Your New Company

A media services company based in the South of England, are conducting a search for a capable Legal Counsel to join their legal team on a 12 month contract basis to cover a 12 month period of maternity.

This is a hybrid role which will require travel to the office once per week.

The company represents the intellectual property rights of many prominent publishing brands in the UK, such as leading newspapers, magazine publishers and their thousands of brands, in print and online. The combination of licensing and database services provided, enables UK and international businesses to access published content in an efficient and copyright compliant way.

They've also been operating for 25 years and the business continues to grow and evolve in a technology-focused direction. Projects are also underway to explore data mining, Big Data and data analytics activities.

You will have the opportunity to be involved in the daily operations of the business, as well as contribute to the process improvement of the teams. There is a good breadth of work and our client offers a friendly, flexible work environment and is open to part time hours, such as a 4 day week.

Your New Role

As the Legal Counsel, you will directly report the General Counsel, in a role that touches all parts of the organisation as well providing opportunity to work with publishers. You will have strong knowledge of commercial law, gained either through in-house exposure or a substantial secondment, experience in content and rights licensing would be a plus.

You will build strong working partnerships as they advise managers on, and draft contracts for, company business development, database activities and international and end user licensing.

You will work with publishers and all departments, including Licensing, Publisher Services, Accounts, Business Development, IT and International, advising on the scope of business mandates, licences and other agreements.

Part of this will include assisting with correspondence from publishers and clients.

You will manage business compliance with the requirements of ‘The Collective Management of Copyright (EU Directive) Regulations 2016 (including business Membership Rules, Annual Transparency Report) and with Data Protection laws (including the General Data Protection Regulation).

You will also advise on copyright issues, acting as a point of escalation for non-compliant organisations (MMOs and licensees), pursuing legal action and assisting the finance team and credit control function, and advise on the suitability of claims for escalation, assist with issuing claims and ensure pre-action protocol is observed.

An important part of the role will be to keep abreast of any changes to applicable laws and relevant court judgements (particularly in relation to copyright and competition law), ensuring that business licences, policies and procedures are compliant and up to date. As part of this, the incumbent will review and prepare responses to relevant government consultations, as required.

What you’ll Need To Succeed

As the Legal Counsel, you will need to hold the below qualifications and demonstrate the below experience;

1. You will be a UK qualified lawyer with 1-3 years post qualification experience (full time) or 3-5 years post qualification experience (part time); ;
2. Have extensive knowledge of commercial law, with an in-house secondment or decent in-house exposure. Content and rights licensing experience is a plus.
3. Have sound interpersonal skills, to be able to deal with staff at all levels inside and outside the organisation
4. Demonstrate an ability to articulate and communicate clearly and with authority;
5. Have a good attention to detail and strong analytical skills;
6. Be able to work independently.

This role is a hybrid role, with the need to work / travel to the office in the South of England, once a week. (The frequency of travel/office attendance will be subject to your location, circumstances, and the business needs).

What You'll Receive In Return

As Legal Counsel you will receive an excellent package of benefits, strong pension, generous annual leave allowance, life assurance, an excellent Employee Assistance Programme, healthcare. After probation and a part time 4 day working week will be considered. You will also receive a very competitive market salary.

Applying For Your New Role

Does this position sound of interest? Please submit your CV confidentially and we will be in touch shortly to discuss the opportunity in further detail. Or, if you prefer to chat about the role confidentially before submitting a CV, please get in touch via the contact details provided.