Under the supervision of the Head of Commercial Legal Desk, the Senior Legal Counsel’s primary purpose is to handle litigious matters in trading and shipping. In addition, the successful candidate will provide legal support to business clients in non-contentious matters in relation to the Company’s trading and shipping businesses.
- Key Responsibilities Advise on and handle contentious legal matters, incl. pre-litigation claims resolution, and litigation and arbitration proceedings in relation to trading, storage and transportation activities of the the Group. This requires providing solid advice on litigation strategy, keeping detailed claims and litigation files, and coordinating tasks between the relevant Group departments.
- Provide legal support to the businesses of the group on non-contentious legal matters mainly in respect of their trading, storage and transportation activities. This entails among other things, the preparation, review and negotiation of sales and purchase agreements, general terms and conditions, freight forwarding agreements, charterparties, agency agreements and other legal documents, and the giving of accurate, timely and pragmatic advice, for example in respect of indemnities, liability, quantity and quality issues, nomination and laytime, insurance, demurrage, licenses, etc. Be a first point of contact for the Contract Administration desk, Operations desk, Chartering desk and Trading in relation to trading and shipping related legal questions.
- Ensure and promote appropriate mitigation of legal risks within the group : 1 ) identify, raise awareness and propose solutions to address key legal issues and risks in relation to trading, storage and transportation activities, and 2 ) follow-up, inform on and propose action upon relevant changes in applicable laws and regulations.
- Safeguard the interest of the group by acting as a gatekeeper to ensure compliance with relevant procedures and controls.
- Use of external lawyers (assess the needs for using external lawyers, maintain external lawyers network, negotiate and control fees, conduct legal tenders, etc.),
- Ad-hoc reporting to Management, external auditors and other Group companies,
- Provide of training on relevant legal topics to the relevant departments.
Qualifications & Skills
Master’s Degree in Commercial Law, International Trade Law or Shipping Law. Preferably English law qualifiedMinimum 5 years of post-qualification (in UK) experience handling shipping and trading cases in private practiceExpertise in litigation / claims, contracts and other legal matters related to the trading and shipping businessGood understanding of physical oil trading business, including but not limited to shipping, insurance and trade financeAssertive and combative; remains steadfast in an adversarial or litigious environmentAbility to be persuasive and relentless in reinforcing the best interests of the companyPragmatism& commercial mindset, strong organizational skills, attention to details,Excellent communication skills (oral & written) particularly when it comes to discussing legal mattersExcellent English communications skills (fluent / mother tongue); fluency in French is an advantageLI-Hybrid