Senior Legal Counsel Placement for a Renewable Energy Business

This was a search with several distinct and compounding constraints, each of which required a clear strategy to address.

A dual-location requirement. The role was based across both London and Glasgow, with the expectation of regular travel between the two on a weekly or fortnightly basis. This immediately ruled out candidates unwilling or unable to commit to that flexibility, narrowing the available pool considerably and requiring us to run parallel searches across both geographies simultaneously.

A broad but specific brief. The client needed a lawyer with strong general commercial and corporate foundations, combined with genuine familiarity with energy, infrastructure and land acquisition work. This is not a common combination. Energy sector legal experience at in-house level, particularly in renewables and infrastructure, sits in a narrow part of the market.

A complex ownership structure. The business operates within a multi-layered group involving private equity investors and a significant sister company shareholding. Any incoming lawyer needed to be comfortable navigating corporate complexity and occasional M&A activity as well as the day-to-day commercial workload.

A growing team in a competitive sector. Renewable energy and infrastructure are among the most active areas of the in-house legal market at present. Competition for experienced energy lawyers is intense, and candidates with the right profile had options across a range of growing businesses in the sector.

We approached the search with a clear structure, running activity across both London and Glasgow from the point of instruction and using the genuine appeal of the business and sector to attract strong candidates.

Simultaneous dual-location search. Rather than prioritising one location, we mapped the market across both London and Scotland from the outset, identifying senior lawyers in each geography with the right sector background and the flexibility the role required. The energy from waste sector and the scale of the client's UK ambitions made this an attractive proposition for candidates across both markets.

Sector-focused candidate identification. Given the volume of initial interest in the role, we were able to focus our submissions almost exclusively on candidates with direct energy sector experience, either from private practice or in-house. From an initial pool of 15 candidates, we submitted six profiles across a range of seniority levels, reflecting the client's openness to considering candidates from mid-level through to senior.

Structured shortlisting and reporting. Candidates were submitted in a structured batch report, with two additional backup profiles provided as the process developed. The client chose to interview all six, reflecting the quality and relevance of the shortlist. Four proceeded to first interview, three were invited to second stage, and all three completed a third round of assessment before a decision was made.

Candidate pipeline management. Across the process, the client was impressed with the overall quality of candidates presented. One individual not selected for the final appointment has been identified as a strong pipeline hire, with the client keen to maintain a warm relationship should headcount be approved later in the year. This reflects the depth of the search rather than simply the outcome of a single hire.

The client appointed a Senior Legal Counsel with an exceptional profile for the role, and the full process from instruction to signed offer was completed in approximately ten weeks.

An outstanding candidate match. The successful candidate was serving as General Counsel at a PE-backed renewables business in Scotland, bringing extensive private practice experience alongside senior in-house leadership in the energy sector. Their background in renewable energy, corporate transactions and infrastructure work aligned with every requirement the client had identified, including several that were listed as desirable rather than essential.

A motivated move for the right reasons. The candidate had taken their existing role as far as they could within the current structure and was drawn to the scale of ambition and the breadth of work available at a business still in an active growth phase. The opportunity to move into a different area of the renewables sector and work with a high-calibre team made this a compelling next step.

Six candidates interviewed, all considered appointable. The quality of the shortlist was such that the client would have been comfortable hiring from several of the candidates presented. The final decision was driven by the exceptional breadth of the successful candidate's experience across every relevant dimension of the brief.

Strong pipeline maintained. A second candidate from the process remains actively in view for a future hire, giving the client a ready-made option should additional legal headcount be approved.

Immediate repeat engagement. The client returned to JMC Legal for support with a further hire in legal administration, a clear signal of confidence in the process and the outcome.

This search demonstrates the value of running a structured, dual-location process in a specialist sector. The energy from waste market is growing quickly, and the lawyers best placed to support it are not always visible through conventional channels. Finding the right person required a thorough approach across two geographies and a genuine understanding of what the role demanded.