WHAT WE OFFER
One of our greatest strengths is our culture, which is friendly and informal and offers you the freedom to mould your own success within a supportive environment. As an employee, we offer you the ability to:Â
- Be yourself, knowing that we acknowledge and encourage our people to find balance in life beyond their careers. We are committed to diversity, inclusion and belonging for all our people including striving for flexibility and meeting the needs of working parents.Â
- Be part of a successful team that values you as an individual, and will connect you with the people, the knowledge and the experiences you need to succeed.Â
- Work in a collegial, collaborative and supportive environment, one that is friendly, authentic, and that offers you the freedom to mould your own success.Â
- Develop your career through the exceptional work that we do for our clients, through working with other top talent, by having the resources to do your job, and through the investments that we make in your development.Â
- Make a meaningful impact to our clients and to the industries they operate in; our work sets legal precedence.Â
- Help us build our reputation for excellence by working on top-end, complex matters for clients who are leaders in their fields.Â
- Be part of an African firm with international exposure with access to the best of both worlds – local and cross-border experience combined with to international best practice.Â
Bowmans is more than a place of work
It is also where professional experience is developed and lasting relationships are formed. We value individuality not individualism.Â
We foster an environment where people with a diversity of backgrounds and expertise can work together harmoniously. We believe in work-life blend: we work hard but are flexible while doing so.Â
WHAT WE LOOK FOR
- Relationship-builders and connectors
- People who are client-driven and have a desire for excellence
- Innovative, curious and solutions-oriented thinkers
- People who can work independently and be self-motivated but see the value in collaborating with other like-minded people
- The ability to operate within an ambiguous environment and a constantly changing landscape
- Proud members of the African continent
OUR SELECTION PROCESS
ONLINE APPLICATION
SHORTLIST SCREENING
INTERVIEW
ASSESSMENT
BACKGROUND CHECKS
OFFER
OUR VACANCIES
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:
- Admitted attorney with 2-3 years post admission experience in commercial litigation. Exposure or an interest in investigative work or anti-bribery and corruption would be advantageous.
- Post grad LLB degree with a sound academic transcript.
- Exposure to a demanding work environment – Big law firm exposure advantageous
JOB ACCOUNTABILITIES:
- Drafting correspondence, briefs to counsel and costs consultants, and documents, including pleadings, notices, affidavits, settlement agreements and correspondence.
- Furnishing legal opinions and advice on various areas of law arising from commercial litigation (particularly disputes arising from commercial transactions); with an emphasis if possible, on areas involving fraud, corruption, general recovery, and general administrative law relevant to disputes or investigations arising from for example procurement.
- Consultations with clients and counsel; interviewing witnesses.
- Preparing for and attending High Court and private arbitration proceedings; participating in investigations and/or report preparation or criminal complaint preparation flowing from investigations or analysis of evidence.
- Participating in mediations and conducting negotiations with a view to settling disputes and/or claims.
- Participating in the preparation of specialist due diligence reports from time to time, with a focus on anti-bribery and corruption compliance by target companies;
- Practice management: general administration, including file management and electronic timekeeping, and assisting with accounts to clients.
- Business development in various forms as may be required, including the preparation of internal and external newsflashes or articles of interest to clients/potential clients; assistance with the preparation of tender documentation. Demonstrating an interest and enthusiasm toward business development.
- Training of Candidate Attorneys and junior associates and working within a leveraged Team and within the broader practice group.Â
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES:
Client Focus
*Client interaction ability
- Including understanding the need to balance addressing the legal requirements of the instruction with understanding and meeting the expectations and requirements of clients.
- Understanding the need to obtain the necessary instruction details/information from clients and the ability to translate this to achieve the delivery of service to the client.
- Capable of establishing and maintaining effective relationships with clients.
- Understanding the need to keep detailed and up to date client consultation notes.Â
Work Standards
- Setting high personal goals and personal standards of performance, producing work timeously, accurately and of a consistently high standard as expected of a premier law firm, with an ability to work both independently and in a leveraged Team, to train juniors and interact with senior associates and Â
- Ability to work according to a fee budget.
- Ability to work within a large team.
- Capable of coping under time pressures and according to client pressures and demonstrating perseverance.
- Commitment to excellence in standard of work produced.
- Understanding the importance of teamwork and effective, direct and frequent communication within the team.
- Taking and accepting responsibility for performance of mandates and conduct of matters, demonstrating commitment to the Team and commitment to completing tasks.
- Working from the office.
- Ability to anticipate issues in matters, capable of working in a forward-thinking manner.
Planning and organizing
- Ability to prioritise, manage schedules, delegate and plan in a client-centric environment and within a large team.
- Ability to delegate and supervise such planning and organising where necessary.
- Ability to plan ahead in a matter.
- Understanding the importance of impeccable record keeping.Â
OTHER SKILLS:
Legal Technical skills
- Possesses the legal technical skill to understand client requirements in order to deliver excellent client service and legally sound advice.
- Ability to work under pressure and deliver according to deadlines.
- Capable of applying legal theory in a practical and commercially astute manner.
- Appetite and interest to expand one’s expertise in addressing client needs and legal requirements.Â
Communication
- Able to communicate effectively and express ideas clearly.
- Produce documents that have appropriate organisation and structure, correct grammar and language.
- Understanding the need for accountability.
Computer Literacy
- Proficient in Word and Outlook.
- Knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint would be an advantage.
- Capable of and an interest in learning to work with additional Computer programmes relevant to, inter alia, eDiscovery, digital timekeeping, IManage and AI advancements that support legal practice.
Bowman Gilfillan is committed to achieving the objectives set in its transformation charter, and the targets in its employment equity plan. All recruitment decisions will be taken with due consideration being given to these objectives.
Job Purpose
We are seeking two experienced senior associates to join us as Knowledge & Learning Senior Associate in the Knowledge Management (KM), Learning and Library department. One position will support our Banking & Finance, Real Estate and Construction practice, and the other will support our Dispute Resolution practice.
As a Knowledge & Learning Senior Associate, you will work closely with the relevant practice area to develop detailed precedents and templates, track legal developments and advise on their impact, and design and deliver technical training. Partnering with fee earners, you will provide subject‑matter expertise, support legal service improvement and legal technology initiatives, and help drive excellence in the firm’s legal service delivery.
This role requires strong technical expertise in the relevant practice area, the ability to identify and implement efficiency opportunities, proven comfort with legal technology, and the ability to collaborate effectively across teams and jurisdictions.
The successful candidates will also be eligible for flexible working arrangements in line with the firm’s policy.
Key responsibilities:
Knowledge ManagementÂ
The particular tasks of the role will depend on the needs of the practice group, and the central knowledge team who may require additional assistance. Tasks may vary widely and may be dominated by any of the following:
- Writing, maintaining and quality reviewing of submitted legal know-how (e.g. precedents and guidance notes) that support the allocated practice area.
- Reading and analysing current developments and writing, managing and circulating internal and external alerts and briefing notes.
- Delivering or facilitating knowledge sharing sessions as well as developing and delivering technical legal training to the relevant practice group, as required.
- Providing subject matter expertise / responding to requests for Knowledge or technical legal assistance from members of the allocated practice area(s).
- Assisting in the rolling out and change management of new knowledge projects.
- Supporting other East African offices and the wider Bowmans group with their research needs.
- Support the department with the management and maintenance of the physical and online library and eresources.
- Develop, implement and manage the training curriculum for the department.
- Assist with the implementation of evaluation tools and strategies to assess ROI and make necessary recommendations and changes.
- Facilitate ongoing cross office collaboration and learning enhancements.
- Support with the administration and updating of the training budget.
- Liaise with external providers where necessary.
- Identify opportunities for process improvement and participate in or lead such projects.
- Drive adoption and responsible use of legal technology tools, including automation and AI-enabled solutions.
- Drive user adoption and oversee the change management process in certain legal process improvement initiatives.
- Respond rapidly and flexibly to the emerging needs of the firm.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Minimum of 6 years PQE, preferably with experience at senior associate level.
- LLB Degree and Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
- Demonstrable experience of Banking, Finance, Real Estate and Construction transactions or Dispute Resolution.
- Experience in project management.
- Demonstrable strong research, drafting and communication skills. ï‚· Demonstrable experience in legal technology and innovation.
KEY SKILLS:
- Ability to organise, develop and deliver technical training.
- Ability to work within a team, cross-jurisdictionally and autonomously when needed.
- Aptitude with new technologies.
- Ability to produce reports.
- Excellent stakeholder‑management capability.
Bowmans is an equal opportunity employer
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:
- Preferably a Chartered Accountant (SA), with post articles experience within a tax practice or BCom (Accounting), with 5-7 years post articles experience within a tax practice
- Corporate, compliance and tax dispute resolution experience
- Multi-disciplinary tax experience, international tax experience and deferred tax experience would be an advantage
- High academic achiever, with numeracy and language skills
- Post graduate diploma or degree in taxation is a requirement
JOB ACCOUNTABILITIES:
- Working as part of a team providing assistance to clients on a variety of matters within a specialised tax practice
- Furnishing legal opinions and advice for clients on various tax issues, including legal and tax research
- Providing advice and assistance with tax disputes
- Providing tax related input on transaction structures, including in a cross-border context
- Providing tax related drafting support and commentary on legal documents
- Performing or reviewing tax calculations
- Preparing or reviewing corporate tax returnsÂ
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES:
Initiative, Enthusiasm, and Optimism
- Acting without prompting but aware of risks
- Takes action to achieve goals beyond what is required
- Optimistic in handling challenges and setting out for the best outcomes
- Genuinely engage with clients and colleagues in an enthusiastic manner
- Taking responsibility in all matters in which you are involved
- Taking pride in excellence of work done
Perseverance and Resilience
- Ability to work well under pressure without compromising work quality or standards.Â
- Ability to move past obstacles to achieve end results in an efficient and professional manner.
- Ability to recover quickly from setbacks.
Results driven
- Uncompromising attitude to service delivery.
- Delivery of results even under heavy pressure. Â
- Ability to handle high volumes as well as meet deadlines, with the view to adding value to the business by delivering the required results.
Team player
- Working together with colleagues and staff to enhance the team’s overall performance
- Leveraging off team synergies and to ensure a productive, efficient and caring work environment
Ethical
- Displays honesty and integrity at all times
Client Focus
- Dedicated to understanding and meeting the expectations and requirements of clients.
- Obtains the necessary information from clients and utilises the information for the delivery of service to the client.Â
- Establishes and maintains effective relationships with clients.Â
Work Standards
- Sets high goals or standards of performance for self, producing work timeously, accurately and of a consistently high standard.Â
- Able to work according to a fee budget.
Planning and organizing
- Set priorities, manage schedules and plan accordingly in a constantly pressurised environment.
OTHER SKILLS:
Legal Technical skills
- Possesses the legal technical skill to research, interpret and argue legal points, in order to deliver excellent tax opinions, transaction structures and legal documents.
- Strong critical reasoning
- Ability to apply theory in a practical and commercially astute manner
Business and financial skills
- Possesses the necessary commercial understanding of client requirements in order to deliver excellent client service
- Ability to utilise information from financial statements or other accounting records, within the context of tax opinions or tax due diligences (on-the-job training will be provided to enhance these skills)
Communication
- Able to communicate effectively and express ideas clearly
- Ability to argue persuasively
- Produce documents that have appropriate organisation and structure, correct grammar and language, and which are easy to understand.
Computer Literacy
- Proficiency in all relevant computer software, including Word and Outlook.
- Proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint is a requirement
Bowman Gilfillan is committed to achieving the objectives set in its transformation charter, and the targets in its employment equity plan. All recruitment decisions will be taken with due consideration being given to these objectives
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