Legal Counsel - Taylor & Francis

Company Description

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis Group operates globally and produces high quality, peer reviewed books and journals. We produce unique, trusted content by expert authors, spreading knowledge and promoting discovery globally. We aim to broaden thinking and advance understanding, providing academics and professionals with a platform to share ideas and realize their individual potential.

Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge. We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices, so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications. This requires open minds, the opportunity for robust debate, and the courage to defend perspectives that stand up to scrutiny, even if they conflict with our personal beliefs or values. Because that’s the only way to find the best obtainable version of the truth and, ultimately, foster human progress. If you agree, then we’d love to hear from you.

Job Description

We are currently recruiting for a talented Legal Counsel to join the Taylor & Francis legal team. 

This role is based in our Milton Park office.

In this role, you will be responsible for supporting Taylor & Francis on all legal matters relating to the business, including advising on commercial agreements and intellectual property, reputation management and defamation issues, supporting on the resolution of disputes, tracking key legislative and policy developments, updating and drafting commercial contract templates, and providing legal training and guidance to the business.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Taylor & Francis legal team, a highly respected and valued business partner to the Taylor & Francis business, with lawyers based in the UK (London and Oxfordshire), the US (Philadelphia) and Singapore.  The Taylor & Francis legal team combines technical legal expertise with commercial insight and an appreciation for the business’ objectives to provide constructive, balanced and effective advice.

You will also sit within the wider Informa Legal and Governance community, which consists of 90 or so colleagues globally, including around 50 lawyers, with specialists in fields such as M&A, employment law, compliance and privacy/data protection. This gives the benefit of being able to draw on the expertise of such specialists, where required.

Responsibilities and keys to success

This role will have a broad commercial remit, supporting Taylor & Francis’ teams on a wide range of legal matters.  Responsibilities are expected to include:

• Advising on content-related issues, both pre- and post-publication, including issues related to copyright, defamation and privacy
• Drafting, negotiating and advising on a wide range of commercial contracts including customer contracts, publishing agreements, author/editor contracts, distribution and agency agreements, supplier agreements and IT/technology contracts
• Supporting the business on the resolution of third party disputes and working in close collaboration with internal Taylor & Francis stakeholders, including the Editorial, Commercial, Communications and Ethics teams, as appropriate
• Maintaining, updating and creating (where necessary) Taylor & Francis’ commercial contract templates, including author, editor and Society publishing agreements, service agreements, IT/technology contracts, licencing agreements and confidentiality agreements
• Building effective working relationships with the Taylor & Francis senior leadership team and wider business functions to build engagement and understanding of legal risk and promote the legal function
• Collaborating effectively with the other lawyers in the Taylor & Francis legal team to ensure a consistent and effective approach to managing legal risk across the business globally
• Assisting with developing and delivering training and guidance notes on legal topics to business colleagues
• Liaising with and instructing external counsel where necessary
• Representing Taylor & Francis at external industry events, trade bodies and initiatives as appropriate

Qualifications

Knowledge and experience

• A qualified lawyer with around 3 years post-qualification experience (PQE is given as a guide only. This will not be a determining factor of suitability and applicants of other levels of PQE are encouraged to apply.)
• Experience of advising clients on commercial/contract law issues, IP/copyright issues, data protection and disputes
• Experience of advising on technology/IT contracts is desirable but not essential
• Experience of building effective working relationships with clients or stakeholders in a business
• Prior inhouse experience and/or experience of the publishing industry is desirable but not essential; more important is a genuine interest in working in the publishing sector and keeping up to date on developments in laws, regulations and industry trends impacting publishing

Skills and behaviours

• A professional, organised, enthusiastic and proactive approach to work, with an ability to prioritise effectively
• Practical, commercial thinker able to find pragmatic and workable solutions
• Ability to exercise commercial judgment and balance business needs with legal risk in a commercial, constructive and business-sympathetic way
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including an ability to explain complex legal issues in a clear and simple manner to a non-legally trained audience
• Good team player who has a growth mindset and a desire to assist with a variety of tasks
• Ability to take ownership and work independently where required
• Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to work cooperatively with others and to build strong relationships with internal stakeholders

Additional Information

Location: We believe that great things happen when people connect face-to-face. That's why we work in-person with each other, or with customers and partners, three days a week or more. When you’re not spending time together in one of our offices or other workplaces – like at conference – you get the flexibility and support to work from home or remotely.

The successful candidate will be able to utilise our balanced working model. We ask that candidates live within a commutable distance of our offices (5 Howick Place, London or Milton Park, Oxford) to ensure that as a balanced worker they can make it to our office locations to collaborate as required. There is an expectation for a minimum of 3 days per week in-person time.

Closing Date: Applications will close on 10th November.

What we offer in return: 

• An excellent work/life balance with a fantastic, flexible working culture
• 25 days annual leave per year plus a day off for your birthday 
• 3 additional discretionary days off during the holiday season at the end of the year 
• 4 paid volunteering days each year 
• Company funded single cover private medical insurance  
• Employee assistance programme – offering 24/7 well-being support 
• Share Match – Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares. 
• Pension scheme 
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care

Being Yourself at Taylor & Francis 

If you’re excited about working with Taylor & Francis to foster human progress through knowledge, we invite you to apply even if your existing skills and experience don’t fit every item listed above. At Taylor & Francis, we are at our best and most successful when colleagues can be themselves and make a contribution regardless of their identity or background. As a colleague, you will have the opportunity to further innovate and develop in areas that you are passionate about. Our goal is to empower you with the resources, incentives, and flexibility you need to enjoy success at work and to live a healthy, balanced life. 

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits, develops, and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non-merit based factor. 

We genuinely care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about. To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: http://www.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/careers 

Or better yet check out our LinkedIn ‘Life’ Page, highlighting our accomplishments, employees, and company culture. It’s also a good way of meeting our recruitment team, who will be happy to advise you on your journey here at T&F. 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/taylor-&-francis-group/life/79e0c27c-afdf-4bbb-84e6-5f8ed5e10bb8/ 

We know that sometimes the 'perfect candidate' doesn't exist, and that people can be put off applying for a job if they don't fit all the requirements. If you're excited about working for us and have most of the skills or experience we're looking for, please go ahead and apply. You could be just what we need! We believe strongly in the value of diversity and creating supportive, inclusive environments where our colleagues can succeed.  As such, Informa is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, ancestry, national origin, religion, or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, citizenship, or other protected characteristics under local law.    This role may also be available on a flexible working or part time basis – please ask the Talent Acquisition team for more information. 

To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: https://taylorandfrancis.com/careers/