Paralegal (1 year FTC)

The department

You would be sitting within the transactional shipping team, which forms part of HFW’s industry leading shipping department. The work of the transactional shipping team encompasses the whole spectrum of non-contentious, transactional shipping, from ship sale and purchase, ship and asset finance, ship building and refit and repair projects. We are a leading provider of legal services to the shipping, offshore, cruise, ferry and superyacht sectors. Various members of the team also work in aerospace, providing similar services to the corporate jet sector. With an international network of offices, we handle structured and complex international transactions for clients across the Globe. We work closely with colleagues across our global network on a daily basis.

In addition to the above, we provide a range of completion services in support of the sale and purchase of vessels across the full spectrum of asset types; from cruise ships and ferries, to liquid and dry bulk carriers and complex offshore assets.

The role

Your primary role will be as a paralegal in our completion services practice, which forms a core part of our transactional shipping team and you will be an essential part of the transactional shipping team. You will be given training and support to develop the skills and experience needed. You will be a fee earner with your time recorded to each file on which you work, and you will communicate directly with clients across the globe, daily.

This role provides an excellent opportunity for those with an ambition to do transactional legal work to obtain a wealth of skills, experience and expertise far in excess of that offered in most paralegal roles. Many of those who have previously occupied this role have gone on to have successful legal careers as qualified solicitors with the firm, other law firms and the firm’s clients.

Key responsibilities

• You will be primarily working in the completion services practice. The work will include drafting transaction documentation, assisting in the collation of know your client documentation, coordinating transactional closing meetings and arranging the release of payments.
• Where capacity allows, you will also support the transactional shipping team with a range of other tasks including:
  • Drafting financing and transaction documents.
  • Liaising with external third parties (such as company, ship and aircraft registries).
  • Preparing transactional bibles and coordinating the collection and distribution of important original transaction documents.
  • Working as a key element of the transactional shipping team and lending such support as may be required from time to time by other areas of the firm.

Key skills and experience required

• Law degree or GDL qualification.
• Strong academic ability – a 2.1 or First (or equivalent).
• Previous experience in a law firm would be beneficial.
• Excellent communication – able to communicate with internal and external clients in a confident and assertive manner. 
• Foreign language skills are advantageous but not essential.
• Time management – able to work to tight deadlines, ensuring a high standard of accuracy, prioritising work between a wide range of matters.
• Client service – dealing with queries from internal and external clients in a professional, polite and considerate manner.
• Good organisational skills – you will be required to coordinate and run multiple transaction files at any one time and be able to work calmly and efficiently under pressure.
• Cultural sensitivity – you will be dealing with clients from all over the world.
• Team player.
• Strong IT skills.
• Flexible with regard to working hours (normal working hours are 9.30am to 5.30pm) but closing meetings regularly occur outside of working hours.

Additional information

This job description is not contractual. It will be reviewed periodically and may be amended or altered to meet the needs of the firm.

HFW aims to ensure equality of opportunity and we are actively working towards improving the diversity of our staff. All applications will be considered only on merit and the applicant’s suitability to meet the requirements of the role.

HFW collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants to manage its recruitment process. HFW is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations. For information on how we will process your data, please see our Privacy Notice, in the section “What we collect and how we use it”.