Legal Counsel

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain’s economic engine ambitious, entrepreneurially spirited and high‑growth businesses that fuel the economy and directly advise the owners and management teams that lead them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

The Quality and Risk Management Team (QRMT) at BDO comprises several sub-teams including the Office of the General Counsel, Root Cause Analysis, Enterprise Risk Management, Economic Crime, Quality Management, Ethics and Independence and Advisory Regulatory and Compliance. It provides Partners and staff with the guidance, tools and support to enable them to identify and manage quality and risk issues. The QRMT is led by the Head of Quality and Risk Management Team, who is a partner who reports into the Head of Quality and Risk for BDO.

We’ll help you succeed

Leading organisations trust us because of the quality of our advice. That quality grows from a thorough understanding of their business, and that understanding comes from working closely with them and building long-lasting relationships.

You’ll be someone who is both comfortable working proactively and managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with BDO’s Partners and senior employees to help the businesses manage risk effectively.

Overview

A key role of BDO’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC) is to manage risk matters to ensure successful outcomes are achieved, PI insurers notified when appropriate, and losses (including reputational damage) to the firm are minimised.

A vacancy has arisen for a Legal Counsel to join the team to provide support on practice protection matters.

The role involves significant interaction with Partners and other senior members of a large professional services firm. You will work closely with senior members of the OGC and there will be the opportunity to develop your knowledge and understanding of all areas of the UK business of BDO and the matters mentioned in the paragraph above.

Responsibilities

• Advise on and manage practice protection issues arising from the business including civil claims (pre-action and litigated), complaints, regulatory and professional investigations, requests for access to papers and documents.
• Provide proactive guidance on key risk issues, such as changes in law and regulation affecting BDO.
• Provide advice on a wide variety of legal issues arising from the business. This will include supporting the corporate and commercial lawyers and other members of BDO's risk community where needed.
• Work collaboratively with other teams within QRM, Central Operations and external advisers.
• Deliver training and guidance on your areas of expertise.
• Special projects as determined by the General Counsel.

Requirements

• Qualified to practice law in the United Kingdom.
• Experience in professional negligence litigation (preferably on the defence side), ideally on behalf of accountants.
• Experience of regulatory investigations.
• Strong written and oral communication skills with the ability to prioritise and manage own workload.
• The ability to interpret relevant law and to determine practical and effective ways of complying with it.
• An awareness of and an interest in risk management in an accountancy firm.
• Energy, enthusiasm, and a willingness to share your knowledge and experience with others.

You’ll be able to be yourself; we’ll recognise and value you for who you are and celebrate and reward your contributions to our business. We’re committed to agile working, and we offer everyone the opportunity to work in ways that suit them, their teams, and the task at hand.

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

We’re in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs. Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value and satisfying experiences at work, so we’ve invested in state-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy. Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in you. Across the UK thousands of unique minds continue to come together to help companies we work with to achieve their ambitions.

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.