Praxis is an independent, leading provider of bespoke private wealth, corporate administration and yacht services to companies, individuals and families across the world.
Our expertise and experience is driven by recruiting and retaining the brightest and best and creating a culture that allows people to thrive. Our independence encourages an open culture where every voice is valued. We care about creating an environment that hears, supports and shares openly with all our people.
Teamwork and collaboration are at the heart of our approach, and we nurture an environment of openness and respect where everyone feels valued.
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Our central services team provides centralised support to the Group. A career with us provides the chance to work with colleagues across our global network, delivering support across technology & business systems, marketing & communications, finance & accounting, compliance & risk, HR, facilities and administration
Job summary:
The Legal Counsel role is a senior legal role within the General Counsel team and will act as the primary legal support to the Guernsey boards, while also supporting the General Counsel and working collaboratively across Praxis jurisdictions as part of the wider General Counsel team. The role will involve board advisory work, legal risk management, contract review, PI/complaints/contentious and regulatory matters, external counsel management, strategic support to business teams and supervision of junior legal resources.
The successful candidate will be a qualified lawyer with at least 4 years’ PQE, strong judgement, clear communication skills and the ability to provide practical, commercial and risk-based legal support in a fast-moving fiduciary and financial services environment.
Job accountabilities:
Board Responsibilities
The Legal Counsel will act as the primary legal support for the relevant Guernsey based boards (or other jurisdictions as required), including:
> advising the relevant local boards on legal, fiduciary, regulatory and governance matters;
> supporting board decision-making on legally sensitive matters;
> preparing or contributing to legal reports for board review;
> identifying matters requiring escalation to the General Counsel or relevant committees;
> supporting privilege management in board materials and discussions;
> attending board or committee meetings where required (including potential membership on the Risk Committee);
> assisting with managing PI notifications and complaints;
> ensuring legal themes and recurring risks are reported clearly and practically.
Support to General Counsel
The Legal Counsel will provide direct support to the General Counsel across Group legal matters. This will include:
> helping to deliver the Legal Team operating model;
> escalating material matters early and clearly;
> supporting Group-level legal risk reporting;
> helping manage external legal spend and external counsel relationships;
> supervising legal workstreams and team members;
> assisting with Board and committee papers;
> ensuring consistent legal approaches across jurisdictions.
Team Management & Supervision
The Legal Counsel will help manage the Legal Team day-to-day. Responsibilities will include:
> supervising Junior Legal Counsel, Senior Paralegal and Trainee Paralegal work;
> allocating matters within agreed workstreams;
> reviewing work product and providing guidance;
> ensuring deadlines and matter status are properly tracked;
> supporting training and development of more junior team members;
> helping maintain consistent standards across Jersey and Guernsey;
> ensuring legal resource is used proportionately and efficiently.
General Counsel Team
Although the Legal Counsel will have a primary local board responsibility, it will support Praxis across jurisdictions collaboratively as a member of the wider General Counsel team. This will include:
> working with the other Legal Counsel and the General Counsel on Group-wide matters;
> supporting other Praxis jurisdictions where legal, fiduciary, regulatory or commercial expertise is required;
> coordinating with local boards, Compliance, Risk, Finance, Operations and business teams;
> identifying where local legal advice is required and managing external counsel appointments and spend;
> helping ensure Group legal issues are approached consistently;
> supporting cross-border matters where more than one Praxis entity or jurisdiction is involved;
> assisting and managing legal operations and matters including matter intake, triage, allocation, deadline and contract management;
> manage and support matters involving PI notifications, complaints, threatened or actual claims, litigation, regulatory matters, coordinating with Compliance and Risk.
Minimum education and experience
> Qualified lawyer with a minimum of 4 years’ post-qualification experience.
> Jersey, Guernsey, England & Wales or equivalent common law qualification preferred.
> Experience advising boards, senior management or client-facing teams.
> Experience in fiduciary services, trust and corporate services, financial services, regulatory, contentious, commercial or in-house legal work desirable.
> Experience developing playbooks, templates or legal training desirable.
Required skills
> Strong legal technical ability.
> Ability to manage legal risk in a commercial and pragmatic way.
> Strong drafting and analytical skills.
> Ability to manage multiple matters and competing priorities.
> Ability to supervise junior lawyers or legal support staff.
> Good judgement on escalation, privilege and external counsel use.
> Clear, concise communication style.
> Team player and collaborator. Works well across jurisdictions and functions.
> Confidence working with senior stakeholders.
Additional information
In addition, all our team members are expected to be committed to our core values:
- We inspire
- We listen
- We trust
- We succeed together
