General Counsel

About the company

The Publishers Association (the PA) represents book and journal publishers in the UK, spanning fiction and non-fiction, academic and education publishing in print and digital. UK publishing has a turnover of £6bn, with export income accounting for 59% of revenues.

Our membership includes global companies such as Elsevier, Wiley, Pearson, Penguin Random House and Hachette, as well as many independent publishing houses and university presses.

Our objective as an association is to empower our members with the influence, insight and support necessary to compete and prosper.

Purpose of the role

We are looking to recruit an exceptional individual as General Counsel to provide all legal affairs support required by the Publishers Association and build upon our legal, copyright, policy and anti-piracy activities.

The General Counsel role is an incredibly important position in our expanding team at the PA. You would be at the forefront of anticipating and responding to some of the biggest issues facing the publishing industry. From Brexit to international trade to digital exhaustion to online marketplaces, the legal matters you will be leading on are wide-ranging and engaging.

This role includes being a trusted and key advisor to the CEO and PA Council; delivering first class business and legal affairs support on matters of key strategic, financial and reputational importance to the industry. Reporting to the PA’s CEO, the position will be responsible for leading the organisation’s legal advice and services provided to its Members.

General Counsel’s overall responsibilities will include:

• Providing advice to members on legal issues which impact publishing in the UK and globally
• Tracking legal developments in all jurisdictions and areas of interest
• Developing anti-piracy tools and services
• Representing the interests of the publishing industry to relevant external audiences both nationally and internationally
• Providing practical toolkits, legal services, legal advice and briefings, and undertaking litigation on behalf of members as required
• Ensuring that the PA’s work is informed by an accurate understanding of the law and keeps abreast of the latest developments in IP and media law more generally
• Acting as the Association’s in-house lawyer and in doing so supporting the Chief Executive in ensuring that the PA conducts its affairs in a lawful manner including but not limited to matters of competition law and data privacy
• Managing the PA’s external law firms and related budgets
• Managing a business professional and recruiting a further lawyer as required
• Representing the UK publishing industry at the World Intellectual Property Organisation and other intergovernmental organisations
• Working alongside the Director of External Affairs and wider policy team to support responses to strategically important policy consultations  

General Counsel key requirement include:

• Has an excellent intellect which can be brought to bear on the complex legal issues associated with publishing
• Exceptional communication skills (written and oral); adept at working with legal, political and business audiences to further the organisation’s interests
• Line management experience and ability to manage other members of staff

The ideal candidate will be an expert in their field, with at least 10 years PQE, however, applications outside of this remit will be considered. They will have an ambition to ensure the organisation is recognised throughout the international publishing industry for the quality of its legal work and understanding. Experience working in the creative industries, publishing or in digital businesses would be highly desirable.

The role is currently standalone and the CEO is open to the role being either full-time or taken up on a part time on 3 to 4 days.

Robert Walters are the exclusively instructed agent for this role and all applications will be sent to Rosamund.More@robertwalters.com and Sam.Walters@robertwalters.com. You can also contact them on 0207 509 8278 and 0207 509 8786.