Our Restructuring and Insolvency department has an opportunity for an Associate to join the team.

The successful candidate will predominately work on contentious restructuring and insolvency work, as well as non-contentious work.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

The team at JMW offers practical, specialist advice to insolvency practitioners, businesses, individuals, directors, lenders and other stakeholders in both contentious and non-contentious areas of restructuring and insolvency, on both a domestic and cross-border basis. Around 50% of our work is contentious, acting for stakeholders such as officeholders and creditors, actions against or defending former directors and advice relating to antecedent transactions.

We pride ourselves on being able to offer clear and concise legal advice, providing tailored guidance that is suited to the unique requirements of our clients, including insolvency practitioners who return to us often. Our client list ranges from secured lenders, medium sized and boutique insolvency practitioners, to some of the UK’s largest specialists in corporate restructuring and leading UK financial advisors, meaning there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in unique and interesting projects such as a £multimillion claims, some with cross-border elements, that each member of our team plays their part in.

The team frequently undertakes transactional work (pre-pack administrations, asset sales), enforcement and general advisory work. We advise, lenders, borrowers, directors, financially distressed investors and other relevant organisations and individuals on their rights and obligations in respect of both transactional and contentious work. 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

This role would suit an ambitious, experienced lawyer circa 3-6 years PQE (though we will consider outstanding candidates outside of this) specialising in insolvency law.

We are ideally looking for candidates with a mixture of mainly contentious and some non-contentious experience to provide support to the team’s two Partners while also reporting to the head of department.  

You will need to possess:

• Strong technical legal knowledge of the core areas of restructuring and insolvency work.
• Experience acting on contentious and non-contentious matters for liquidators, administrators, trustees in bankruptcy, and receivers.
• Experience acting on contentious antecedent transaction and breach of duty claims.
• The ability to take ownership and lead on instructions from start to finish with minimum technical or strategic input wherever possible.
• Strong client care and quality control skills.
• Strong drafting and advocacy skills.
• The ability to carry out legal research with minimum supervision.
• The skills and attitude required to support and/or supervise junior colleagues.
• Excellent academic credentials.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage several deadlines.
• Strong business development and marketing skills.
• Awareness and exercise of financial management skills.
• The ability to work in a team environment with good training and motivation skills.

Other performance measures

Alongside the underlying fundamentals of your role, as described in your job description, your line manager will also advise you of the specific tasks, priorities and objectives applicable to you and any relevant key performance indicators or metrics (such as financial or other targets). These will naturally change over time to enable you to maximise the application of your expertise to contribute most effectively to the needs of your department and JMW.

Additionally, what you do and how you do things, should align to JMW’s values and the relevant section of JMW’s overarching Performance Expectations (details of both can be found on the intranet).

Working for JMW  

As well as a rewarding career, JMW offers its colleagues many other opportunities and benefits, including:

• A minimum of 25 days' annual leave (increasing with length of service) plus office closure between Christmas and New Year
• Employee Pension Scheme – SMART pension scheme
• Travel Insurance – covering you and eligible family members
• Death In Service - 3 x basic salary
• Private Medical Insurance (subject to opting in) and option of contributing to add eligible family members
• Income Protection - cover of up to 75% of salary
• Access to an interest free travel pass/parking loan
• A one-hour early finish, one Friday a month
• Two days a year to do charitable work, with a huge variety of events to get involved in
• The opportunity to participate in sports teams, hobby clubs, and social events
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders
• Annual promotions process open to all
• Work and employee referral schemes

More information including a full list of our benefits and company culture can be found on the careers home page, and via our social media channels – X, Instagram, LinkedIn.