Practice Group / Department
General Counsel, New Business
The Role
We are seeking a Senior Officer to join the General Counsel & Risk Team based in London on a fixed‑term contract. The primary focus will be client and matter intake. The role reports to a Risk Advisor. All General Counsel & Risk officers work on a roster providing once a week support to the 2 pm‑10 pm shift to cover time zones Monday to Friday.
The team screens new business acceptance for the Firm’s EMEAPAC region for a variety of risks including legal, contractual and commercial conflicts.
The EMEAPAC Team
The General Counsel & Risk team supports 30 EMEAPAC offices and comprises over 60 people based in London, Newcastle, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. The team works closely with client and matter inception, client terms negotiation, AML, financial crime, sanctions and general regulatory advice.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage higher‑risk conflict queries: undertake conflict searches, analyse reports, recommend courses of action to senior management and push issues to resolution.
- Understand the Firm’s key strategic objectives, ensuring that new business intake is in line with the global strategy and compliant with our existing client base from a legal and commercial standpoint.
- Liaise with and assist the compliance teams at Norton Rose Fulbright member firms in Canada, USA and South Africa regarding potential conflicts.
- Provide training support and ongoing assistance to General Counsel & Risk Officers in resolving conflict issues.
- Act as a point of escalation between General Counsel & Risk Officers and lawyers, providing recommendations and first draft advice on key risk issues.
- Ensure that fee earners are kept up to date on the resolution of their conflict issues.
- Communicate policy updates; training; and key business updates to General Counsel & Risk Officers.
- Advise partners, lawyers and staff on the Firm’s policies and procedures.
- Provide critical analysis of risk assessments on matters, including matters in high‑risk jurisdictions.
- Recommend to the Head of Compliance and senior management whether a high‑risk matter should be accepted by the Firm.
Other Tasks
- Explain to fee earners and PAs how to comply with the various regulatory requirements and Firm policies.
- Guide and train fee earners and PAs on the use of compliance systems.
- Support the Senior Risk & Compliance Manager and Head of Compliance with various other compliance‑related tasks as required.
Skills and Experience Required
- Interest in risk and compliance with a focus on commercial, political and risk issues affecting the business.
- Ability to interact successfully with senior management and partners.
- Advanced computer skills and technological awareness.
- Excellent workload and project management and great organisational skills.
- Team player and ability to work well with all levels of staff.
- Excellent aptitude for research and familiarity with online research tools.
- Ability to draft clearly and explain complex issues; excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Accuracy and an eye for detail.
- Sound commercial and risk judgement.
- Flexibility and ability to think of ‘outside of the box’ solutions.
- At least 2 years’ experience working in a compliance/legal function.
- Willingness to work flexible hours as needed to serve the requirements of the global firm.
- Law degree or other relevant qualifications (desirable).
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
To attract the best people, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work, have a sense of belonging, and realise their full career potential.
Our new enabled work model allows our people to have more flexibility in the way they choose to work from both the office and a remote location, while continuing to deliver the highest standards of service. We offer a range of family‑friendly and inclusive employment policies and provide access to programmes and services aimed at nurturing our people’s health and overall wellbeing. We are proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams. We strive to create an inclusive and accessible recruitment process for all candidates. If you require any tailored adjustments or accommodations, please let us know.
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