“There is a real commitment to technical excellence here and people set very high standards”
Jaya joined the HR team in London in November 2007 and is currently responsible for managing the recruitment of trainees and qualified lawyers in the London, Milan and Geneva offices. Prior to joining Withers, Jaya gained many years of experience in legal recruitment, specialising in law firms. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in French and Spanish and speaks Spanish and Hindi fluently.
In terms of the skills needed for the future, the core skill of being a good technical lawyer remains. There is a real commitment to technical excellence here and people set very high standards so we are always on the look out for people who are, or have the potential to be, at the top of their game. We appreciate that our work is complex and specialised and therefore it’s not always necessary to have an exact skills fit. It’s also key that we have people on board who are able to drive our business forward and manage teams effectively. Working as a team is key to our success and therefore the ability to work as part of team can not be understated. Wealth planning is our largest area and therefore we are always looking for good tax and wealth planners or those with a strong interest in this field. We also need commercial lawyers who will enjoy the challenge of our sometimes unusual and not always city type client base.
Our expansion and the complexity of the businesses of some of our clients has highlighted the usefulness of fluent language skills and languages required in recent months range from Italian and Spanish through to Arabic, Russian, Romanian, Hindi and Mandarin.