(Senior) Legal Counsel - Disputes

Company: Our client is a leading outsourced services business involved in engineering, maintenance, projects and construction contracts on behalf of private and public sector clients. The main company office is in Greater Manchester however the legal team are based around the UK, working from other company offices and from home. Role - (Senior) Legal Counsel - Disputes This new role is a rare opportunity for a contentious solicitor to move in-house into an established legal function in a predominantly disputes/litigation focused role. As (Senior) Legal Counsel - Disputes, you will support the team and business on a range of contentious issues including: subcontractor insolvency; recovering retentions; payment disputes / pay less notices; defect / latent defect claims; termination of contracts; options; adjudications; settlement discussions; pre-action letters and other early stage correspondence; etc. You will also have responsibility for instructing and managing external counsel, and providing strategy and guidance to internal senior stakeholders. In addition to the majority contentious work, where capacity permits, you will also have the opportunity to support the reviewing, drafting and amending of a variety of bespoke, amended and standard form construction and engineering contracts, and provide transactional support to the business, including negotiating and finalising supplier and customer contracts. Person: This is a senior level role with a high degree of responsibility and involvement in key business projects. It is anticipated that the (Senor) Legal Counsel - disputes will by a UK qualified solicitor with at least 5 years' PQE and perhaps much more. Applicants must possess solid dispute resolution and litigation experience, specifically in the area of construction law, and you should be familiar with adjudication. An understanding of construction contracts and mechanisms is essential. A willingness to undertake an element (c. 30%) of non-contentious and advisory commercial work is essential - the contentious work can ebb and flow so at any given time the team may require support with standard form contracts such as JCT, NEC and FIDIC. What's on offer? This is a rare opportunity for a contentious solicitor to move in-house into a contentious role within a large and successful business. It presents a superb opportunity to utilise your disputes and litigation experience whilst also enjoying the benefits of working for a single employer as an integral part of the team. In addition to the opportunity itself, our client is offering a competitive basic salary plus bonus, pension, healthcare, life assurance, share incentive scheme and other flexible benefits. The company employs a hybrid working policy and it is flexible about base office, making this role an option for those living in/near Manchester or further afield in the UK. BCL Legal is an equal opportunities employer.