Private Equity / M&A Associate (Class of 2025)

• Market-Leading Leadership: You will work directly under the mentorship of heavyweight partners who are widely recognised as some of Europe's leading authorities on sponsor-side leveraged finance and European private credit offerings.
• Diverse & Modern Credit Practice: Rather than being restricted to standard bank lending, you will gain exposure to the full spectrum of debt products, including premium private credit, direct and specialty lending, cross-border leveraged buyouts, and complex restructuring situations.
• Lean, High-Calibre Model: The firm operates with small, elite deal teams. This guarantees high partner-to-associate contact, accelerated professional development, and early client-facing responsibility on multi-billion-dollar transactions.
• Top-of-Market Compensation: Competing at the absolute peak of the London market, offering a top-tier US salary scale alongside an exceptional benefits package with no hours target.

• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating principal debt finance documents (including facility agreements, intercreditor agreements, and high-yield/private credit structures).
• Advising premier private equity sponsors, large corporate borrowers, and major direct lenders on complex, multi-jurisdictional acquisition financings.
• Taking a lead role in transaction management, coordinating closing processes, and managing condition precedent workflows.
• Interfacing directly with sophisticated private capital providers, financial institutions, and investment banks.

• Experience: Finance / Leveraged Finance / Banking Associate from the Class of 2025. You will have completed your training and gained foundational transactional finance experience within a top-tier Magic Circle, Silver Circle, or major US law firm in London.
• Academics: Impeccable academic record (minimum 2:1 or equivalent from a top-tier university).
• Skills: Strong foundational knowledge of banking and finance law, a keen understanding of debt structures/credit products, and a rigorous attention to detail.
• Attributes: A high degree of resilience, commercial curiosity, and the confidence to operate autonomously within small, fast-paced deal teams.

• Strategic M&A Support: Regulatory structuring for multi-billion dollar cross-border deals.
• Complex Transactions: Derivatives, structured finance, payments, and financial market infrastructure.
• Innovation & Growth Sectors: Cutting-edge advice on Fintech, cryptocurrency, and digital assets.
• Advisory & Risk: Corporate governance, AML, sanctions, and high-profile investigations/enforcement.

• 1-3 years PQE gained within a Magic Circle, Silver Circle, or leading US firm's financial services regulatory practice.
• Strong foundational knowledge of UK and EU financial regulations.
• A generalist ethos: adaptable, entrepreneurial, and comfortable taking on high levels of responsibility.
• Excellent academic credentials.

• Excellent Compensation: Competitive remuneration at the absolute top of the New York scale in London - no hours target.
• Direct Partner Access: Work directly alongside a universally recognised market leader and a high-profile team of Counsel.
• Strategic Growth: Be a core part of an office transforming into a standalone European powerhouse, giving you early, accelerated progression opportunities.

Private Equity M&A Associate - 2021/2022 Qualified

We are instructed by an elite global law firm seeking to strategically expand its Private Capital and M&A capability in London.

Long recognised as one of the world's most prestigious and selective law firms, our client is currently executing a focused, ambitious growth plan for its London corporate practice. The team has recently been strengthened by the arrival of several of the City's most respected and top-tier market leaders in the private equity space.

This creates a highly unique environment for an incoming associate: you will benefit from the massive institutional backing, resources, and unmatched global brand of an elite firm, combined with the energetic, high-growth momentum of a team entering a new phase of market dominance. The practice handles premium, cross-border, and exceptionally complex financial sponsor mandates, offering exposure to sophisticated large-cap transactions.

The firm pays full cravath scale salaries and bonuses with no hours target.

• Deal Execution: Lead on workstreams for large-cap, premium cross-border private equity transactions, including leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, consortium investments, and complex divestitures.
• Drafting & Negotiation: Draft, review, and negotiate principal transaction documents, shareholder agreements, management incentive schemes, and related corporate documentation.
• Sponsor Management: Act as a direct point of contact for premier global financial sponsors, sovereign wealth funds, and their portfolio companies.
• Team Leadership: Supervise, mentor, and delegate to junior associates and trainees within the transactional corporate team.
• Collaboration: Work seamlessly as part of a high-performance, integrated multidisciplinary team alongside market-leading specialists in leveraged finance, transactional tax, and restructuring.

Experience Level: You will ideally be a UK or Common Law qualified solicitor who qualified in 2021 or 2022 (approx. 4-5 years post-qualification experience).

• Background: Currently practicing within a top-tier US firm, Magic Circle, or leading international practice in London known for premium Private Equity or high-end M&A.
• Technical Skillset: Demonstrable experience executing complex corporate transactions for sophisticated financial sponsors. Exceptional drafting ability and deep commercial acumen are required.
• Culture Fit: Ambitious, highly collaborative, and comfortable operating in a high-calibre environment. A proactive professional who enjoys a leanly staffed deal structure that offers massive runway for growth and direct, regular partner contact.

• Unrivalled Prestige: Put one of the world's most elite corporate legal names on your CV.
• Market-Leading Pay: Full New York/Cravath-scale compensation package, placing you at the absolute top of the London market.
• Lean Deal Teams: Unlike overstaffed mega-teams, this firm utilises a lean execution model, ensuring you get meaningful, front-line experience, heavy client visibility, and close mentoring from elite partners.
• Momentum: Join a team in active growth mode, backed by significant institutional investment and the market-leading reputations of its newly arrived leadership panel.