We have an opportunity for a mid-senior level Environment, ESG & Energy Associate to join our Energy, Transport & Infrastructure team in London.

Department

Freshfields’ Global Transactions practice brings together lawyers specialising in corporate, finance and real estate. Working collaboratively to provide the best transactional advice to clients, we act for private and public companies, banks, governments and states, amongst others. We are consistently ranked at the top of the league tables in Europe, Asia and globally. Most of our work has a cross-border element, requiring us to draw on the expertise of our global transactions’ lawyers in other offices across the network.

Overview – Environment and ESG

Our transactional environmental, ESG and clean energy specialists form part of our Energy, Transport and Infrastructure (ETI) team, within Global Transactions. The team both leads and supports transactions, depending on the sector and the client. The main clients of the team are in Energy and Resources, Infrastructure, Industrials and Pharma sectors, though the range of work is diverse and requires lawyers to work on environmental, ESG and regulatory issues across all sectors and transactions including M&A, IPOs, projects, joint ventures and commercial. The majority of deals are international and involve large client and internal teams. The successful candidate will be expected to take on leadership roles on transactions, working closely with partners, liaising with other teams and departments and managing associates/trainees. The firm offers comprehensive training and career development.

Key Responsibilities and Deliverables

The successful candidate will work closely with partner Vanessa Jakovich, to help meet the growing demand for environmental transactional support and ESG advice from existing clients across Freshfields’ international network. This is an exciting opportunity to help lead a practice which is growing at an unforeseen pace.

The person appointed will have the opportunity to play a key role in a growing practice, undertaking leading edge work on challenging issues, including:

Leading on the environmental aspects of global transactions, working collaboratively with colleagues from corporate teams, including on deal strategy, due diligence, negotiation and drafting
Advising clients on a range of ESG and environmental issues across all sectors, with a particular emphasis on listed companies and low carbon energy and infrastructure developers and investors, but supporting the full spectrum of the firm’s clients
Leading teams from across the firm on the licensing, development, governance and financing of significant and innovative energy transition projects
Developing a good understanding of the firm’s client strategy, with a focus on ESG, playing a lead role in specific client teams, and contributing to business development initiatives that help strengthen client relationships

Key Requirements

England & Wales Qualified lawyer
Top class academic record
Strong environmental transactional experience
Strong knowledge of environmental law as it relates to large M&A transactions, corporate governance and strategy is particularly important for this role
A positive role model, who will actively share knowledge and contribute to the development of less experienced lawyers in the team
Adaptability and an ability to juggle multiple demands is important, as is a genuine interest in ESG and environmental issues

Competencies

Technical skills: excellent technical skills, recognised for own expertise, and has the ability to draft complex legal documents clearly and in plain English.
Client relationships: able to anticipate and respond to the needs of the client to deliver exceptional service whilst looking for opportunities to nurture and deepen relationships.
Business advisor: able to identify, analyse and prioritise increasingly complex issues, and able to understand the impact of legal, business and market issues and analysis on technical documentation and the project.
People and team: able to work effectively as part of a team (including coaching and mentoring more junior lawyers) as well as building relationships across the firm.
Project management: able to juggle a variety of demands, and to manage time, client expectations in order to meet deadlines.
Business development: able to contribute to pitches and activities to win new work, and to develop internal and external networks, as well as building own knowledge/expertise in at least one sector.
Personal skills: credible, professional, able to work with a wide range of clients and people, willing to embrace change and take accountability for achieving results.

Overview of the firm

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is a leading international law firm, providing business law advice of the highest quality. We want to be the law firm that clients turn to for legal advice where it matters most, wherever in the world that may be. The Firm has over 2,400 lawyers in 28 offices around the world, providing a comprehensive service to national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments.

Our people make our firm - we are a people business and want to create a welcoming and supportive environment where all can flourish. We see diversity as a strength which creates fresh perspectives and generates new ideas. We enjoy our work and are determined to do an outstanding job. We deliver best when working in teams. Our culture can best be described through the Being Freshfields principles, outlined below:

we show respect to everyone
we are there for one another
we are open with each other
we are positive role models

We think and work globally. We don’t just say we are one firm; we act as one firm right across the world and our systems and structures support that one-firm approach. We work wherever our clients need us. This is how we define ourselves, not by reference to where we have offices. Cross-border work isn’t just what we do, it is what we excel at. We understand what it really takes to work across different legal systems and commercial environments and to bridge gaps in language, culture and market practice.

Inclusion

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Associate (Environment, ESG and Energy)