Job Title: Senior Counsel
Job Location: Lagos
Department:  Maritime/Shipping
Reports to: Managing Associate and Senior Associate
Direct reports: Associate Counsel, and Associate Trainee
Year(s) of experience: 6 years post-NYSC

Duties and responsibilities

• Provide legal advice to clients
• Advise and represent clients in proceedings in court, arbitration, and any other forum
• Draft and review court processes
• Negotiate settlements of civil disputes
• Advise and represent clients in maritime transactions.
• Negotiate, draft, and/or review maritime/shipping contracts
• Liaise with government agencies on behalf of clients
• Ensure bills are sent out timeously
• Demonstrate client development efforts
• Demonstrate mentoring efforts

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of duties. It will be reviewed and updated from time to time in conjunction with the post holder in the light of experience.

Required skills

• Good knowledge of Nigerian maritime laws and regulations
• Good knowledge of Nigerian admiralty procedure rules and vast experience in admiralty proceedings
• Strong advocacy skills
• Strong drafting skills with vast experience in drafting court processes in admiralty proceedings
• Strong analytical, communication, negotiation, presentation, and strategic decision-making skills
• Highly effective communications style, translating complex legal issues into readily understandable assessments and actionable recommendations that deliver business value in the context of global business strategies
• Experience in building, updating, and refining contract templates customized to meet specific needs and requirements of business while incorporating experience-informed negotiating positions
• Ability to triage a heavy workflow, meet deadlines, prioritize workload, adapt to changing conditions, set appropriate priorities with clients, and deliver results efficiently
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision while working collaboratively within a local and global team environment
• Ability to problem solve with creative solutions for complicated problems that require careful analysis and good judgment
• A passion for continuously identifying improvement areas and driving change
• Positive attitude and forward thinking
• Self-starter, results-oriented and driven to meet and exceed goals
• Attention to detail and delivery of high-quality service
• Excellent interpersonal skills, an inquisitive mind, and the ability to work effectively with multiple, diverse, cross-functional stakeholders

Method of application

Interested and qualified candidates should send their CVs to blessing.alli@dentons.com using the job title as the subject of the email.