Associate

To support the continued growth of the practice, we are currently recruiting an Associate to join the ORE Department on a permanent basis. This role is an opportunity for the successful candidate to take on a significant amount of client contact and responsibility whilst working in a collaborative environment to provide advice and assistance to high quality clients across a wide range of matters. You will also have significant opportunities to contribute to the wider activities of the Department, including in relation to Business Development as well as Learning & Development, and the firm - especially with respect to ESG matters., A core part of the role will involve advising on ESG with a particular focus on supporting clients of our market-leading Financial Services and Markets team, in particular alternative asset managers. We estimate that approximately 50% of the Associate's time will be spent on ESG matters. However, we do expect that an ORE Associate will gain experience across the full range of matters that make up the Department's practice. Typical work will therefore include the following. Transactional

• Supporting the firm's transactional teams (and in particular its Corporate Departments) in relation to our specialist areas on their transactions and client work, including preparing due diligence reports and drafting warranties and other protections in acquisition documents.
• Providing add-on ESG-related services in the context of transactions.
Advisory
• ESG - advising on ESG matters in support of financial services sector and corporate clients - including scoping analysis for emergent regimes, reviewing relevant ESG-related reports and transition plans, review and input on ESG-related plans, procedures, good governance, and/or mandated disclosures.
• Advising on standalone matters across all the Department's core areas, or new related areas of law (particularly in Environment & Safety, Financial Crime, and Energy Regulatory areas). Type of work highly variable, and could include for example preparing policies and procedures, analysing law and preparing notes of advice on particular risks, concerns or compliance strategies, horizon scanning and client updates.
Crisis management, disputes and investigations
• Advising clients on EHS matters in the context of accidents, incidents or claims, either in conjunction with our Dispute Resolution team or standalone.
Other
• Proactively keeping up to date with changes in the law and sharing that knowledge with the department and other teams.
• Engaging with business development plans and activities, which may include authoring client briefings, podcasts, and webinars and participating in industry association working groups.
Key Stakeholders
• Head of Department - John Buttanshaw
• Director - Sarah-Jane Denton, Accessibility statement : If individuals have any accessibility issues when reviewing this document, please notify a member of the Travers Smith HR team so that the document can be provided in an alternative format., Support and Adjustments for candidates : At Travers Smith, we are committed to ensuring that people who are disabled or have a long-term condition are empowered in their identity, valued equally, and listened to. If we can adjust the recruitment process to make it more accessible, please let us know. For further information please visit our website: Recruitment - Support and adjustments for candidates | Travers Smith
  
  An outstanding academic record.
• Qualified Solicitor in a Common Law or European Union jurisdiction (2-4PQE).
• Demonstrable experience in environment and/or ESG in a similar firm is essential; experience in other of the areas detailed above helpful.
• Some experience of working on transactions preferred but not essential.
• Strong interest in the team's work areas, and an enthusiastic and flexible approach to working across range of different but connected risk/regulatory areas, essential.
• Strong legal research and regulatory analysis skills.
• Competent in drafting and commercially astute.
• Ability to forge relationships with and inspire confidence from senior lawyers across the firm's other departments.
• Evidence of strong verbal and written communication skills.
• An inquisitive personality with a keen attention to detail.
• Can work both autonomously and within a collegiate environment.
• Resourceful with excellent time management skills.
• A willingness to show commitment and engagement to the firm's culture.
  
  Travers Smith is a leading full-service law firm, with a wealth of experience in its areas of specialisation. The firm has a market-leading reputation for its international expertise in Regulatory, Asset Management, M&A and Dispute Resolution & Investigations. Clients include asset managers across the alternative asset classes (private equity, venture, credit, infrastructure and real estate), publicly listed and private companies, financial institutions, and other business enterprises involved in large and complex UK and cross-border matters, transactions and disputes. Our purpose is to provide the highest quality of service to our clients whilst enabling our people to achieve professional fulfilment in a supportive, inclusive and enjoyable working environment.
Department The Operational Risk & Environment (" ORE ") practice boasts a wealth of regulatory, contentious and transactional experience. The group provides an extremely broad UK, EU and international operational, regulatory, compliance and risk management service, with a focus on the following specialist areas:
• Environment & Safety: recognised as a leading practice across the directories for environmental law. Principally advisory (with some regulatory defence) covering more traditional areas of environmental law such as contamination, pollution and waste, through to more novel product, supply chain and carbon laws, as well as health and safety.
• Governance & Risk: a unique offering in combining advice on business ethics areas ranging from anti-bribery and corruption, sanctions & export controls, and modern slavery, through to emergent areas of law such as Failure to Prevent Fraud.
• Energy & Infrastructure: the team has deep experience in development, ongoing advisory, and transactional work relating to Energy & Infrastructure, including on licensing and consents, renewable subsidies, and wider regulatory frameworks.
The expertise of the ORE team in advising in the above areas then allows it to deliver a uniquely joined-up approach to the following areas of delivery:
• ESG: ORE is at the hub of the firm's cross-departmental ESG practice, covering disclosure/transparency regulations (CSRD, ISSB, TCFD, SFDR, Taxonomy, ESOS), horizontal supply chain issues (CS3D), as well as operational regulations such as the Deforestation Regulation or CBAM. Our team uses its deep knowledge of the underlying policy drivers, including experience gained through the market leading advisory practices above, to deliver holistic and strategic advice to clients across the spectrum of ESG topics.
• M&A: Travers Smith has a leading M&A practice, and the ORE team provide a key differentiator for it - by providing regulatory and sector expertise key to deal diligence and execution. In addition to the above areas, the team have 'deal knowledge' in various other regulated industries (e.g. travel, education, healthcare).
The ORE team advise a broad spectrum of standalone and firm clients. These range from asset management and other financial institutions, global corporates, and a range of UK listed, large and emergent corporates. The team is growing and ambitious, with a genuine belief in and commitment to its strong team ethic and culture.