In-house Legal Counsel | Urban Village Group

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, you’ll play a key, senior role within the business and will be a critical advisor to the Group’s stakeholders. As Legal Counsel, you will be overseeing and monitoring their caseload of complex transactions/high-value acquisitions. You will need to be confident and authoritative, whilst able to establish management credibility with all stakeholders internally and externally.

Principal Accountabilities

Liaising with the wider property team including Head of Acquisitions, Head of Property, Head of Healthcare Development, Surveyors, Project Managers and Architectural Technicians, external agents and solicitors
Hands on role drafting contracts for sale, agreements for lease, leasehold acquisitions and renewals, licences to assign, licences to alter in conjunction with acquisitions, sub-leases, deeds of assignment and transfers
Calculating SDLT liabilities and completing Inland Revenue SDLT returns
Litigation in respect of lease renewals, issuing and serving proceedings, drafting Directions and managing and instructing external litigation solicitors
Relocations – agreeing deeds of variation, deeds of surrender and licences to occupy
Disposals – drafting Contracts for Sale, obtaining Landlord’s consent to assign, references, agreeing Licences to Assign
Preparing Lease renewal and acquisition reports for Board approval
Managing external retained solicitors in respect of transactions
Advising on Lease terms and other landlord and tenant issues to other departments as required
Overseeing maintenance of property portfolios and schedules
Draft and negotiate licences for alterations, other deeds and property documents ;
Review commercial property, standard enquiry responses and raise appropriate further queries;
Review official copy entries and plans along with associated deeds and documents;
Complete requests for information from, and make submissions to, Local Authorities and the Valuation Office;
Review and negotiate heads of terms for new property acquisitions;
Respond to queries from colleagues and assist them with their real estate/planning-related issues;
Assist to negotiate facility agreements and property mortgages;
Provide advice in respect of planning applications, intellectual property to the extent that it arises in the context of real estate, engineering or construction matters;
To take initial instructions for Sale and Purchase of residential and commercial property matters
To aid in the creation of relevant property related legal documents e.g. JCT contracts, Section 106 agreements, Agreements to lease, Voids agreements etc.
To open files and progress matters in line with departmental procedures
To undertake administrative work on files including letter and form production
To liaise with clients, commercial agents, finance lenders and solicitors by telephone, post, e-mail or in person, as necessary, at every stage of the transaction
To manage a range of property matters from initial instruction through to its natural conclusion
To undertake any additional delegated tasks including dealing with pre exchange of contract work, title reports, searches, raising enquiries etc.
To manage post-exchange work and registrations, including completion statements
To manage post-completion work including stamping of documents, Registration and Scheduling of Deeds
To maintain your own diary and handle matters arising, in liaison with other Legal Advisers
To ensure the confidentiality of all the firm’s and clients’ documentation
To undertake any specific training when required to do so and overall to have a responsibility towards self-development
To provide support to external Legal Advisers and Directors in the Property department and Commercial Department as may be required
Assist the Group Chief Executive with all legal aspects connected with the acquisition and sale of land on behalf of the house building divisions within the Group – options, conditional contracts, unconditional contracts, regeneration agreements and joint ventures.
Assist the Group Chief Executive with all legal aspects connected with reporting to the Group’s funder on title and contractual matters affecting the funder’s security.
A potential involvement in lesser court claims brought by and against the Group.
Advises the Group on new legal issues, as and when necessary.
Taking the lead in contractual negotiations to ensure that the firm’s interests are served.
Acting as a sounding board for other lawyers in the team and the wider Legal & Compliance department.
As Legal Counsel you will provide our organisation with broad ranging, commercially focused legal support that will ultimately enable the success and growth of our Real Estate business, drive compliance and limit risk exposure.
Deliver proactive, efficient and robust legal advice to a range of stakeholders on a variety of legal topics across multiple businesses and jurisdictions
Draft and negotiate agreements, contracts and other legal documents that minimize risks and maximize legal rights
Provide internal training and help enhance the legal resources available to our stakeholders
Plan and execute legal support for large projects as well as supporting day to day business activities.
Acts as advisor on a variety of legal matters, including coordinating with external counsel
Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for the company
Attendance at meetings as required
Other duties as required from time to time

Professional Skills and Experience

A qualified solicitor with at least 4 years’ PQE in commercial real estate from a reputable law firm or international company
Excellent conveyancing experience in residential estate development whilst some exposure to the construction or house building sectors would be advantageous
Commercially astute and able to manage risk and resolve complex legal issues
Able to manage and work closely with a range of stakeholders, providing timely and calm legal advice in a dynamic and fast paced environment.

Attributes

Experience of and highly competent in analysing information, problem solving and producing executive level commentary and reports
Strong, analytical and presentation skills
Strong sense of priorities and results
Excellent communication skills both verbal and written
Strong intellect with an aptitude for problem-solving and a tenacity to get things done in a fast paced environment

Strong interpersonal skills, shows initiative and is capable of managing own workload
Produces accurate work that they routinely sense check and is detail conscious
Highly professional and well presented; is an excellent team player with a ‘can do’ and ‘hands on’ mentality
Professional credibility with negotiation and influencing skills.

Status

This job description defines the role as it exists now. It is not meant to represent an exclusive description of the job holder’s responsibilities as these may vary from time to time in line with the needs of the business. This role may change and evolve over time and any changes will be communicated appropriately.