Who are we?

Linklaters is a leading global law firm which specialises in advising the world’s top companies, financial institutions and governments on their most challenging transactions and assignments. With offices in major business and financial centres, we deliver an outstanding service to our clients anywhere in the world.

The Belgian office of Linklaters is seeking an entrepreneurial, dynamic lawyer to be part of the Corporate & Finance (with focus on Finance) practice across a range of initiatives. This position represents a unique opportunity to provide expertise working with talented, engaged and visionary colleagues and stakeholders in Belgium and abroad.

What are we looking for?

·       We are looking for a bright confident Senior Associate with 4 to 8 years’ experience and a keen interest in complex finance matters on a global scale. You have acquired your experience in a renowned law firm and have been involved in transactional finance matters.

·       You have Dutch or French as your mother tongue and an excellent command of English.

·       You have a first-class Belgian law degree, possibly combined with additional education abroad or a postgraduate degree in the field.

·       You will be based in Brussels.

·       You have a strong analytical sense, excellent drafting skills, are commercially aware and solution-oriented.

·       You are a team player and have the ability to operate throughout complexity and ambiguity staying focused on best outcomes and client satisfaction.

·       You are curious and have an entrepreneurial mindset, and you’re creative enough to challenge what the future looks like, based in a firm which is always striving to be consistently excellent, admired and at the cutting edge of the global legal market.

Your responsibilities

At this stage of your career your responsibilities will be as follows:

Technical Capability

• Develop deep knowledge of related practice areas’ law.
• Ensure comprehensive coverage of technical issues and argue complex technical points persuasively.
• Present highly complex information in a way that others find simple to understand.
• Lead and supervise negotiations and exercise judgment in making complex decisions on behalf of the client.

Client Development

• Forge deep relationships with clients to establish yourself as a trusted advisor, impressing your client with your market and commercial insights.
• Constantly seek new business opportunities and ways to build the firm’s reputation and proactively introduce your clients to other practice areas and offices.
• Enthusiastically support and promote the firm’s strategy and contribute to the practice area business plan.

Work Management

• Manage and take accountability for all aspects of client matters, delivering client service excellence and handling difficult messages with sensitivity.
• Gear matters to maximise profitability, monitoring team productivity throughout and adjusting resources as necessary, whilst looking out for the health and well-being of the team.
• Exercise commercial judgement to maximise profitability of matters and liaise with client over bills to ensure timely payment.

Working with Others

• Promote a collegiate culture that respects diversity and encourages inclusion and facilitate collaboration with other practices and teams.
• Communicate promptly, positively and regularly to ensure your team feel informed and connected.
• Influence diverse stakeholders to gain commitment and support.
• Role model the values, generating loyalty, confidence and respect.
• Actively seek feedback from clients and colleagues, take forward improvement ideas and identify opportunities to use innovative practices.

Knowledge & Learning

• Promote the firm as a thought leader through publications, speaking opportunities and external networking.
• Inspire, support and coach others to learn, providing everyone with equal and fair opportunities to realise their potential.
• Build regular reviews into work plans and encourage informal, day-to-day feedback as a matter of course.

What do we offer?

We firmly believe that the business a law firm operates in, is a people business. You would be part of a dynamic and integrated group of talented and engaged lawyers who are recognised experts in their respective fields of expertise. We adhere much value to team work and invest substantial efforts in the personal development of our lawyers.

You would also benefit from state-of-the-art training on a practice, local and global level both on technical legal and on “soft” skills (e.g. presentation skills and business development skills).

Additional information

The firm operates as a meritocracy and, therefore, selection for recruitment is on merit, irrespective of gender, race or ethnicity, age, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

Technical Skills:

This list of duties and responsibilities above is not exhaustive.  It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for, the performance of this job. As such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.