Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is a world-leading global law firm, where our ambition is to help you achieve your goals.
Exceptional client service and the pursuit of excellence are at our core. We invest in and care about our client relationships, which is why so many are longstanding. We enjoy breaking new ground, as we have for over 170 years.
As a fully integrated transatlantic and transpacific firm, we are where you need us to be. Our footprint is extensive and committed across the world’s largest markets, key financial centres and major growth hubs.
At our best tackling complexity and navigating change, we work alongside you on demanding litigation, exacting regulatory work and complex public and private market transactions. We are recognised as leading in these areas.
We are immersed in the sectors and challenges that impact you. We are recognised as standing apart in energy, infrastructure and resources. And we’re focused on areas of growth that affect every business across the world.
All of this is achieved by supporting the growth of our people, who help us deliver on our ambition – which is to help you achieve yours.
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer: Your goals. Our ambition
The Opportunity
Digital adaption is presenting businesses with efficiencies and opportunities at pace – Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is no different. Continuing to support our clients with this rapid change, we have created a team of the best analytical legal minds with investments in cutting-edge technology and technologists in our Digital Legal Delivery (Digital) practice.
Bringing together legal, project management, process design and technology expertise, our Digital group supports businesses who need invention from their legal advisors. Leveraging experience to map the intersections where people and tech deliver results, this team supports businesses undergoing their own digitisation projects and those who seek disentanglement from the manual and inefficient processes in the delivery of legal services. Experienced at delivering large and complex legal services, we are experts in the delivery of data-intensive mandates.
Imagining possibilities, HSF Kramer’s Digital Legal Delivery practice is implementing the best technology solutions today, while horizon scanning and experimenting with emerging technologies to understand their practical applications.
Legal
In Legal, we help shape how the firm delivers legal matters to clients. We have longstanding experience in thinking differently about law, and we are at the forefront of making legal services more efficient – particularly at scale.
We have a deep knowledge across a broad range of sectors, and a wealth of experience in delivering large and complex mandates. We are specialists in contract management, document review, volume claims and remediation, and due diligence.
Working collaboratively with colleagues from across the firm, we use our expertise in law, process design and technology to deliver solutions for our clients. Underpinned by our legal project management capability, we organise our collective effort as efficiently and seamlessly as possible.
This ensures consistent delivery throughout and enables our clients to achieve efficiencies across their operations.
Legal Technology
In Legal Technology, we deploy the firm’s established technology efficiently and reliably across a range of client matters and projects.
We combine our expertise in document automation, custom development, eDiscovery and data analytics and client reporting – to work collaboratively across the firm on disputes, transactions and projects.
Advisory
In Advisory, we bring deep expertise in legal operations and emerging technologies, working across any sector, alongside our teams or directly with clients.
We are trusted advisers to our clients on new ways of working as we scan the horizon, together.
Corporate/Commercial
Our corporate practice includes, but is not limited to M&A, capital markets, investment funds, commercial contracts, corporate restructurings and regulatory matters.
Our corporate team offers a wide variety of product offerings to both internal clients and directly to high profile external clients across multiple sectors. Such offerings are constantly evolving as our Digital Legal Delivery business continues to mature. These offerings include due diligence, drafting and negotiating large volumes of commercial contracts, regulatory change/implementation projects, prospectus drafting and verification, supporting in-house legal teams on their business-as-usual work, project management and general transaction support across a wide range of corporate deals.
We have a focus on efficiencies and innovation including the use of cutting edge legal technologies e.g. artificial intelligence and automation.
The Role
Senior Lawyers are experienced qualified Lawyers, who supervise the work of our Lawyers, Trainees and Legal Analysts on a day-to-day basis. Senior Lawyers also play a proactive role supporting the senior team with strategic management and delivery of matters, as well as the development of our junior team. They are expected to be able to lead certain projects, escalating to Managers who will support as necessary.
Senior Lawyers in this role are likely to have a particular area of specialism in commercial legal practice, with a solid general corporate legal foundation, ideally in-house or at a private practice law firm, as well as being closely involved in developing processes and know-how for the wider team.
Key responsibilities
Scoping and setting-up new matters and conducting fee earning work directly, as well as supervising and training teams.
Supports with pricing at the outset of a matter and then assists in managing costs and billing throughout.
Maintains an up-to-date knowledge of relevant areas of law, providing technical excellence in relation to one or more of the specialist areas of the corporate practice.
Working with legal technology tools appropriate to the relevant matter (e.g. artificial intelligence tools for due diligence) and keeping up to date with technological advances.
Assists with preparing pitch documents and likely to attend client presentations and assist more generally with business development.
Liaising with clients and teams elsewhere in the firm as required on fee-earning or other projects.
An innovative mindset, curious about AI and emerging technologies.
The responsibilities outlined above cannot totally encompass or define all tasks that may be required of the team member. The outline of responsibilities given above may, therefore, vary from time to time without materially changing either the character or level of responsibility or grade.
TECHNICAL
Essential
Qualified Lawyer in South Africa but other common law jurisdictions will be considered. (If not qualified in England, Wales or South Africa then willing to complete process to requalify as such, if required.)
Minimum of 3 years’ PQE, the majority of which should be within Corporate (including Commercial), unless exceptional circumstances exist. If you do not meet the 3 years PQE requirement, but feel that exceptional circumstances are applicable to you, then you will be required to submit a supporting statement outlining why you are an exceptional candidate (including relevant skills and experience) – i.e. you have spent a significant amount of time undertaking corporate / commercial work, during or prior to your training contract/qualification.
Proven experience of supervising and supporting a legal team.
Desirable
Experience gained working at a private practice law firm.
Experience working in an inhouse legal team.
Experience working with, or a particular interest in, legal technology.
Please note, closing date for applications is Friday 14 August at 12pm
Team
Digital Legal Delivery
Full time
Location
Johannesburg
Contract type
Permanent Contract
Diversity & Inclusion
We are committed to attracting people from all backgrounds and creating a respectful and inclusive culture where everyone thrives. We see this as essential to our success, including our ability to innovate and achieve sustained high performance. This is a key part of our Values—Human, Bold, and Outstanding.
