Legal Job Profiles
There are a huge number of openings for qualified legal professionals on Grand Cayman. Here is a brief description of some of the most popular legal positions:
- Corporate Finance Lawyer
- Hedge Fund Lawyer
- Insolvency Lawyer
- Structured Finance Lawyer
- Trust Lawyer
- Legal Secretary
- Paralegals
- Fund & Investment Lawyers
- Temporary Contractor
Many lawyers who move the Grand Cayman are recruited to work within Corporate Finance. The job role of Cayman is similar to other jurisdictions and can involve rights-issues, takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, primary offerings of equity and debt of all types, real estate development, greenfield industrial and research projects, research and development funding, traditional loan financing, secured or unsecured, straight or syndicated, convertible equity and debt securities as well as joint financing and service ventures for institutional clients.
There are more hedge funds based in Grand Cayman than anywhere else in the world. The hedge fund industry is always keen to recruit excellent legal staff.
Job opportunities are open to lawyers with insolvency experience either onshore of offshore. If you move to Grand Cayman you will be expected to deal with contentious and non-contentious issues on a multi-jurisdictional basis. Experience in fund and bank insolvency is advantageous, as is experience in acting for and against court-appointed liquidators. You will advise on all aspects relating to complex transactions and structures. Most of the insolvency work is international and involves cross-border aspects.
This is one of the most diverse and popular areas of the offshore legal financial sector. Your expertise will cover a multitude of disciplines which may include:
· Repackagings
· Securitisations
· Collateral Debt Obligations (CDOs) – structuring including including preference shares, combination securities representing combinations of notes and preference shares, use of local law-governed note tranches and use of trusts and partnerships as CDO vehicles
· Banking – licencing and regulation including the consequences of bank mergers and reorganisations.
· Finance Subsidiaries & Branches – advising on with commercial paper, medium-term notes, eurobonds, preference shares, depositary receipts, convertible debt, warrants and other securities.
· Securities Regulation
· General Corporate and Partnerships
· Corporate Finance – advising on equity and debt of all types, which may be private, listed on any exchange and, where appropriate, rated, follow-on and secondary issues, rights-issues, convertible equity and debt securities. You may also advise on traditional loan financing, listing of equity, debt and derivatives.
· Reorganisations
· Project Finance
Trusts constitute a major part of the Cayman offshore economy and many jobs exist for lawyers in this field. Most employers will be looking for lawyers with a minimum of 4+ years PQE who is experienced in advising on the formation and operation of international and domestic trust structures. They will also be expected to advise executors and trustees in estate matters. You will be expected to deal with all areas of trust law including Unit trusts, Off balance sheet vehicle share ownership, Performance/escrow arrangements, Transaction-specific purpose trusts, Accepting, administering and winding-up a trust.
There are plenty of opportunities for qualified legal secretaries in The Cayman Islands. A Legal Secretarial role is likely to mirror your current role as an onshore legal secretary with duties including answering telephones, typing letters, scheduling and planning conferences and receiving clients. .
The number of opportunities for employment in this field is increasing rapidly as they are expected to take on more and more functions currently undertaken by lawyers.
You may be expected to:
- identify appropriate laws, judicial decisions, legal articles and other materials relevant to assigned cases
- analyse and organize the information and prepare written reports for the lawyers
- preparing legal arguments
- draft pleadings and motions to be filed with the court
- obtain affidavits and assisting lawyers during trials
Anyone considering a move into offshore funds and investment should be suitable qualified and hold at least two years PQE. You will deal with structuring and operating mutual funds, hedge funds, unit trusts, and open and closed end funds within a commonwealth jurisdiction.
Many opportunities exist for temporary contractors offshore. Your best route if you plan to operate in this way is to contact a specialist recruitment agentcy on Grand Cayman.
