Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - The Inside View

Though historically known as a top magic circle firm in its British hometown, Freshfields’ magic in the US lies in its “goal of being a top-class American law firm competing with its New York peers, rather than other magic circle firms.” It’s a reputation that excited our associate interviewees, who were all keen to get in on the firm’s international and cross-border work. M&A partner, Paul Tiger, explains how the firm’s been rapidly building out its American arm, as “clients are also recognizing the value in pairing an elite US practice with an unparalleled foreign office network.” Specifically, our colleagues at Chambers Global award top rankings to the firm’s US international arbitration and international trade practices. Meanwhile, Freshfields earns further accolades from Chambers USA for its national corporate crime & investigations practice, California securities litigation and white-collar crime & government investigations in New York. 

“Being on the US side of a UK firm means it’s got a small law firm feel to it.” 

Although you’d be hard-pressed to describe Freshfields and its 32 offices as anything but massive, one associate appreciated how “being on the US side of a UK firm means it’s got a small law firm feel to it.” On one hand, this was felt in the culture, with sources noting that “it’s got a vibrant atmosphere and is a bit less old-school than some other firms might be.” However, interviewees were also excited by the prospect of imminent growth. In particular, those in the New York office were looking forward to moving to a new office in early 2024. “We’ve just moved into a brand-new, modern space that matches the energy we have in our US practice right now,” Tiger adds. “It's an exciting moment for our firm."

Strategy & Future 

“We’ve been growing at a rate of 30-40% each year and the firm is very excited about that,” Tiger outlines on the firm’s growth strategy. “We’d like to roughly double the size of our corporate practice in the next five years.” To achieve this goal, the firm has been growing its teams laterally, including a number of recent strategic hires. M&A partner Andrea Basham explains how Freshfields has in recent years brought on a four-person strategic risk and crisis management team, a data privacy team, a new head of private funds, and additional finance and regulatory finance lawyers. “It’s a combination of building expertise in core practice areas as well as adding the skills needed to serve clients in today’s critical areas,” Basham explains. However, the ultimate goal is to reach a stage where there are enough people at the firm to sustain its growth naturally. As a first step, according to Basham, “while other firms have downsized their summer classes, the number of 2Ls in our 2024 class is projected to be greater than 80, which is really amazing when you consider that our 2019 summer class was less than 20.” 

Read more from Paul Tiger and Andrea Basham under the 'Get Hired' tab.

The Work 

The majority of associates work in the litigation and global transactions departments, the latter of which is divided into M&A, restructuring, capital markets, investment funds, life sciences, finance and IP. Meanwhile, the rest on our list worked in the antitrust, competition & trade (ACT), tax, or the executive compensation teams. New York took on the lion’s share of associates, with the rest spread across Silicon Valley and DC. Work assignment varies across practices and offices, with some adopting more centralized methods than others. For instance, M&A associates explained how all work in their practice group goes through a work assignment coordinator before it is then distributed based on associate availability. Dispute resolution and ACT interviewees found there was more variety, with some matters coming in through the official system while partners also hand out matters more informally. “I’ve noticed that partners are really just asking if you’re available without any underlying expectation,” said an ACT associate; “it seems people here feel empowered to say no.” 

Corporate/M&A was the biggest subgroup under global transactions, and its associates take on a range of public and private matters. The majority of the group sits in New York, while a smaller bunch work on deals in Silicon Valley, which “are equally large, but tend to have a bit more of a tech focus because of where the team is based.” Interviewees in New York, however, had worked on a range of matters across sectors, such as life sciences and pharmaceuticals. Juniors can expect to get familiar with due diligence, alongside managing ancillary documents and running signings, closings and checklists. Although these are essentially initiation tasks for M&A lawyers, one interviewee was pleased that “we have a Client Delivery Group that’s operated as practice support lawyers on our deals. They do quite a lot of due diligence so juniors have been freed up to do some more substantive work.” For example, many had been able to join client calls and pick up drafting assignments, with opportunities to do some work related to the core purchase agreements. 

Corporate/M&A clients: eBay, Google, London Stock Exchange. Represented BP in it’s $4 billion acquisition of renewable gas producer Archaea Energy.

The litigation team works on a range of commercial, civil, securities and white-collar litigation, arbitration, and some additional sanctions, strategic risk/crisis management and antitrust matters. Juniors are “encouraged to try as many different matters with as many different groups as possible to see what you like and what fits,” though some may naturally specialize as they become more senior. Greener associates are expected to become “the masters of the facts,” getting to grips with all the documents and details on their matters. However, interviewees were still happy with the level of responsibility given to juniors, explaining that there are plenty of opportunities to draft letters to court and try their hand at brief writing: “You get the chance to take the lead on the first draft and, although a lot of revisions go into it, it’s exciting work. There’s always a new dispute, so something different to draft every day!” Others had enjoyed the investigations side of the practice, valuing the opportunity to directly interact with clients and work closely with partners. 

Dispute resolution clients: BuzzFeed, AstraZeneca, JPMorgan. Defended 3M and its executives on a range of disputes in federal courts across the country, including a dismissed securities class action case.

“There would be around 100 of us on calls, which just shows how we can be the one-stop shop for companies on their global matters.” 

Tech and pharma were highlighted as key sectors within the ACT group, with some agricultural and industrial clients on the books as well. According to interviewees, the team at Freshfields is “unique” as it offers merger clearance, litigation, and risk counselling work. The merger clearance side involves a feasibility assessment as to whether a deal would be cleared by a regulator and means, “I’ll be on calls with investment bankers and economists to work that out.” Another interviewee appreciated the chance to get involved in the strategic planning of a deal as it “increases my understanding of the industry. I have to consider shifts in the Federal Trade Commission’s perspective, any agency announcements and the past couple of years of decisions.” The international scale of the work impressed interviewees, too, with one recalling how “every single lawyer across the globe on a massive transaction was a Freshfields lawyer. There would be around 100 of us on calls, which just shows how we can be the one-stop shop for major companies on their global matters.” Sources explained that getting a range of experience especially helps “when it’s time to litigate, as I’m already familiar with everything that has happened leading up to the dispute so know which documents would be helpful.” Junior associates on contentious matters typically assist on discovery, depositions prep, doc review and helping draft motions.  

Antitrust clients: Honda, Netflix, Google. Defended Google in multiple antitrust and deceptive trade practice claims relating to its online advertising business. 

Career Development 

“I get the sense from meetings with partners that they’re trying to find opportunities for us to participate more meaningfully,” said an associate when asked about their progression at the firm. Others echoed this sentiment, noting how they “won’t hesitate to give you opportunities” and “have kept track of the kind of work we’re doing.” These opportunities kick off from the summer associate stage, where inductees get to spend a week at one of the firm’s global offices. ACT associates were particularly impressed at the training on offer, as junior and mid-level associates are invited to Brussels each year to meet their colleagues and learn about their work on a multijurisdictional level. There are also bi-monthly ACT group calls, where associates often develop their public speaking skills by presenting a current topic. 

“My career development is in good hands!” 

Although most interviewees felt too junior to start discussing partnership in earnest, they’d had the chance to build a rapport with clients and felt, “my career development is in good hands!” For more formal advice, junior associates at Freshfields are assigned a counsel or senior associate mentor while third-years and upwards are assigned a partner mentor. However, sources had also made more informal mentor relationships and found it was a great way to discuss goals and progress.  

Hours & Compensation 

Billable hours: no requirement

Associates appreciated how “not having a billable target removes a huge stressor. I’m not constantly planning for the future and being in the present has made me a better attorney overall.” However, while some had been given informal monthly hour benchmarks by partners, others would have liked a clearer sense of expectations, noting that “partners have stepped in on my behalf to stop me from being staffed on anything else, so I guess there might be a target that’s not clearly communicated to us.” Despite this, sources felt that bonus allocation was still largely transparent, noting how they are allocated following a review which “takes a holistic look at your work.” Pro bono, DEI and business development hours are all considered during this review, meaning associates have the chance to take on a wider variety of work. 

“I’ve been able to make time for both work and family life.” 

Day to day, M&A associates found their hours varied far more than their peers in ACT, who had been able to consistently stay “busy without being overstretched.” We heard it’s more difficult to define a typical day in the transactional groups – as is the case across the legal field more generally – as work days vary depending on the market and the stage of a deal. However, our interviewees generally started work around 9am and finished anywhere between 5 and midnight, with one appreciating how “I’ve been able to make time for both work and family life.” Others mentioned rarely receiving urgent emails over the weekend, noting that “the expectation is for people to keep that time for themselves.” 

Pro Bono 

Associates had lots to say about the range of pro bono matters on offer at the firm, mentioning how they’d participated in matters relating to immigration, asylum seekers, family law, employment and startups. One associate had seen “a number of assignments related to the prevention of gun violence,” while another had come across matters “helping trafficking victims expunge their records so they can have a more stable life free of any previous convictions.” As is often the case, many of the firm’s pro bono matters lean on the more contentious side, but we heard associates can seek transactional projects if that’s what they prefer. For instance, Freshfields has worked with the Lawyers Alliance for New York, which provides transactional legal services to nonprofits in the city. Other transactional associates had been involved in drafting data privacy policies and contracts, reviewing bylaws and working on corporate governance for various organizations via pro bono. 

Pro bono hours

• For all US offices: 26,281
• Average per US attorney: undisclosed

Culture 

Interviewees appreciated how the smaller headcount meant they could get to know their colleagues, noting how “there’s been an emphasis on trying to establish a Freshfields culture in New York.” Sources were split on whether the culture had been influenced by its British roots, with some sharing that the lack of stuffiness seemed to be reminiscent of UK firm life. Similarly, those who had had the chance to work in the firm’s London base felt that the culture was cohesive across offices, as are the vacation days: “UK firms seem to be a bit better at prioritizing work-life balance, so not having unlimited days means you’re expected to take time off.” That said, associates also appreciated how the US is building its own identity, so “the culture doesn’t necessarily trickle down from London, but is built from both the bottom up and the top down. Decision makers have been careful about choosing lateral hires who fit the culture, while associates progressing through the firm also promote a warm, welcoming environment.” More generally, associates noted how it's the kind of place where people take calls by the coffee machine, join online meetings in T-shirts, or message group chats to ask who’s up for a coffee. 

“People here are from different cultures so bring their own perspectives to work, and that makes Freshfields a dynamic and exciting place to be.” 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 

With so much international interaction, associates valued the “appreciation of and respect for diversity. People here are from different cultures so bring their own perspectives to work, and that makes Freshfields a dynamic and exciting place to be.” In terms of statistics, Tiger explains how “the majority of our associates are women and roughly a third are racially or ethnically diverse […] but we don’t think anyone is satisfied yet.” For instance, although the partner level is slightly less diverse, associates appreciated the chance to work with “so many women partners,” – 40% to be specific – “many of whom are under 50!” Interviewees were also reassured by the firm’s efforts to improve, noting how growth in recent years has naturally contributed to a welcome increase in diverse representation. We heard emails are often circulated to advertise various education and social events held by the firm's nine affinity networks. “The Black Employee Resource Group put on events for Black History Month, and the Hispanic and Latino group is putting on a happy hour for Hispanic Heritage Month,” a source evidenced. Another added that “the affinity groups are very active and host various events for members and people across the firm to learn and have fun together.” 

Get Hired

The first stage: recruitment on and off campus   

OCI applicants interviewed: 932  

Freshfields annually visits all of the T14 law schools plus Albany, Fordham, Georgetown and McGill in Canada. A mix of partners and counsel speak to between 20 and 80 students at each.  

Empathy with clients, commercial awareness, and being able to fit into a team are also essential attributes in a candidate, along with the academic criteria typical to BigLaw.   

Top tips for this stage:   

“A common thread amongst us is that we’re all uninterested in doing something standard or run of the mill. I wanted to do something different, something interesting. I thought that this was going to be an avenue to achieve that and get unique work opportunities that I wouldn’t have elsewhere.” – a second-year junior associate   

“The firm likes the prestige of certain law schools – the top 14. There are differing views across partners, but those big schools are going give an advantage over other applicants.” – a second-year junior associate   

Callbacks   

Candidates meet a handful of partners, counsels and associates. Social events are also weaved into the process. No surprises and the people are really nice.  

Summer program  

Offers: 48  

A ten-week summer at Freshfields includes various formal training sessions, mentoring, pro bono opportunities, and cultural and social events. Most important, of course, is the legal work itself – assigned through the firm’s work allocation team to ensure that summers get a range of experience.  

The 2022 summer program will take on 48 2L summer associates across the New York, DC, and Silicon Valley offices.  

Top tips for this stage: 

“What got me into Freshfields over other British firms is the people. There’s a real effort to find the people who really want to be here, specifically. We’re not a firm or office that have 150 summers and take 30. The effect is you have a bunch of people working towards common goal, which I really enjoy.” – a second-year junior associate 

Interview with Paul Tiger, M&A partner and Global Co-Head of Industrials and Andrea Basham, M&A partner and head of US Recruiting Committee

Commercial strategy, market position and trends

Chambers Associate: How would you define your firm’s current position and identity in the legal market? What differentiates your firm from your peer firms in the market?

Paul Tiger: We’re in a much more established position in the US market and with a much bigger presence than we were when we spoke last. We are now among the elite New York law firms, competing with peer New York firms for work and seeing them across the table on all of our transactions. Clients are also recognizing the value in pairing an elite US practice with an unparalleled foreign office network.

CA: Have there been any developments at the firm over the past year that you’d like law students to know about?

Andrea Basham: We have continued to grow significantly in the last year. In the US we now have over 400 lawyers and 85 partners. Of those partners, approximately 40% of them are female, which stands out among US firms. It is representative of our commitment to having a group of people here who really reflect and represent a modern law firm for today’s world.

Tiger: Our M&A practice moved up two notches this year to Band 3 of the elite Chambers USA M&A rankings. I don't think that Chambers has historically moved people up more than a single notch in their rankings in one given year, so the fact we moved up two notches is a testament to everything we’ve done in the US these past few years.

CA: Are there any domestic or international events/trendsthat are affecting any of the firm’s practices at the moment? Are there any trends that you think are affecting the business of law firms more generally, and how is that playing out with your firm?

Tiger: The world is becoming more and more integrated, and what happens in one jurisdiction has an effect on others. We’re seeing that across industries, which is meaningful considering our footprint around the world. In the US, we’re seeing that the way agencies here are thinking about antitrust enforcement is aligning with the UK’s CMA and the European Commission. We're able to have a unique perspective on that as we’re active and have leading practices in all of those jurisdictions – and as a result we can provide unparalleled advice to our clients across practice groups.

Basham: In terms of the industry more generally and more on a personnel front, one trend we’ve seen over the last several years is quite a bit of lateral movement. The firm has continued to grow. While other firms have downsized their summer classes, the number of 2Ls in our 2024 class number is projected to be greater than 80, which is really amazing when you consider our 2019 summer class was less than 20, just five years ago.

CA: What is your firm’s commercial strategy focusing on, and how do you expect the next year to unfold?

Tiger: We’re now roughly four and a half years into our big strategic push in the US and we’re seeing the results of that. We've been growing at a rate of 30-40% each year and the firm is very excited about that. We'd like to roughly double the size of our corporate practice in the next five years as the firm sees the benefits of continuing to have an elite practice in the US. It benefits us not only on domestic transactions but also allows us to act as a concierge in introducing the broader firm to US clients.

CA: We heard there have been plenty of lateral hires across the US offices – any areas in particular where you have been adding laterals?

Basham: We made some strategic lateral hires recently. We are very keen to continue building, and we are always evaluating strategic opportunities to make lateral hires. For our associates, I think that it’s important to understand that our strategic goal is to be in a position where over time we’ll see more organic than lateral growth.

Tiger: We have had a significant number of high-profile successful lateral partner hires. I would highlight the four-person strategic risk and crisis management team we brought in from Wilson Sonsini which is led by Beth George, one of Google’s go-to lawyers. On the corporate side, we hired Tim Clark from Goodwin to lead our private funds practice. We hired Neal Reenan and Ian Bushner from Latham in private equity M&A. We also hired three finance lawyers, Allison Liff, Damian Ridealgh and H.T Flanagan, all from Weil Gotshal to build out our leveraged finance and private capital space. Last but not least, we have recently hired two financial regulatory partners – David Sewell from Perkins Coie who grew up at Debevoise and Alison Hashmall from Davis Polk. Those are some really nice hires in terms of filling out teams and skillsets.

Basham: We also hired a data privacy team a few years ago. If you look at all our lateral hires and the growth of our business, it’s a combination of building expertise in core practice areas as well as adding the skills needed to serve clients in today’s critical areas. Those may not have even existed a decade ago.

CA: Could you tell me a bit about the new NY office? Sounds like there’s a growing buzz around it already – anything to note about the move/new building/location?

Tiger: We’re very excited about it! We just moved into a brand new, modern space that matches the energy we have in our US practice right now. It’s an exciting moment for our firm. Andrea and I were both on the real estate committee to design the space. It’s been very exciting to see it all come together.

Basham: In the New York office, we’re a team that enjoys being here in person and collaborating. The new office gives us the opportunity to do that in a modern space with more areas dedicated to collaboration.

Inside the Firm

CA: How is the firm evolving to accommodate the needs/expectations of the next generation of lawyers?

Tiger: One of the great learnings of the COVID era is that we can all do this job in a number of places. So, we’re trying to provide more flexibility but, ultimately, there’s still value in being together. We’re trying to find the right balance of flexibility while also having in office moments where the best training and mentoring happens.

CA: What’s the firm’s approach to bolstering diversity, equity, and inclusion?

Tiger: We have 59:41 partner gender ratio. The majority of our associates are women and roughly a third are racially or ethnically diverse. We hover around just under 10% both at the partner and associate levels in terms of LGBTQ+ representation. Those are the statistics, but we don’t think anyone is satisfied yet. We could do better on some of those metrics, so it continues to be a focus.

Basham: Our goal is, ultimately, to have a team of lawyers that is made up of people from different backgrounds and experiences. That allows us to think outside the box and serve clients that are also diverse and from diverse backgrounds.

The Legal Profession

CA: How do you predict the legal profession will change in the next five years? Are there any particular challenges the industry is facing?

Tiger: I think everybody at the moment is waiting to see where the developments in AI take us, and that’s something that our firm is monitoring very closely. We’re doing some work in the background to see where we could harness the power of AI without losing the quality and advantages of having top tier lawyers. That's certainly something that’s front of mind. It’s still early days, so we will have to wait and see what happens.

The Fun Bit

CA: Is there any advice you’d give to your younger self starting out your career?

Basham: Don’t be afraid of trying new things and of engaging with the unfamiliar. We no longer live in a world where a client shows up and says, “I have a securities law problem,” or “I have an M&A problem.” A client shows up today and typically has very complicated issues which require you to think in a much more complex way than you would have needed to when facing problems from, say, 10 years ago. Associates who are willing to pivot and learn new things are the ones who are going to be the most successful.

Tiger: Yes, you have to learn a certain tolerance for uncertainty. Whether it’s an issue or a set of facts you haven’t encountered before, or perhaps a different economic environment. I’ve now been through multiple economic cycles over the course of my career. I was a fourth-year associate during the financial crisis, so it’s been interesting to see parallels to today’s inflationary environment. Each economic environment has allowed people to learn new things.

The other advice I would have given to myself as a younger lawyer is to stay in touch with your colleagues. A lot of people may not end up in law firms but will end up in very interesting places. Some will stay in law while some will go onto other interesting endeavors, and it’s good to keep track of all those people. They will continue to be your peers, whether that’s down the hallway or as your future clients.

CA: Is there a movie/TV show/books about lawyers or the legal profession that you particularly enjoy? And how accurate would you say it is?

Tiger: The funny thing is Andrea and I have been joking around about writing a screenplay about our move to Freshfields! That would be a fun one to put together.

Basham: I think that, like most lawyers, I find that I can only watch shows about my industry for so long before I spend most of the time criticizing what is not factually correct. So, I cannot tell you that I have watched any show about lawyers from start to finish! I did watch Legally Blonde, though and it was enjoyable even if it is completely factually incorrect.