Managing Associate — Reputation Protection (6+ PQE)

The opportunity

A leading London law firm is seeking a talented Managing Associate to join its highly regarded Reputation Protection team.

The team advises private individuals, families, family offices, corporates and charities on sensitive, often urgent reputation and media-law issues. Working closely with specialists across private wealth, fraud, family, investigations, white-collar crime and cyber, you will handle complex, high-profile and cross-border matters.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced litigator who enjoys strategic, client-led work and can remain calm, commercial and solutions-focused in fast-moving situations.

The work

You will advise on a broad range of reputation, media and communications issues, including:

• Defamation, malicious falsehood, privacy, confidentiality, harassment and data protection
• Pre-publication enquiries and challenges to damaging or private material
• Emergency injunctions, including applications to obtain, defend or discharge relief
• Crisis management arising from media enquiries, threats, blackmail or online attacks
• Identification of online publishers and removal of objectionable content
• Regulatory complaints and reports to bodies including IPSO, Ofcom, the ASA, ICO and Charity Commission
• Reputation audits, strategic advice and content-clearance work
• Negotiations with media organisations and other interest groups
• Personal and corporate disputes with reputational implications

The role includes occasional out-of-hours and weekend support, including participation in an on-call rota.

Key responsibilities

• Manage matters from initial advice through pre-action engagement, litigation and regulatory action.
• Build trusted relationships with a sophisticated and exacting client base.
• Provide clear, pragmatic and commercially sound advice in high-pressure circumstances.
• Supervise junior fee earners and support their development.
• Maintain excellent financial matter planning, file management and client service standards.
• Contribute to business development through internal networking, profile-building and developing client relationships.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the wider firm to identify and deliver opportunities.

About you

You will be a qualified solicitor with:

• At least 6 years’ PQE and a strong academic record.
• Training and qualification experience from a leading law firm.
• Excellent litigation skills and confidence handling complex matters with supervision appropriate to your level.
• Ideally, experience in media litigation or reputation protection; applications are also welcomed from strong commercial litigators with a genuine interest in developing this specialism.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, judgement and attention to detail.
• Experience advising private clients and clients in distressed or crisis situations, desirable.
• High emotional intelligence, resilience and the ability to perform calmly under pressure.
• Strong commercial awareness, initiative and interest in business development.
• A collaborative, inclusive and adaptable approach.

The firm

The firm is an international, full-service practice with a particular strength in disputes, private wealth, real estate and the innovation economy. It offers complex, multi-jurisdictional work, an agile working culture and an inclusive environment in which people are supported to develop their careers.