JobsPaid Internship – Legal Assistant

The Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the world’s leading provider of news and information, is committed to empowering people around the world with trusted information and free legal assistance.

The Foundation is recruiting for a Legal Assistant for its flagship programme TrustLaw, a hub of news and information on anti-corruption issues and women's rights. At the heart of TrustLaw is an ambitious membership-based platform, TrustLaw Connect, which offers lawyers a way to easily connect with social entrepreneurs, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments in need of free legal services. Although it’s only a year old, TrustLaw has quickly become an indispensible player in this field, with over 600 organisations and law firms already members and more than 300 legal teams involved in our projects

Working with a young and very dynamic team, you will assist the Senior Manager - Legal with all aspects of membership management and of our beneficiaries’ pro bono projects. In particular, you will support the Legal Manager with:

• Scoping the definition of the projects that we receive from our NGO and social enterprise members.
• Liaison with law firms about their pro bono project involvement.
• Analysis of legal markets and recruitment of law firms and in-house legal teams to the TrustLaw Connect network.
• The organisation of public events, roundtables and meetings, which we regularly host around the world.
• General support of the TrustLaw Connect team, including inbox management and keeping of internal logs in lieu for internal performance analysis.

This position would suit:

• A highly motivated self-starter, educated to degree level, with an ability to work independently. Legal qualifications or experience are essential.
• A proactive individual with good commercial understanding and an ability to recognise legal issues.
• Someone with or wanting to get experience in the worlds of development or pro bono, with a personal interest in social, humanitarian and/or environmental issues 
• An excellent communicator with first-class written communication skills. Fluent English is a must and additional languages would be preferred.

Reporting to the Senior Manager - Legal, this is a paid position (£15,000 pro rata annually), based in London. The length of the internship is negotiable and could be between 6 and 12 months, with a preference for a longer tenure. The internship would start mid-April 2012.   

Deadline for applications: Friday, 9 March 2012. To apply for this position, send your CV and covering letter describing how you meet the specifications for this role to trustlaw@thomsonreuters.com, with subject line “Legal Assistant Application”.