Associate – Corporate & Commercial

At HopgoodGanim, you’re not just a small piece of a big machine; you’re a valued, integral member of the team. We are committed to delivering exceptional service and our distinctive culture is widely recognised as one that supports its people and fosters a genuine love for the work we do.

About the role

Our Private Enterprise practice acts exclusively for private clients. We provide strategic corporate and commercial advice to privately owned, high-net-worth clients.

A significant focus of the practice is private M&A, across a range of industries. We help clients navigate the full transaction lifecycle by providing practical, commercially focused advice at each stage of a deal.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Advising on private M&A transactions (including share sales and acquisitions, mergers, business and asset sales, and other strategic corporate transactions) from due diligence and transaction structuring through to negotiation and documentation, signing and completion.
• Working closely with clients and their other professional advisers, including accountants, corporate advisers and tax advisers to progress transactions efficiently and achieve commercially focused outcomes.
• Advising on corporate structuring, restructures, ownership arrangements (including shareholders’ agreements and other ownership and governance arrangements) and strategic business changes.
• Advising on broader corporate and commercial matters, including corporate governance, corporate obligations and regulatory issues.
• Assisting clients with succession planning, ownership transitions and other strategic transactions affecting their businesses.

About you

We are looking for an Associate who is enthusiastic about developing their career in corporate and commercial law, with a particular interest in mergers and acquisitions and working with privately owned businesses, founders and entrepreneurs.

You’ll thrive in this role if you bring:

• Approximately 3–5 years’ post-admission experience in corporate and commercial law, ideally with meaningful experience working on private M&A transactions and an understanding of the key stages of an M&A transaction, from due diligence and transaction structuring through to documentation, signing and completion.
• The ability to identify material legal and commercial issues, assess risk and communicate findings clearly and practically.
• Strong commercial judgement and the ability to understand a client’s objectives, identify the issues that matter and provide clear, pragmatic and solutions-focused advice.
• Experience managing files in accordance with agreed scope, budgets and transaction timelines, with appropriate supervision from senior team members.
• Strong client service and communication skills, with the confidence to build trusted relationships with clients and their professional advisers.
• Excellent organisation and attention to detail, together with the ability to manage competing priorities and perform effectively during time-sensitive transaction processes.
• A collaborative and flexible approach, sound judgement and the ability to identify issues early, take initiative and seek input from senior team members where appropriate.

Experience in broader corporate advisory work, including corporate restructures, shareholders’ agreements and commercial contracting, will also be favourably considered.

Working at HG

We are a leading independent Australian legal services provider, with our teams striving to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients and community.

What you can expect from us:

• Realistic billable targets for legal practitioners
• New client and practitioner referral incentives
• A dedicated in-house business development team to build your external profile
• Dedicated learning & development programs for all employees
• Pathways to Partnership program for legal practitioners
• Clear annual review and promotion cycle
• State of the art offices and end-of-trip facilities (including a cool-down room)
• Subsidised on-site wellness and workout classes
• Subsidised on-site cafe
• Access to paid parental leave (up to 20 weeks for eligible employees)
• Paid fertility leave
• Paid birthday leave – because your day should be celebrated!
• Fun mid-year and end-of-year team celebrations including our HG Way Awards night