Today's guest blogger is Jessica Nield, Consultant – Financial Regulation – Legal & Advisory at Oliver James Associates:
At Oliver James, we have been at the forefront of risk consulting recruitment for over a decade. With our Big 4 and mid-tier advisory clients hiring aggressively into their financial services regulatory teams, a reflection of their ever-increasing client demand, consultancies continue to attract top industry talent.
My own focus, as a part of the FS Risk and Compliance team at OJ, has turned to a new area of the practice market. Several top-tier law firms in the City have turned their hand to risk consulting, and the concept has been very well received.
The alliance of qualified regulatory solicitors and non-qualified risk consultants will no doubt result in a higher quality of work for clients and the opportunity for professionals on both sides to learn from one another in a unique, hybrid team environment. Clients can bring in consultants and lawyers from the same supplier – creating a ‘one stop shop’ providing a truly comprehensive service. It makes great commercial sense for these legal giants to be opening up the business potential from an existing client base, which they may work with already in other areas such as corporate, commercial and litigation. The firm has the opportunity to strengthen client relationships and increase their profits and the client experiences an enhanced level of service from a trusted, reputable provider.
As a business we are extremely excited to be working with innovative legal consultancy entities alongside our practice client base and now have a thorough grasp of the market to take to our candidate network. Exploring these opportunities whist you consider a move into a Big 4 or mid-tier advisory firm allows you as a professional making a career move, to have a complete picture of contrasting environments before making a decision.
Moving into a new consulting division within a law firm will allow you to be a bigger part of a smaller machine, usually a benefit associated with joining a start-up however without the same level of risk due to being backed by and part of an international law firm.
If you are a regulatory professional currently working in industry or consulting and would like to hear more about advisory opportunities in the legal sector, please give Jessica a call on 0203 675 6829.
