The role
- This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced debt finance lawyer to join our market leading impact finance team to work with our banking, finance, and impact investing clients (including ethical lenders, traditional bank lenders, impact investors, investment intermediaries, DFIs, social enterprises and charities).
- You will have a high degree of client contact, developing your own relationships and networks as well as taking a lead on the day-to-day running of transactions and supervising more junior team members.
Impact investing, including development finance (around two thirds of the role)
- We have a deep understanding of the issues faced by those seeking to make – or raise – investments which not only provide a financial return but create positive value for society as well. Most impact finance transactions call for a tailor-made approach, often incorporating social impact metrics, to honour the integrity and social purpose of the organisation receiving investment. Our advice usually centres around how to deliver social impact deals with integrity.
- We don’t just advise on the law in this field, we also shape policy and the most significant developments around it. We made the argument for the creation of the statutory social investment power for charities, worked with Government on the design of social investment tax relief, and structured key institutions in the UK social impact investment market, such as Big Society Capital, Social Finance and Charity Bank.
- Our fast-growing development finance practice focuses on transactions in emerging markets and developing countries, typically through equity, debt (including development impact bonds), and fund investments. Clients include DFIs and other FIs, PE fund managers, foundations, and sponsors.
- We support clients in structuring and documenting the whole spectrum of impact finance transactions and activities, and in navigating through the legal and regulatory issues that may arise from investment, including charity law issues, FCA regulatory considerations and related constitutional and governance issues.
Commercial financing, including real estate financing (around one third of the role)
- We advise a broad spectrum of clients (including ethical and traditional lenders and borrowers, and private banks) on a wide variety of financing arrangements (including general corporate finance, acquisition, receivables, trade and real estate finance).
- We are panel lawyers for several lenders from those focused on social impact to traditional clearing banks.
- Our borrower clients range from small and medium-sized enterprises through to multinational corporations, social housing providers, charities of all sizes, other not-for-profit entities, developers and investors, corporates, funds, trusts and high net worth individuals.
- We regularly handle the financing of real estate developments as well as commercial and residential portfolios, social housing, care homes, schools and sporting facilities, combining the experience of our real estate, construction, and planning teams with our banking expertise, supported by corporate, tax, charity and trust specialists.
About you
- You will be a UK qualified solicitor with at least two, and no more than three, years post qualification experience
- Owing to the nature of the role, you will have an enthusiasm for business development, and ideally a demonstrable track record of helping to build a practice.
- You are passionate about client service, building strong relationships and excited about growing your own practice through business development opportunities with potential and existing clients in the purpose and impact space
- You share our values and want to make a difference.
- You want to feel that you are a part of the Bates Wells experience and ‘belong’.
About our culture
- A one firm approach means working together and improving to achieve common goals and to provide a consistent Bates Wells experience.
- As a values-driven firm we show commitment to our clients, our people, the environment and society. We take into account the Climate Emergency and Biodiversity Crisis in developing our business strategy.
- We want to have a positive impact on our people who are our greatest asset so that they can have a positive impact on others. Purpose is baked into our partnership deed.
- We promote a strong work/life balance with at least 25 days holiday with the opportunity to buy more and a ‘Summer in the City’ early finish.
- We have an agile and hybrid working environment – this means you might sit next to a different colleague every day or choose to work from our rooftop garden if you are in the office.
- Our benefits and wellbeing package includes firm matching pension contributions, private medical insurance plus a medical benefit cash plan, discretionary bonus arrangements, life assurance, subsidised gym memberships, lifestyle discount scheme and a firm-wide profit-sharing scheme.
- Everyone gets a bonus if there is one - a proportion of the LLP profit is distributed to our people when we exceed our financial thresholds.
About our Impact Finance team
Our Impact Finance team has a strong focus on impact investment transactions as well as social investment advisory work. The team is led by partners with specialist skills in debt and equity financing transactions combined with sector expertise and deep understanding of the charity and social enterprise sector. The team often advice on innovative and new models, which are cutting edge and aim to create a new intervention or solve a key social or environmental issue.
Our Impact Finance team is embedded within our wider charity and social enterprise practices and the successful candidate is also likely to have exposure to wider work in the firm with a wide range of charities and social enterprises.
About the opportunity
- We encourage all our lawyers to pursue their personal interests through their practice, develop management skills through supervising junior fee earners, contribute to business development and work cross-departmentally through our wide range of exceptionally strong sector groups.
- Lawyers are provided with career development support, for example encouragement to co-manage client relationships with partners, support the development of recently qualified lawyers and be involved in the development of the department’s strategy.
- Our team structure ensures a supportive environment coupled with the opportunity to work collaboratively with colleagues across the department and with other teams in the firm.
- The firm has a competency framework in place which sets out the competencies we expect from our people at this stage.
- Specific tasks may change over time, so we’ll need you to be adaptable and flexible as we continue to meet our clients’ needs.
How to find out more about us
Don’t forget to review our website (https://bateswells.co.uk) and ask around about us to find out more and whether we’re the right fit for you.
Contact:
If you have any questions about this vacancy or require any reasonable adjustments to be made to the process due to a disability, please email:
Daisy Mortimer (d.mortimer@bateswells.co.uk) |
