PURPOSE OF THE ROLE:

A unique opportunity to join a growing team of experts - our London Structured Finance team is seeking a finance lawyer with deep knowledge of Loan Market Association ('LMA') facility and intercreditor documentation as well as English law security documents to take a lead in drafting, negotiating and managing LMA-based transactions. The successful candidate will have a pivotal role as one of our key LMA specialists within the wider Structured Finance team. There will be opportunities to work on other private credit structured finance funding structures too such as forward flow arrangements and warehouse financings/private securitisations.

This role relates to the Structured Finance team's "Speciality Finance" practice which involves advising alternative lenders (including FinTech start-ups) or funders to alternative lenders (clearing banks, investment banks, challenger banks and sponsors) on funding solutions to enable alternative lenders to grow their businesses and on-lend to their customers (effectively loan-on-loan transactions). Therefore, this role includes both lender side and borrower side work.

The assets of the alternative lenders are diverse – ranging from SME lending, first and second charge mortgages, bridging loans, commercial real estate loans, auto finance hp, unsecured consumer loans, buy now pay later, litigation finance, innovative fin-tech lending platforms to name but a few.

The Speciality Finance practice regularly collaborates with AG colleagues in other practice areas such as: Regulatory & Compliance, Corporate, Tax, Real Estate, Disputes, Employment, Data Protection and Derivatives, thereby creating internal cross-selling opportunities.  AG has >50 specialist practices and 40 Tier 1 Rankings.

THE TEAM:

The London Structured Finance team has been systematically growing in both revenue and reputation over the past five years and AG is committed to the continued growth and development of both our Structured Finance practice and our City offering.

The team is led by 4 Partners who are well known industry experts and form part of our London Finance group which consists of 125 solicitors inclusive of all Partners, LDs, MAs and Associates. Excellent quality work, high quality people and a strong team ethos and commitment to continuous development underpin our culture.

AG's Finance group has a strong (and growing) City presence and market-leading teams across the rest of the UK. Additionally, we have a significant presence in Ireland, France, Germany and the Middle East.

In addition to Structured Finance, the wider Finance group includes leveraged finance, funds finance, asset-based lending, asset finance, project finance, real estate finance, debt capital markets, social housing finance and social and sustainable finance.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE ROLE:

• You will take primary responsibility for drafting, reviewing and negotiating senior and mezzanine finance documents, managing transaction processes and supervising the contribution of less experienced colleagues. Your technical expertise in this regard must be a given.  Experience of secured borrowing base facilities is a bonus.
  
  
• You will be flexible, agile and enthusiastic in growing and developing your knowledge and experience of other private credit structured finance funding structures within a supportive and collegiate environment.

• You will be expected to be client focused. This goes beyond excellent and tailored transaction management and (for example) includes being curious and informed about the borrower's industry and business (and related opportunities and challenges) and thinking about how AI and other tools may be harnessed to improve the overall service.

• Fostering and growing client relationships and developing new ones is an integral part of this role. You can expect to collaborate not only with colleagues in the direct team but also with colleagues in other AG practice areas as well as colleagues immersed in relevant industry groups (for example the retail and consumer industry).

• Continuous self-development is valued, and you will be encouraged to engage with formal training programmes (whether technical or skills based) and to draw on mentoring, coaching and leadership development programmes available to you.
  
  
• As a senior member of the team, you will be expected to generously share your time, knowledge and experience to develop less experienced colleagues.

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

You will:

• have at least 5 years+ PQE experience in private practice within a Finance team.
• be very familiar with Loan Market Association facility and intercreditor documents and English law security documents, both from the perspective of drafting and negotiating and be skilled in leading on LMA-style transactions and running transactions from inception to completion.
• be flexible and agile and have enthusiasm for growing and developing your knowledge and experience of other private credit structured finance funding structures and undertaking intellectually challenging work.
• have a keen eye for detail, be self-motivated and proactive and confident in building enduring relationships with clients that are based on trust and high-quality service delivery.
• be inquisitive and want to understand our clients, their drivers and what matters to them, so that your advice has quality, imagination, and impact.

OUR FIRM:

We will encourage and challenge you to fulfil your potential in a supportive and collegiate environment.   Our culture of improvement, growth and collaboration delivers results, drives innovation and rewards ambition.

Our success has been built by people from the widest range of backgrounds, locations and perspectives. We have a number of employee networks that provide space to discuss and celebrate the differences that make us who we are.