Lead Lawyer

The role

The Belgian Employment team advises clients on a full range of employment related matters, including Belgian and international transactions/cases. Our clients include start-ups, high growth companies, owner-managed businesses, major corporates, private equity houses and financial institutions. The team is part of a wider Belgian and European team and frequently acts on deals involving our worldwide colleagues, giving our clients access to a full-service Employment law team.

DLA Piper will invest in your long-term future to ensure you achieve your potential. This includes top-quality work that will challenge and stretch you, regular quality feedback, a clear pathway to progression, career academies at every stage of your experience level, temporary work in other locations of the firm, CR and pro-bono work, an active social calendar and a market-leading compensation package.

We are looking to hire a Lead Lawyer (Associate) with between 5 – 7 years’ experience in Employment Law to join our team in Belgium.

MAIN DUITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
As a Lawyer within the Employment department in our Brussels office, you will be responsible for providing a wide range of services to our clients. You will deliver exceptional results to clients by advising on a/o:

• Recruitment and reward
• Global Restructuring Projects
• Worker representation
• Whistleblowing
• Discrimination, D&I and related topics
• Termination of Employment
• Data Protection
• Outsourcing projects, corporate transactions and due diligence
• Handling claims in the Employment tribunals and Employment Courts of Appeal
• Protection of Confidentiality and other business interests
• Protection and safety at work – labor accidents
• Social Security
• International mobility

ABOUT YOU
Candidates who have between 5- and 7-years’ experience in Employment law are likely to have the right level of knowledge and have gained the right level of experience needed to be able to undertake this role.

The ideal candidate will:

• Have a Belgian Master’s degree in law and the ability to demonstrate solid academic records (magna cum laude). An LLM obtained abroad will be an advantage.
• Be qualified to practice law in Belgium
• Be a native Dutch speaker with an excellent command of English (both verbal and written). Knowledge of  French will be a plus.
• Have excellent legal and technical language skills
• Be able to uphold high work standards with strong service orientation 
• Have excellent communication skills
• Be a motivated, open-minded individual with international mindset who will thrive in an environment where excellence, innovation and going that extra mile are the norm
• Have excellent legal skills and an analytical mind, with attention to detail
• Have the ability to prioritize and efficiently deal with complex files
• Have the ability to work in a fast-paced international environment
• Be well organised, proactive, flexible, pragmatic, social and a team player
• Accuracy, confidentiality and punctuality are second nature to you
• Be keen on working in a dynamic yet demanding and rewarding context

ABOUT US
DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers and business service professionals located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.

OUR VALUES
In everything we do connected with our People, our Clients and our Communities, we live by these values:

• Be Supportive – we are compassionate and inclusive, valuing diversity and acting thoughtfully
• Be Collaborative – we are proactive, passionate team players investing in our relationships
• Be Bold – we are fearless and inquisitive, challenging ourselves to think big and find creative new solutions
• Be Exceptional – we are strategic and driven, exceeding standards and expectations

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
At DLA Piper, diversity and inclusion underpins how we live our values and everything we do. We believe that everyone has a voice, and that everyone’s voice counts. We know that the rich diversity across our firm makes us stronger, more innovative and creative, which helps us to better serve our clients and communities. We are committed to providing an inclusive working environment and culture across our global firm, where everyone can bring their authentic self to work.

Diversity of perspective, thought, background and culture combine to make us the leading global law firm; that’s why we actively seek to build balanced teams. We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.

HYBRID WORKING
We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That’s why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.

PRE-ENGAGEMENT SCREENING
In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits and where relevant, we will conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and work-related references.