PE M&A Counsel - 3-6 PQE
A genuine seat at the table, not a supporting role.
If you're a 3-6 PQE corporate lawyer in private practice, you already know how this goes: you do excellent work, draft brilliant documents and then someone more senior takes the call with the client, has the relationship and makes the decisions. This role flips that: you'll be in the room, working with the founders and you won't be recording another six-minute unit for reviewing an NDA.
The business:
- You'll be joining the in-house legal team of a fast-growing, founder-led private equity firm based in Brighton, doing 4-5 platform acquisitions and 10-15 bolt-on deals a year, all UK mid-market, all led in-house.
- The firm was built by a founder with a decorated career at the top of UK private equity, including a senior leadership role at one of the country's best-known buyout houses. They have a clear view of what makes a deal succeed and it isn't legal point-scoring. It's speed, trust, and getting the right founders on side. They’re looking for a lawyer to bring the same mindset.
- The legal team currently sits at two: a highly experienced corporate partner (ex-Magic Circle) and a paralegal. You'd complete the trio, working as genuine deal-team members rather than a service function bolted on at the end.
The role:
- Lead and run buy-side legal workstreams on the 10-15 bolt-on deals a year and play a meaningful role on the 4-5 larger platform deals.
- Draft and negotiate SPAs, investment agreements, articles, loan notes and management incentive arrangements.
- Structure those deals to be genuinely founder friendly. This firm doesn't fight for every last point, and you'll need to be comfortable with that. It's not about winning for your client the way you might in private practice; it's about getting good deals done in the most straightforward way.
- Get involved in targeted due diligence, not exhaustive due diligence - this firm doesn't believe in drowning good deals in process.
- Support portfolio companies day to day through management stake purchases, exits, growth share schemes and integration issues.
- Sit alongside the deal team, attend investment committees, and understand the "why" behind every acquisition and exit decision, not just the "how".
What matters to this firm (and what doesn't):
Being the sharpest lawyer in the room is not the job. Being the person a founder trusts enough to do a deal with is. You need to be a genuine people person, someone who can sit across the table from a founder and be part of the reason they choose this firm over anyone else looking to invest.
Technical excellence gets you in the door, relationship-building is what gets you the job.
Package:
- Salary circa. £100,000 - £120,000
- Annual bonus of 20-30% of salary, paid into a pot that realises in line with the fund's carry
- Potential to earn carry in the funds directly
- Genuine, structured exposure to the full PE investment cycle from acquisition to exit
Life in the office:
- This is an office-based role, most days, most of the time. Legal sits with the deal team so you're across everything in real time, not catching up after the fact. There's flexibility when you genuinely need it but it's the exception not the rule.
- Expect to be out by 6:30 most days with the occasional later push when a transaction demands it.
- This is a collaborative and collegiate company, and the office backs onto the local cricket ground, which the business sponsors. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know your long on from your cow corner but expect some afternoons in the sun when there is a match on.
What you'll need:
- Qualification as a lawyer in E&W (or another Commonwealth jurisdiction) with 3-6 PQE
- Solid corporate/M&A experience, ideally including private equity work, from a London law firm
- Strong drafting and negotiation skills, paired with commercial judgement about when to use them
- The ability to explain complex legal points to non-lawyers, clearly and without jargon
- A proactive, get-it-done attitude, and to enjoy being client-facing and relationship-led
- Genuine interest in founder-led businesses, particularly in services and software
If you're ready to trade the billable hour for a seat at the table, get in touch.