Education Commercial Lawyer – Leeds or Bradford
Open to commercial, corporate, real estate, charities lawyers

A well-regarded Commercial Services Group is looking for an Education Lawyer to join its team, based in either Leeds or Bradford.

Duties

• Transactional work: advising schools on converting to academies, joining multi-academy trusts, and/or moving between academy trusts
• Liaising with the Department for Education, including in relation to funding agreements
• Education law advisory work: admissions, expulsions, parental complaints, safeguarding, SEN provision, etc.
• Governance: drafting and amending articles of association, advising academy and independent schools on director meeting formalities and company secretarial matters

Desirable (not essential)

• Delivering training to clients
• Data protection/Freedom of Information advice, particularly as applied to schools
• Commercial contracts experience, such as drafting or reviewing SLAs and grant funding agreements
• Working knowledge of land issues specific to schools
• Charity law experience: trustee duties, charity registration, charitable structures, and dealing with the Charity Commission
• Experience advising colleges and universities

As this is a niche specialism, the firm is also open to candidates from a more general corporate, commercial, real estate, or charities background who are looking to move into this sector. Candidates would need to be 2 years PQE, so that existing soft skills and judgement are already well developed.

The Role

• Supporting the firm's Education Director on existing workload (primarily the matters outlined above)
• Depending on PQE level, either leading on own matters or working towards doing so
• Supporting business development activity in line with the firm's strategic focus on this sector, including extending its reach into independent schools, colleges, and universities