McAllister Olivarius is a high-end litigation firm with a focus on representing people (mostly women) who have been treated unfairly. This includes wrongful dismissal, employment discrimination and sexual harassment at work, sexual harassment and sexual assault at universities, and online harassment including revenge pornography. We also do standard commercial litigation. We operate in the UK and US.
Our sister law firm, AO Advocates, represents survivors of child sexual abuse, mostly against churches, schools and other institutions. The Rhodes Project, an associated charity, is studying the lives and careers of successful women to see how these may shed light on the progress made and impediments still facing women generally.
We are seeking an experienced journalist to manage our media relations. We want you to come into our organisation, identify stories and help us tell the world about the work we are doing. Your work will complement the wider marketing team and contribute to our content distribution strategy.
The role
We are looking for an experienced journalist who wants to make a move in-house, or an experienced PR who identifies with the work we do and has a great contact book. Ideally, you have experience of working within a news environment or perhaps court reporting and will have the ability to spot a story and turn it around quickly. You will be a self-starter who can write high-quality, print worthy copy quickly and with empathy for our clients. Our Managing Partner was London Bureau Chief at a news magazine with international readership before returning to law – we are not your average law firm and this job will require a lot of creativity and adaptability.
Activities will include
Media outreach
Identifying and placing news and features in print, broadcast and online publications
Building and maintaining relationships with journalists
Facilitating media interviews and introductions with our lawyers
Content creation – drafting compelling, relevant and well written content for use within traditional and online media including social news, our website and elsewhere
Familiarising yourself with our cases and developing appropriate media strategy – both for wanted and unwanted publicity
Crisis management
Reactive press relations – spotting news stories that our lawyers can comment on and responding to requests from journalists
Creating initiatives to publicise our practice such as surveys and events
Candidate profile
At least 6 years’ experience within journalism or PR
Excellent writer
Ability to work on your own initiative, to identify what needs doing, and do it with minimal supervision
Social news writing / creation
Organized and good at keeping lots of balls in the air
Excited by the kind of law we practice
Useful but not essential
Law firm experience – it will be good if you have an interest in law and the kinds of cases we handle, but experience in other firms is not essential because we are not a standard firm
Public relations experience
Broadcast experience
An understanding of how the law relates to publicising legal cases
Knowledge of social news writing and creation
Previous work within a marketing team
Experience of U.S. media – many of our cases are there
A great media contacts book
Job specifics
This is a full-time, office-based role. Our head office is currently in Hammersmith but we are moving to the penthouse of Maidenhead’s newest and nicest office building, 10 minutes’ walk from the station, in the next two months.
How to apply
To apply for this role, please email your CV and cover letter to Ava Cook, HR Manager at acook@mcolaw.com or click the “apply online” button below