Competition Lawyer

Competition law work will be the primary focus of this role and you will be expected to be able to advise on all areas of competition law across both Guernsey and Jersey. This makes for an extremely varied and challenging workload. 

Reporting to the Legal Director, the in-house competition counsel will have responsibility for undertaking competition law enforcement work. They will advise on all aspects of the Channel Islands’ competition law regimes including cartel investigations, antitrust litigation, restrictive agreements, dominance issues and merger control.  They will also be required to support the Legal Director on the delivery of CICRA’s competition law engagement and advocacy work. 

Given the size of CICRA, the role will, with appropriate support from the Legal Director, also require providing day-to-day and ongoing legal advice to case officers on the wide range of legal issues faced by CICRA. 
This unique opportunity covers both contentious and non-contentious competition law in a regulatory environment and provides a visible platform for a talented lawyer who is looking to develop their career. 
The successful applicant will be required to live in either Jersey or Guernsey, but the role will require working across both jurisdictions with an ability to travel as required.  

Main Responsibilities

The principle responsibilities of the role are:

• Competition Law: Undertaking competition law enforcement work, ranging from formal investigations to more informal interventions

 • M&A: Undertaking assessments of mergers and acquisitions that are (or are required to be) notified to CICRA.  

• Drafting of publications, including board papers, regulatory decision notices, market reports, merger clearance decisions, press releases, guidelines and articles

 • To support the Legal Director on the delivery of CICRA’s engagement and advocacy work and in ensuring that CICRA complies with the laws and follows due process.

• Support the Leadership Team on larger matters and cases. • Acting as a key first point of contact for stakeholders, where appropriate.

• Providing legal support on regulatory projects as required.  The subject matter of these projects will be diverse and may cover any area of economic regulation in the Channel Islands for which CICRA has legal responsibility.

• Ability to clearly demonstrate effective communication with high levels of direct stakeholder contact.

• Contributing towards raising the profile of the organisation by attending and presenting at seminars and developing their own contacts within organisations. 

Candidate Specification 

Qualifications / Requirement

• Strong academic background

• Advocate of Royal Court / Solicitor or Barrister in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or equivalent from Commonwealth jurisdiction; Professional membership of Law Society of England and Wales or equivalent body.

• At least 5 years PQE gained in competition law at a national or international law firm. • Working knowledge and understanding of economic concepts relevant to the role.

• Proven ability to work in a team, including the management of external legal advisers.

• Ability to deliver robust legal advice and to convey legal concepts in a way that is easily understandable to all relevant stakeholder groups. 

Attributes

• A hands-on, can-do attitude

 • The ability to work under own initiative as well as within and alongside the rest of the team.

• A high level of self-motivation and commitment.

• Strong planning and time management skills.

• Strong communication skills (both written and oral).

• The ability to balance competing priorities.

• The desire to continue personal development and identify areas for personal improvement and skill gaps

• A high standard of integrity, impartiality, transparency and objectivity.