Knowledge Lawyer- Fintech

Company Description

Who we are

As a global law firm our work spans jurisdictions, cultures, and languages – and so do our people.

Our culture is collaborative and inclusive, where diverse perspectives are recognised and valued. Where performing to your highest ability, unlocks equal access to opportunities to learn, thrive and grow. 

We combine deep legal expertise and commercial intelligence to grow, transform, protect, and defend our clients' businesses, across every critical moment.

We operate in the sectors and regions that matter to our clients. With forward-thinking insights and innovative, tech-enabled solutions that combine deep knowledge of their sectors and markets.

You’ll build connections and work with colleagues as one global team. You’ll unlock opportunities for clients, across borders, cultures, legal and commercial disciplines.

Join us to work with colleagues as one global team – empowering each other to be exceptional and create advantage for our clients.
 

Job Description

The role

This is an opportunity to join our global Knowledge and Training (K&T) function as a Knowledge Lawyer supporting our global fintech practice, with a focus on regulatory developments in the UK and EU.

Clifford Chance is one of the world's leading law firms. Clifford Chance's vision is to be one of the elite global law firms and we aim to achieve this through a focus on client service excellence. The K&T function drives quality, consistency, efficiency, and innovation across Clifford Chance, producing better-trained fee earners, supported by gold-standard knowledge resources. We use tools that leverage firm-wide knowledge and artificial intelligence (AI) to create competitive advantage through smarter, more complex, more accurate and more efficient legal work.

Clifford Chance’s fintech practice is recognised as a global leader, guiding clients through some of the most innovative and complex transactions in the market, including those involving distributed ledger technology (DLT) infrastructure, cryptoassets, pioneering payments solutions and AI. Our client base is as diverse as it is distinguished, including major international financial institutions, market infrastructure providers and asset managers alongside leading fintechs and cryptoasset service providers, corporates, regulators and policy makers.

Who you will work with

You will deliver practical and insightful knowhow and advice to Partners and lawyers focussed on fintech matters to help them provide a high quality and cost effective service to our clients.

While you will work with lawyers across the firm's Product Groups, you will sit within our leading Financial Regulation team, which is part of our wider Capital Markets Global Product Group. The London team you will sit with is ranked as Tier 1 for Fintech: regulatory in Legal 500.

As part of our global K&T function, you will work collaboratively with Knowledge Lawyers and information specialists across our global network. In particular, you will work closely with the Knowledge and Information Officer for Fintech and with the rest of our global Tech Group Knowledge team, currently made up of the global lead for Tech knowledge, three other Knowledge Lawyers and another information officer specialising in wider tech work. You will work alongside the global lead for Tech knowledge to coordinate efforts on strategy, knowledge and thought leadership.

You will also work closely with our Thought Leadership function, Business Development, Marketing and Communications, PR and other business professional teams – for example on the preparation of briefings, template pitch materials and client training materials, supporting media outreach and in relation to knowledge and marketing campaigns. Work on innovation and AI projects will also bring the opportunity to work with Clifford Chance's Transformation team and Legal Technology Advisors who work collaboratively with fee earners and Knowledge Lawyers to deliver the highest-quality, efficient and cost-effective client service.

The role also includes engagement with external stakeholders. For example, there are often opportunities to support client outreach and training, while policy and trade association work provides opportunities to interact with clients, regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority, trade bodies and peers at other law firms.

What you will be responsible for

Fintech legal and regulatory expertise and knowledge management

• Monitoring and analysing fintech legal and regulatory developments in order to update lawyers and clients on their impact, for example including around the regulation of cryptoassets, stablecoins, tokenised deposits, payments and AI. You will have a particular focus on UK and EU developments with an awareness of relevant international developments.

• Responding to fintech and digital assets regulatory queries from lawyers and teams across the firm’s network and providing ad hoc fintech input into wider internal knowledge resources.
• Supervising and providing strategic input into internal and client-facing fintech resources managed by a Knowledge and Information Officer, including fintech topic guides and regular fintech and cryptoasset horizon-scanning newsletters.
• Identifying opportunities to improve the capture, organisation and sharing of fintech knowhow across the firm, including the potential development of new curated knowledge collections, practice notes, templates and/or clause libraries.
• Encouraging and engaging with fee earners to share and submit knowhow to the firm's knowledge database.

Thought leadership and client publications

• Preparing and supporting client briefings, blog posts, webinars and other client-facing materials on market trends and regulatory developments, including supporting relevant external journal and publication opportunities.
• Leading or contributing to thought leadership publications on key fintech topics, including an annual fintech trends publication, as well as contributions to broader publications requiring fintech input.

Trade association and policy work

• Drafting, coordinating and contributing to consultation responses and policy submissions on fintech and digital assets regulation.
• Participating in relevant working groups of trade associations, external committees and Knowledge Lawyer community discussions, and supporting partners and colleagues in doing the same.

Business planning and strategic client development

• Working alongside the relevant business development leads and key partners and counsel on fintech business planning, including helping to identify strategic priorities, themes and target clients in line with the firm’s wider strategy and K&T priorities.
• Reviewing and contributing to fintech capability statements, marketing materials and providing input into strategic client panels, pitches and other client development materials.
• Preparing bespoke materials to support targeted client outreach on identified themes and supporting client-facing training, including the preparation of client training decks.

Training

• Preparing and delivering regular internal training on key fintech developments, including UK and EU cryptoasset regulatory developments.
• Coordination, support and/or delivery of internal global fintech training as part of the Tech Group training programme.
• Supporting client and internal training initiatives by identifying relevant themes, preparing materials and coordinating input from subject matter experts.

AI, legal technology and innovation

• Supporting the development, adoption and effective use of legal technology tools, including the firm’s AI tools, across the London office and globally, including helping to identify appropriate use cases to improve matter delivery and lawyer productivity, share best practice, and embed new ways of working.
• Supporting the responsible use of the firm's legal technology
• tools, including the firm’s AI tools, in line with firm policies, client requirements and confidentiality obligations.

K&T and Tech Group coordination

• Participating in regular fintech, finance cluster Product Group and wider K&T coordination calls to share knowledge, align priorities and support business planning.
• Supporting coordination across the Tech Group knowledge team, including helping to shape priorities, training, central resources and delivery of knowledge initiatives. Helping to identify, set up, review and manage training repositories and central resources.
• Contributing to Tech Group delivery calls with marketing, PR, business development and other stakeholders and providing fintech input into regular Tech Group business development updates and newsletters.

Events, communications and profile raising

• Providing strategic knowledge input into both Clifford Chance-hosted and external fintech events (both online and in-person), including agenda/topic development, speaking points, client involvement, targeting and event follow-up.
• Attending strategic external events for networking and knowledge-building purposes.
• Reviewing and contributing to ranking submissions, award submissions and related profile-raising materials led by colleagues.
• Liaising with PR and communications teams on key fintech topics for media outreach, helping identify relevant spokespeople and supporting written responses where appropriate.
• Helping to ensure that client-facing fintech content on the firm’s website remains current, accurate and aligned with legal and market developments.
   

Qualifications

Your experience

• You will be a senior level lawyer or existing Knowledge Lawyer/professional support lawyer (PSL) with fintech and digital assets regulatory expertise and a strong track record of keeping abreast of legal developments in this fast-evolving space.
• An interest in knowledge management and legal training is critical, and experience would be an advantage, however you do not necessarily need to be a current Knowledge Lawyer.
• You will have an excellent academic background.  You will have strong research and drafting skills, good attention to detail and robust organisational skills. You will also be proactive and committed to providing a first class service to our fee earners and clients.
• You should have excellent interpersonal and communication and analytical skills along with a high level of commercial awareness and a track record of keeping abreast of legal developments. You will need the ability to engage effectively with key stakeholders, including partners, clients, and industry leaders.
• You should also have a strong interest in engaging with legal technology, AI and innovation and prior experience in this area would be beneficial
   

Additional Information

How we will support you

From your first day with us, you will have varied opportunities to continuously grow and develop your expertise and knowledge.  From formal training, informal coaching and mentoring through to technical and personal development skills-based training.

Hybrid working

This role follows our 'balanced' hybrid working approach and as long as business needs allow, you will be supported to work in a hybrid way in line with the hybrid working policy.

What we offer including our broad range of benefits and working environment

When you join Clifford Chance, you will have access to a broad range of benefits to support you across many aspects of your personal and professional life including financial, wellbeing, lifestyle, and family friendly benefits. For more information on what we offer specifically in the UK, please visit our What We Offer page on our career site. 

Equal opportunities

At Clifford Chance, we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age.  This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.

We have a variety of flourishing employee networks. These networks are a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change wherever they see an opportunity for improvement.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm. 

Find out more about our inclusive culture here.