly, sociable and collaborative, and always on hand to help, regardless of whether you’re in legal or business services. We have a weekly ‘Breakfast Club’ where everyone in the company gets together (virtually) to discuss market developments, achievements and knowledge share, as well as monthly company-wide updates from the CEO. We also have regular social events (virtually) and soon to be reinstated to face-to-face! (in line with government guidelines).
Due to our expansion, we will be moving into a bigger office in Newcastle city centre later this year, which will be a fully refurbished, open plan, equipped with a games facilities and easy access to local bars and restaurants.
Our Values
Do the right thing - We always strive to do the right thing for our clients, for our colleagues and for the business.
Play your part - The relationships we build, both with each other and our clients, are what set us apart.
Choose growth - We aspire to improve ourselves by knowing and understanding more each day, sharing knowledge and insight.
The Opportunity
You will join DRS as a Legal Consultant; supporting the negotiation of commercial contracts on behalf of your assigned client within one of our DRS dedicated teams. You will be working alongside leading industry practitioners, senior lawyers and experienced colleagues.
This is a client facing role, where you will be exposed to a wide range of financial institutions, from global banks to hedge funds, and entrusted with a considerable amount of responsibility from the outset, as well as having the opportunity to progress within your team.
Paralegals are also considered for training contracts once in the role, should they meet stipulated criteria.
We have vacancies across numerous teams, offering 6 months’ fixed term contracts (scope to exten), based in Newcastle. You willl initially be working remotely with a phased return to the office, in line with Covid-19 government guidelines.
We are currently hiring for April July intakes. If you are not available until later in the year, please apply via our talent pool.
Responsibilities
- Manage your own ‘doc-load’ within agreed SLAs.
- Liaise with clients and their counterparties to draft, negotiate, amend and execute commercial contracts including ISDA agreements, CSAs, GMSLAs, GMRAs, NDAs and Terms of business.
- Manage and update negotiation databases; keeping track of external communications and ensuring appropriate escalations within the team.
- Provide MI and wider reporting for internal DRS stakeholders an