About the role

Role Title

Knowledge Lawyer for Contentious Group, Asia Pacific

Business Services Function

Knowledge

Role Type

Full-time, Permanent.  If based in the US, the role is Exempt.

Location

Hong Kong

Role purpose

To manage and execute legal content projects, training and knowledge initiatives for the Group within the context of the Firm's knowledge strategy

About the Group

Baker McKenzie's Contentious Group comprises Litigation, Arbitration and Compliance & Investigations.  Each of these is ranked as a top practice in the world.  The Group has over 1,400 lawyers in 76 locations.   

The Acritas Global Elite index ranks the Firm as the number one most considered law firm for multi-jurisdictional litigation.  Chambers Global lists the practice among the leaders in 35 countries, more than any other law firm.

Baker McKenzie has the largest and most experienced arbitration team in the world, with over 300 practitioners, having acted in twice as many hearings as any other firm (as validated by GAR).  The practice operates in every major global arbitration center.

The Firm's Compliance & Investigation team has been ranked in the Top 10 worldwide by Global Investigations Review.  With internationally recognized lawyers and a long-standing presence in the highest-risk jurisdictions, the practice is recognised for its local knowledge and cross-border expertise.

Main responsibilities

To make first-class knowledge from Asia-Pacific easily available to lawyers, increasing the quality, consistency and/or cost-effectiveness of the advice that Baker McKenzie gives its clients, including:

Knowledge and Expertise

• Precedents. Draft, develop and automate the Group's precedents and other legal content
• Current awareness and commercial/industry knowhow.  Keep abreast and provide regular updates on key developments impacting the Group.  Apply an understanding of key clients' industries and businesses to all activity. Work with other Practice Groups and Industry Groups to provide the most holistic legal, commercial and industry knowhow possible. Leverage industry periodicals and media to enhance industry knowledge. Involve self with industry bodies, including by coordinating attendance at meetings and calls and by joining working groups and committees
• Lawyer requests. Respond to ad hoc enquiries from lawyers with on-point, thorough and timely answers. Develop a reputation as a go-to expert
• Knowhow development. Collect and input the Group's knowhow into the firm's global repository of knowledge and populate global, multi-jurisdictional databases and resources.  Identify gaps in knowhow and work to fill them, ensuring content development is progressive
• Training. Identify the Group's training needs. Meet training needs by delivering, participating in and promoting training. Leverage firm resources and processes to produce training materials and courses efficiently and of the highest possible quality
• Client-facing knowledge.  Provide legal input into client-facing initiatives, including client training and legal content for proposals and other business development resources.  Identify Group hot topics and write, commission and deliver content such as alerts, thought leadership reports and talking points. Educate self about PG/IG's Industry Key Clients
• Policy initiatives and capacity-building. Participate in and respond to policy consultations and regulatory developments

Service Orientation

• Relationships. Promote and identify ways to strengthen the Group's knowledge culture.  Build lasting relationships throughout the firm through collaboration, mutual respect and a reputation for competence.  Advocate and be a positive spokesperson for Knowledge. Nurture relationships with trainees and junior lawyers. Support diversity and inclusion, CSR and pro bono activities      

Work Management

• Operations and innovation.  Proactively seek ways to improve your own and team's service and efficiency and contribute to best practices.  Actively participate in Knowledge projects
• Systems. Support and drive adoption of Knowledge systems. Take ownership of delivery. Schedule one-on-one meetings and presentations to promote Knowledge systems
• Strategy, alignment and integration. Understand and promote the Group's business and Knowledge plans. Structure time and priorities in accordance with the Group's business and Knowledge plans and provide input into them

Travel requirements

Some travel may be required.

About the team

Function

The Knowledge function is a global team of around 300 professionals, including Knowledge Lawyers, Information & Research team members, and a variety of other functional specialists. Our purpose is to help the Firm deliver better legal solutions by producing and making easily accessible high quality, relevant legal information for lawyers and clients. In pursuance of this high-level goal, our focus is on three key, strategic areas:

• Content. We create, collect and make available market-leading content in the form of precedents, sample documents, practice notes, training materials and other knowhow for our lawyers and clients to use, ensuring that this is regularly reviewed and, where relevant, updated so that it remains current.
• Systems. We work with our IT colleagues to design, develop and build user-friendly but flexible platforms to store knowhow and deliver it intuitively to our lawyers and clients in a timely and effective way, adopting common systems across all offices and practice/industry groups.
• Culture. We strive to establish Knowledge as a core part of every lawyer's role, engaging actively with all lawyers in the Firm and encouraging them to share their own knowhow and expertise with colleagues as openly as possible. We also adopt a "one team" culture within the Knowledge Community across the network, ensuring that all team members are aligned with our global strategy and approach. Our content must be local, but our systems, policies and processes should, wherever possible, be global.

You will report to

Lead Knowledge Lawyer for Contentious Group (noting key relationships below).

Your direct reports, if any

N/A 

Key relationships

Your clients are the partners and lawyers in the Group, as well as practice group lawyers who have expertise relevant to the Group.  You will receive day-to-day project assignments and overall direction from the Group's Lead Knowledge Lawyer as well as the Group's chair and steering committee. 

You must liaise closely with other members of the Professional and Business Services team – especially within the Knowledge function – to ensure that Knowledge projects and initiatives are carried out consistently with the firm’s overall business objectives and its Knowledge strategy.

About the candidate

Technical skills, qualifications and experience

• Law degree
• Current license to practice law (or eligibility for one)
• Substantial experience as a practicing lawyer with direct involvement in the Dispute Resolution and/or Compliance & Investigations areas
• Excellent English language skills (verbal and written) and the confidence to communicate in a multi-cultural, multi-level environment
• Experience working directly with senior counterparts on strategy and execution
• Excellent time management and organizing skills; ability to prioritise and manage time to meet deadlines
• Strong word processing and spreadsheet skills
• Experience in or willingness to learn document automation and other legal tech

Personal qualities

These personal qualities represent the shared characteristics of high performers across Baker McKenzie, regardless of job level and location.

Knowhow

• Keeps across key developments in all relevant areas and demonstrates  the ability to develop substantive authority in relation to the Firm's specialist fields
• Demonstrates the ability to identify the real issue, and to anticipate requirements and potential consequences; distils a range of possibilities by thinking in a considered, prudent manner
• Able to move through a variety of tasks requiring different approaches, knowledge, and expertise, with agility of mind and capacity for analysis and synthesis

Dedication

• Driven by a strong personal sense of integrity and upholds exemplary quality standards
• Prepares thoroughly, takes responsibility, uses initiative and is self reliant to ensure work progresses to the fullest extent possible
• Hardworking and diligent with a keen understanding of client demands
• Demonstrates composure when dealing with difficult situations

Personal Impact

• Creates a positive impression at all times; develops relationships through collaboration and reciprocity
• Negotiates to achieve outcomes that are mutually satisfactory; shows good judgement on when to stand strong and when to compromise
• Invests in, nurtures and builds a network of productive relationships

Humanity

• Respectful to others, regardless of their position, and earns the respect of others by being transparent
• Has care and concern for others and a genuine interest in others as people
• Treats delicate or confidential issues with grace and discretion

About Baker McKenzie

Baker McKenzie helps clients overcome the challenges of competing in the global economy. We solve complex legal problems across borders and practice areas. Our unique culture, developed over 65 years, enables our people to understand local markets and navigate multiple jurisdictions, working together as trusted colleagues and friends to instill confidence in our clients. This is an exciting time to join us as we invest in and further develop our Professional & Business Services organisation, providing rewarding and challenging career opportunities in all of our world-class business functions.

We are committed to promoting diversity and inclusion for all. Our unique international culture is reflected in the drawing together of a worldwide family of individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds in all of our offices. We encourage the best people -- regardless of race, religion or belief if any, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or age -- to fulfil their professional aspirations with us.